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dhaghồsa divided mankind into six classes. the third class of which contained the Nigan. thas. As Jacobi points out “Gosâla probably would not have ranked them as a separate i. e. fundamental subdivision of mankind, if they had only recently come into existence." The other proof mentioned by Jacobi is that in the Magghima Nikaya, there is narrated a disputation between Buddha and Sakkaka, the son of a Niganth, and not a Nigantha himself. From this incident Jacobi rightly argues that when a famous controversialist whose father was a Nigantha, was a contemporary of the Buddha, the Nigadthas can scarcely have been a sect founded during Buddha's life.”
4B Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
