Pakudha Kaccāyana (English spelling)

Japanese: パクダ･カッチャーヤナ（英語表記）Pakudha Kaccāyana

One of the free thinkers of ancient India (known as the Six Heretics from the Buddhist perspective). Dates of birth and death unknown. Active in the 6th to 5th centuries BCE, contemporary with Shakyamuni. Transliterated as Bābudākāsana in Chinese Buddhist texts. He believed that only the seven elements (earth, water, fire, and wind, as well as pain, pleasure, and life) exist, and that they are immortal and unchanging, and did not recognize individual souls. According to him, cutting off a person's head with a sword does not take away their "life," because "the cracks made by the sword are merely the gaps between the seven elements" (Sāmaṇa-sūtra).

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

古代インドの自由思想家(仏教側からいう〈六師外道〉)の一人。生没年不詳。釈迦と同時代の前6～前5世紀に活躍した。漢訳仏典では婆浮陀伽旃那と音訳される。彼は不生不滅にして不変の七要素(地･水･火･風の四元素と苦･楽･生命)のみを実在とし，個別の霊魂を認めなかった。彼によれば，剣をもって頭を切断しても人の〈生命〉を奪うことにはならない。〈剣による裂け目はただ七つの要素の間隙に生ずるにすぎない〉(《沙門果経》)からである。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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