Sañjaya Vairāṭīputra

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Six heterodox
teachers

Sañjaya Vairāṭīputra [alt. Saṃjayin Vairāṭīputra] (P. Sañjaya/Sañcaya Belaṭṭhiputta; T. Smra ’dod kyi bu mo’i bu yang dag rgyal ba can; C. Shansheye Piluozhizi; J. Sanjaya Birateishi; K. Sansaya Pirajija 刪闍耶毘羅胝子).[1] An Indian shramana teacher who lived around the 7th-6th century BC in the region of Magadha.

He was one of the so-called “six heterodox teachers” often mentioned in Buddhist sūtras and whose views were criticized by the Buddha.[1] He was a proponent of the ajñana school of thought.[2]

His name means "Sañjaya of the Vairāṭīputra clan".

Teacher

Sanjaya is thought to be the first teacher of the Buddha's two great disciples, Maha-Moggallana and Sariputta. Both of them were followers of a person named Sanjaya Paribajjaka (Sanjaya the wanderer). Historically, Sanjaya Paribajjaka is considered to be same as Sanjaya Belatthiputta by many scholars. These two future arahants ultimately left Sanjaya's tutelage as it did not address their unresolved desire to end ultimate suffering.[3] Sanjaya Paribajjaka also had a follower named Suppiya, and so was Tattvalabdha, a minister at the court of King Ajatashatru.

Thought

Hecker (1994) contextualizes Sanjaya's thought as "a kind of dialectical existentialism" in juxtaposition to the popular materialist views of the day (for instance, typified by the ascetic teacher Ajita Kesakambalī.)[4] Chakravarty (2021) expounds that Sanjaya navigated clashes of ideas and disputes by steadfastly withholding judgments, especially concerning metaphysical and ethical debates. He crafted a methodical five-fold response, as a means to abstain from adopting positions on any philosophical viewpoint. Chakravarty terms Sanjaya's systematic approach in Sanskrit as amarakathananilambana. [5]

In the Samannaphala Sutta (DN 2), Sanjaya is recorded as saying:

'If you ask me if there exists another world [after death], if I thought that there exists another world, would I declare that to you? I don't think so. I don't think in that way. I don't think otherwise. I don't think not. I don't think not not. If you asked me if there isn't another world... both is and isn't... neither is nor isn't... if there are beings who transmigrate... if there aren't... both are and aren't... neither are nor aren't... if the Tathagata exists after death... doesn't... both... neither exists nor exists after death, would I declare that to you? I don't think so. I don't think in that way. I don't think otherwise. I don't think not. I don't think not not.'[6]

Commentary

In the Pali literature, Sanjaya's teachings have been characterized as "evasive"[7] or "agnostic".[8] In the Brahmajala Sutta (DN 1), Sanjaya's views are deemed to be amaravikkhepavada, "endless equivocation" or "a theory of eel-wrigglers."[9]

In Jaina literature, Sanjaya is identified as a Jaina sage (Skt., muni). It is believed that he was influenced by Jaina doctrine although Jaina philosophers were critical of Sanjaya.[8]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. Pūraṇa-Kāśyapa.
  2. ↑ Chakravarty (2021).
  3. ↑ Hecker (1994).
  4. ↑ Hecker (1994). Particularly regarding Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, see Chapter 2, "The Years of Wandering and Spiritual Search."
  5. ↑ Chakravarty (2021).
  6. ↑ Thanissaro (1997).
  7. ↑ Thanissaro (1997)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Bhaskar (1972).
  9. ↑ Cited in Bhaskar (1972).

Sources

This article includes content from Sanjaya Belatthiputta on Wikipedia (view authors). License under CC BY-SA 3.0. Wikipedia logo
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