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disciple of Parasharputra according to Kanva branch and that of Mandaviputra according to Madhyamdin branch.
Although there is nothing more but his name in the Vedic tradition, but still it can be deduced that he was some sage belonging to the Upanishad period. All this naturally gives rise to the question that Vajjiputta of Rishibhashit, Buddhist Vajjiputta, and Vatsiputra of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad are three different persons or just one. As no philosophy or thought of Vatsiputra are available in the Vedic tradition, it is difficult to establish his sameness with Vajjiputta of Rishibhashit. Whereas due to similarity of thoughts the proximity of Vajjiputta of Rishibhashit and Vajjiputta of Buddhists is established. The existence of a sect of Vajjiputtiyas in Buddhism also proves that he must have originally belonged to the Buddhist tradition.
The question that who was Vatsiputra of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad still remains to be answered. As no other Buddhist monk has been mentioned in the Upanishads, it is difficult to say that Vatsiputra of Brihadaranyaka and Vajjiputta of Buddhist tradition were same. Had he been a common Ther of Buddhist tradition it would have been possible that he had been accepted in Buddhist tradition like Narad and others. But in Buddhist tradition his place is as the leader of a sect and not an ordinary monk. However, one cannot deny the possibility that earlier he was connected with the tradition of Upanishadic sages and, being influenced by Buddha, had joined the ranks of Buddhist monks at a later date. Being a Buddhist and still living in jungle is certainly an evidence of his diverseness. Also, the fact that first voice of decent within the Buddhist organisation came from his disciples indicates that roots of his tradition were a little different. The absence of any information other than his name in the tradition of Upanishadic sages also indicates that he shifted to some other tradition in the later part of his life.
3. ASIT DEVAL
The mention of Asit Deval can be found in all the three streams of Indian thought-Vedic, Jain, and Buddhist. The religious canon of Deval was popular during the ancient period
154 इसिभासियाई सुत्ताई
| SR No. | 006236 |
| Book Title | Rushibhashit Sutra |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Vinaysagar, Sagarmal Jain, Kalanath Shastri, Dineshchandra Sharma |
| Publisher | Prakrit Bharti Academy |
| Publication Year | 2016 |
| Total Pages | 512 |
| Language | Hindi |
| Classification | Book_Devnagari & agam_anykaalin |
| File Size | 33 MB |