________________
PRAKRIT AND JAINISM SECTION
SOME OF THE COMMON FEATURES IN THE LIFE
STORIES
OF THE BUDDHA AND MAHĀVĪRA
In this short paper I would like to draw the attention of the scholars to some striking common features found in the life-stories of the Buddha and Mahāvīra.
(1) The Story of bearing the Seed:
Both these personalities became perfect in their final birth having undergone spiritual discipline in their previous births. They were not perfect in actuality from the time immemorial as is the case with God in some other systems. So, it is but natural that the life-stories of these two great personalities should be told from that particular previous birth that marks, in their journey to the Final Goal, a turning-point when they bore a seed that is to develop at last as Buddhahood and Tirthankarahood and to make them Buddha and Tīrthankara, Founder of the Path of Liberation.
If we compare the stories we find that Bodhisattva Sumedha prepares the way for the Dipankara Buddha by putting himself into the mud, so that Dipankara may not have any trouble in passing through the mudpath. And by this benevolent action Sumedha sows the seed in him to become Buddha in future life.
Similar incidence is found in the story of Mahāvīra. The head of a village (grāmacintaka), whose name is not given in the Avaśyakacūrṇi but who is named as Nayasara in later literature, shows the way to the monks who had lost their way in woods and who were hungry for many days. He also provides them with food and other necessary things. By this benevolent action Nayasara bears the seed that is to develop and make him Tīthankara Mahāvīra.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
