Lord Mahavira and His Times

SR No.: 011080
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Kailashchandra Jain
Publisher: Motilal Banarasidas
Publication Year: 1974
Total Pages: 427
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 20 MB

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Lord Mahavira and His Times Buddha and Sakdāl, the son of a Nirgrantha. Sakdal was not himself a Nirgrantha. Now, when a famous controversialist, whose father was a Nirgrantha, was a contemporary of Buddha, the Nirgrantha sect could scarcely have been founded during Buddha's life-time.
4. The existence of Pārsva's Order in Mahāvýra's time is proved by the reported disputes between the followers of Pārsva and those of Mahāvīra. The followers of Pârśva, who did not fully recognize Mahāvīra as their spiritualʻguide, existed during Mahāvīra's life-time. A sort of compromise was effected between the two sections of the Jaina Church.
These arguments clearly show that Pārsvanātha was a real historical figure. Very few facts of his life are, however, known. The Kalpasūtra informs us that Pārśva was the son of king Aśvasena of Vārāṇasi (Banaras) and queen Vāmā, :. belonging to the Ikshvāku race of the Kshatriyas. No such person as Aśvasena is known, from Brāhmaṇa records, to have existed. The only individual of that name, mentioned in epic literature, was a king of the Snakes (Nāgas), and he cannot in any way be connected with the father of the Jaina prophet 'Pārsva'. Pārsva is said to have been born in 877B.C. It is evidently impossible to prove the correctness of this date as we do not have a single definite date in Indian history before the time of Buddha.
Many legends have gathered round Pārsva. Throughout his life he was connected with snakes in one way or the other. In his childhood, for instance, while he lay by the side of his mother, a serpent was seen crawling about there. When he grew up, he saved a serpent from the grave danger it was in. He also saved a poor terrified snake which had taken shelter in a log of wood to which a Brāhmin ascetic, Kamatha, was setting fire. After its death, the snake becamc God Dharanendra who spread a serpent’s hood over Pārsva.
Pārsva was married to Prabhāvati, the daughter of Prasenajit the king of Kuśasthala. He must have been a man of genial nature, as he is always given the epithet Purishādānija,
1. Kalpa, 149, 155.