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

Page 97

Life of Lord Mahavira
to the Cantonese reckoning which places the death of the Buddha in 486 B.C., or according to the Ceylonese one which places it in 514 B.C., whichever is accepted as the basis. Between 478.B.C. and 486 B.C., the first date is said to be in conformity with Hemachandra's who is said to have placed Chandragupta's accession in M.E. 155, that is 323 B.C. in this case, which cannot be far from the truth, but that would be at variance with the clear evidence of the Buddhist canonical texts which make the Buddha survive his Jñātņika rival. Hence he considers 486 B.C. to be a more likely date as it is also in keeping with the year of Ajātaśatru's accession. The Jaina statement that their Tirthankara dies some sixteen years after the accession of Kūņika (Ajātaśatru) can be reconciled with the Buddhist tradition about the death of the same teacher before the eighth year of Ajātasatru, if we assume that the Jainas, who refer to Kūņika as the ruler of Champī, begin their reckoning from the accession of the prince to the viceregal throne of Champā while the Buddhists make the accession of Ajātaśatru to the royal throne of Rājagriha the basis for their calculation.
C.D. CHATTERJEEI also favours 486 B.G., because for him 483 B.C. is definitely the correct year of the Buddha's death and because he believes, on the basis of 'clear evidence of the Buddhist tradition on this question' that Malāvīra prcdeceased the Buddha. 488 B.C.
H.C. Seth suggests 4SS B.C. as the date of Mahāvíra's death on the basis of the Buddhist tradition, assuming 487 B.C. as the date of the Buddha's dcath. The great difficulty in accepting 468 B.C. according to him is that it will place MahāVira's death several years after that of the Buddha. On the other hand, the tradition preserved in the Buddhist Pali canon clearly says that Nigantha Nātaputta, i.e. Jahāvīra, died at Pāvā a little before the Buddha.
1. B.C. Law Volunc, Pt. I, pp. 606-607, f.n. 30, 2. Bhürala-kaumudi, Part II, pp. 817-838.