(“destiny”) The
Ajivikas, an ancient and now-defunct philosophical school, had Niyati as their
basic philosophical postulate.
The Ajivikas were fatalists who thought that everything was
ordained by niyati inexorably.
Human beings have no control over their fate since they can
only accomplish what has already been decided.
The Ajivikas equated the reincarnation (samsara) process to
a ball of thread that would unroll until it reached its destination and then
stop.
The term niyati still has the connotation of
"fate" or "des tiny," but with one key distinction: While
the Ajivikas saw niyati as an impersonal and uncontrollable force, contemporary
people think that one's destiny is determined by previous karma.
