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CHAPTER V.
The examination and refutation of Dr.Bhandarkar's first two arguments against the antiquity of the Jains viz. "1st Some of its ideas resemble those of the Vaiseshikas. 2nd A morbid extravagance characterises its moral discipline etc."
After having shown that Mahavira was a contemporary of Buddha and that a sect very analogous to the Jains prevailed in India before Buddhism was established, we shall examine the opinion of the great living Indian Sanskrit scholar, the venerable Dr. Bhandarkar, who holds a contrary view about the antiquity of the Jains as a religious system. He acknowledges that the "doctrinal differences and differences minor points are so great that Jainism and Buddhism must be considered as two different systems of religion springing from the same stream of ideas." He even admits that the "Nigantha Nataputha may have
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Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
