Purana Kassapa (IAST: Pūrṇa Kāśyapa; Pali: Pūraṇa Kassapa) was an Indian ascetic teacher who lived around the 6th century BCE, contemporaneous with Mahavira and the Buddha.
Purana taught a theory of "non-action" (Pāli, Skt.
: akiriyāvāda) whereby the body acts independent of the soul, merit or demerit.
[3] In the Pali Canon, Purana (along with the ascetic Makkhali Gosala) is identified as an ahetuvadin, "denier of a cause" (of merit).
The Dhammapada commentary claims that Purana died by drowning himself.