Tīrthika ( sa, tīrthika, pi, titthiya, "ford-maker," meaning one who is attempting to cross the stream of
saṃsāra
''Saṃsāra'' (Devanagari: संसार) is a Pali/Sanskrit word that means "world". It is also the concept of rebirth and "cyclicality of all life, matter, existence", a fundamental belief of most Indian religions. Popularly, it is the c ...
) in
Indian philosophy is a general term referring to non-Buddhists in general.
In the
Tipitaka, the term ''titthiya'' may refer specifically to adherents of
Jainism. Whereas a Buddhist takes
refuge in the Three Jewels and treads the
Middle Way
The Middle Way ( pi, ; sa, ) as well as "teaching the Dharma by the middle" (''majjhena dhammaṃ deseti'') are common Buddhist terms used to refer to two major aspects of the Dharma, that is, the teaching of the Buddha.; my, အလယ်� ...
between extremes, a ''titthiya'' does not. According to the ''Asoka Avadhana'', the ''titthiya''s that were jealous of
Asoka's preaching of Buddhism gathered together and said to each other, "Should this king Asoka continue a worshipper of Buddha, all other persons encouraged by him would likewise become followers of Buddha." They then went to people's houses and declared that their religion is the true religion and that Buddhism gives no
moksha.
Tīrthika is associated with the Jain term
tirthankara "ford-maker".
[Parpola, Asko, 2003. Sacred bathing place and transcendence: Dravidian kaTa(vuL) as the source of Indo-Aryan ghâT, tîrtha, tîrthankara and (tri)vikrama. Pp. 523-574 in: Olle Qvarnström (ed.), Jainism and early Buddhism: Essays in honor of Padmanabh S. Jaini, I-II. Fremont, California: Asian Humanities Press.]
See also
*
Samaññaphala Sutta
*
Six Heretical Teachers
The Six Heretical Teachers, Six Heretics, Six Śramaṇa, or Six Tirthikas (false teachers) were six sectarian contemporaries of Gautama Buddha (Śākyamuni), each of whom held a view in opposition to Buddhism, his teachings. Except for Nigantha Na ...
Notes
Buddhist philosophical concepts
Heresy in Buddhism
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