Tulsi Prajna 1993 02

SR No.: 524574
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Parmeshwar Solanki
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati
Publication Year: 1993
Total Pages: 166
Language: Hindi
Classification: Magazine, India_Tulsi Prajna, & India
File Size: 7 MB

Page 137

Mahāvira Era
29
other cases. Dr. D.S. Triveda has a strong case when he argues that Asoka's inscriptions name territories only and do not contain nanies of any kings 18 It is remarkable here ihat the western sources have cared to mention the missions sent by even the most petty rulers of India. Sometimes dubious persons are represented as the embassy of some Indian ruler to glorify western rulers. The mission to Augustus, for example, belongs to that dubious category. 19 So had Asoka sent his messengers to those foreign rulers in fact, they must have felt honoured and their chropiclers could not fail to narrate with relish. As for the figure 218 years, it is misplaced from Jaina tradition and even Charpenlier does not believe that it represents the interval between the death of Buddha and coronation of Asoka.
So the Purānas offer us the safest and surest ground for the Chronology of ancient India. We find the following clues for the Chronology in the Purāņas : (i) One cycle of the Saptarșis ended since the reign of Pratīpa of
the Kuru dynasty to the end of the Āndhra dynasty. That
means 2707 years 6 months passed during the period. (ii) 1500 years passed since the birth of Pariksita to the coronation
of Mahāpadma. (iii) 836 years passed from the coronation of Mahāpadma Nanda
to the end of the Andhra dynasty. (iv) Pariksita was born a few months after the Mahābhārata war
and coronated at the age of 36 years. His accession marked the beginning of the Kali-age. The Saptarsis were staying in the Maghā during the reign of Pariksita. The Kali-age was extended after the reign of the Nanda dynasty and the Saptarsis moved to Purvāsādha. The Saptarșis were staying in the 24th nakșatra (i.e. from Magbā)
at the end of the Andhra dynasry.
Then the Purāņas mention the duration of the reign of various dynasties, The unanimous and therefore reliable testimony of the Buddhist texts is that Buddha died during the eighth year of Ajātaśatru's reign. The Tibetan sources add that 500 yea rise of Buddhism had expired during the reign of Puśyamitra and 500 years of the decline of Buddhism began with the atrocities of of Pusya mitra. As Puśyamitra died five years after the atrocities, 505 years since the death of Buddha must have passed by the time. 20 We can find out the dates of Buddha and Mabāvīra with the help of these pieces of information.
Parikşita was born 36 years before the Kali-age, i.e., 3137 B.C.