äˈjēvə̇kə noun
( -s )
Etymology: Sanskrit ājīvika, literally, following special rules with regard to livelihood, from ājīva livelihood, from ājīvati he lives on, from ā toward + jīvati he lives, from jīva living — more at acharya , quick
: a member of a nontheistic religious sect greatly resembling Jainism that was founded by the Indian teacher Maskarin Gosala, a contemporary of the Buddha and Mahavira, and that flourished from the 6th to the 3d centuries B.C. as a rival of Buddhism and Jainism