Ajita Kesakambala (Keśakambalin in Sanskrit), a senior contemporary of the Buddha, is generally recognised as an early (if not the earliest) materialist in India. As with the later Cārvāka/Lokāyata-s, no authentic report of his teachings—not to speak of any work composed by him or his disciple—has come down to us. Whatever little we know of him is derived from Buddhist (Pali) and Jain (Prakrit) sources. Both the sects regarded him as a rival, so their accounts may not be accurate or without prejudice (as Goonasekere admits).

One full statement of Ajita's views is found in the SPhS. He tells king Ajātasattu (Ajātaśatru) of Magadha:

Jayatilleke points out that the view expressed in the last part of the passage does not square with the materialist position: