Ājīvika
![On the left: Mahākāśyapa meets an Ājīvika and learns of the parinirvana[1]](/Images/godic/202412/18/Four_Scenes_from_the_Life_of_the_Buddha_-_Parinirvana_-_Kushan_dynasty,_late_2nd_to_early_3rd_century_AD,_Gandhara,_schist_-_Freer_Gallery_of_Art_-_DSC051190043.JPG")
![Ashoka's Seventh Pillar Edict mentions Ajivikas.[8][26] Above in the second column is the seventh edict in the Brahmi script (3rd century BCE).](/Images/godic/202412/18/Ashoka_pillar_delhi20043.png")
![The 3rd century BCE mendicant caves of the Ājīvikas (Barabar, near Gaya, Bihar).[27]](/Images/godic/202412/18/Sudama_and_Lomas_Rishi_Caves_at_Barabar,_Bihar,_18700043.jpg")
Ajivika (IAST: Ājīvika) is one of the nāstika or "heterodox" schools of Indian philosophy. Founded in the 5th century BCE by Makkhali Gosala, it was a śramaṇa movement and a major rival of early Buddhism and Jainism. Ājīvikas were organised renunciates who formed discrete communities.