Ajivika, known for its rigorous emphasis on fate and determinism, is traditionally associated with the figure of Makkhali Gosala. Sources describe him as the one who founded and systematized this school of thought, giving coherent shape to its radical vision of a universe governed entirely by destiny. Under his name, the Ajivika path came to be recognized as a distinct current within the wider spiritual ferment of ancient India.

Makkhali Gosala is also remembered under variant names, such as Gosāla Maskariputra or Maskarin Gosala, reflecting different linguistic and textual traditions. These names all point back to the same seminal teacher whose role was to articulate a deterministic worldview in which human effort is ultimately subordinate to an all-encompassing fate. Through this figure, Ajivika emerged as a serious philosophical interlocutor to other traditions that emphasized moral agency and spiritual striving.

Seeing Makkhali Gosala as the founder of Ajivika highlights how a single teacher can crystallize a set of ideas into a recognizable lineage. The Ajivika insistence on fate, attributed to his teaching, invites reflection on the limits of human control and the meaning of spiritual practice in a world that may be more conditioned than it appears. In this way, the memory of Makkhali Gosala stands not only as a historical attribution, but also as a symbol of the enduring tension between freedom and necessity in spiritual thought.