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MAHĀVĪRA. HIS LIFE AND TEACHINGS
clan, so was Mahāvira called Nātaputta because he was a scion of the Nata clan
, 1
He is introduced in some of the Buddhist texts, along with five other contemporary teachers, as the head of an order, of a following, the teacher of a school, well-known and of repute as a sophist, revered by the people, a man of experience who has long been a recluse, old, and well-stricken in years The phrase 'old and well-stricken in years was not meant to be interpreted literally and too rigorously It was meant to be interpreted rather loosely as signifying that Mahavira was senior to the Buddha in age, 1 e an elder contemporary In point of fact, in some of the texts this phrase is omitted altogether " And all the six teachers, including Mahāvīra, predeceased the Buddha."
2
9
The early records of the Buddhists clearly attest that Mahāvīra died at Pāvā When the news that as soon as Mahavira died, his followers fell quarrelling among themselves, having been divided into two camps, was conveyed to the
1 Dialogues of the Buddha, S BB, II, p 66, Sāmaññaphala Sutta, Digha, I, p 49
2 Cf Sabhiya Sutta, Sutta Nipata, pp. 92 foll
8 Majjhima-Nikaya, II, pp 2-3
Majjhima-Nikaya, II, 243, Patika Sutta, Digha, III.
