Purana Kassapa

Purana Kassapa was an Indian ascetic teacher who lived around the 6th century BCE, contemporaneous with Mahavira and Shakyamuni Buddha. He taught a theory of 'non-action' (Pali, Skt.: akiriyavāda) whereby the body acts independent of the soul, merit or demerit. In the Pali Canon, Purana is identified as an ahetuvadin, a 'denier of a cause' of merit. He is reported to have taught that actions like killing, stealing, or lying do not produce evil, and that generosity and self-control do not produce merit. The Dhammapada commentary claims that Purana died by drowning himself.