Agama And Tripitaka Comparative Study

SR No.: 022804
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Nagaraj Muni
Publisher: Today and Tomorrows Printers and Publishers
Publication Year: 1986
Total Pages: 804
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 19 MB

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fought between Ajātsatru (Konika), the king of Magadha and the Vajjis (or Cetaka, the king of Vais ali), etc. than what is found in Buddhist scriptures,
In the Buddhist scriptures, Vass akara, the Prime Minister of Ajatsatru only lays down a plan of the victory over Vajjis before Buddha, whereas the Jain scriptures bear a pictures que description not only of the Maha Sila -Kantaka war and Rath- Musala war that took place between Cetaka and Konika, but also of the demolition of the rampart of Vais ali and finally of the victory of the king of Magadha over the Vajjis'.
On the basis of this evidence, Dr. Jacobi concludes (21), "It confirms that Mahavira survived Buddha by several years (probably seven years)".
The extent to which the compilers of the scriptures collected contemporary events in the scriptures, depended upon the nature of their selection and needs. Even if we accept that the compilation made by the Jains is more extensive and exhaustive in comparison to that made by the Buddhists, it does not prove that Mahavira lived for some years even after the death of Buddha.
Ajatsatru in the Buddhist Pitakas
It is a fact that the Jain scriptures have shed more light on detailed accounts related to Konika. This is just and natural because of Konika's intimate association with the Jain religion. According to Dr. Rhys Davids, a distinguish scholar, who carried out a first rate research on the Buddhist literature, however extensive the delineation of Ajāts atru in the Buddhist Pitakas may be, it only proves that he was a mere sympathizer of Buddha, and not a follower. Ajāts atru had once called on Buddha and asked him what the fruits of monkhood were (22)? With reference to that even Rhys Davids writes (23). At the close of the discourse the king is stated to have openly taken the Buddha as his guide in future, and to have given expression to the remorse he felt at the murder of his father. But it is also distinctively