According to the Buddhist and Jaina records he was a non-Brahmin preacher. The people held him in high esteem. He was the earliest exponent of Indian materialism. He was called Kesakambalin because he put on a blanket of human hair over his head. According to him there was no merit in sacrifice and offerings and no resultant fruit from good and evil deeds. None passes from this world to the next. There is no afterlife. No benefit results from the service rendered to the parents. He was a nihilist in metaphysics and an antinomian in ethics.
A human being is built of four elements. When he dies, the earthy in him relapses to earth, the fluid to water, the heat to fire, the windy to air and his indriyas or six senses pass into space (Akasa). When a body dies both fools and wise alike perish. They do not survive after death. The general attitude of the materialists, according to their critics, was that all religious observances and morality were futile. A man should make most of his life and get what happiness he could out of it. They rejected the virtues of Buddhism and Jainism. Hence, Buddha and Mahavira condemned them for their evil motives.
A man must not turn back from pleasure for fear of concomitant sorrow. He must accept occasional sorrow gladly for the sake of joy like bones with flesh and corn with husk.