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अनुसन्धान-५४ श्रीहेमचन्द्राचार्यविशेषांक भाग-२
In recent times, it has been argued, on the basis of certain references within the Epic, that two momentous events, namely, the Mahābhārata War and the 'manifestation of Krishna, mark the transition from the third, Dvāpara-yuga, to the fourth, Kali-yuga :
antare caiva samprāpte kalidvāparayor iha/ samantapancake yuddham KuruPāndavasenayoh//
Mahābhārata, 1, 2-9-10.
dvāparasya kalesh caiva samdhau paryavasānike/ prādurbhāvah Kamsahetor mathurāyām bhavishayti//
12, 326.82. (See Gonzalez-Reimann, p. 109.) According to the traditional Indian Pancānga Calendar, the present Kali Yuga had started in 3,102 B.C. (See GonzalezReimann, p. 169.) Accordingly, the possible date for Krishna and the Pāndavas could be 3,200 B.C., a historical date, comparable to the date assigned by modern historians for the oldest pyramid in Egypt.
The Jaina tradition does not reckon time by the division of the Yugas. The Jainas do recognize the Vikrama samvat (56 B.C.) and the Shālivāhana Shaka (78 A.D.) for secular purposes, but have traditionally used the Vira-nirvāna-samvat, counting from the death (nirvāna) of Tirthankara Mahāvira. He died at the age of seventy-two, traditionally in 526 B.C. Mahāvira (599-526 B.C.) is recognized as a contemporary of the Buddha Gautama (622-542 B.C.) [Modern scholars have suggested a date closer to c. 450 B.C. for the nirvāna of both.]
The Jaina texts have produced elaborate charts assigning the (Indian) dates (tithi-s and so forth) for the auspicious events (kalyānas), namely, conception, birth, renunciation, attainment of Omniscience (kevalajnana), and death (nirvāna), of the twenty-four Tirthankaras, from Rishabha to Mahāvira. The charts also provide the (often astronomical) number of
