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with concrete evidences. It is quite probable that the verse on the basis of which Dr. Jacobi has inferred the date of Mahāvira's Nirvana, mith have also been composed with the same carelessness. The date of Mahavira's Nirvana accepted by Hemacandracarya himself, while stating the period of his own contemporary king Kumarapala is 527 B.C., and not 477 B.C. Hemacandracarya writes in Trisastisalakapur scaritra (61): "When 1669 years will have been completed after the death of Mahāvira, there will flourish a king named Kumarapala who will shine like a moon of Caulukya dynasty". Now it is unanimously accepted that Kumarapala's accession took place in 1142 A, D, (02). But according to Hemacandracarya, the interval between this event and the date of Mahāvira's Nirvana is 1669 years. In this way, Hemacandracarya himself has also accepted 1669-1142 = 527 B.C., as the date of Mahāvira's Nirvana.
The Date of Buddha's Nirvana
Dr. Jacobi regards 484 B.C., as the date of Buddha's Nirvana, for according to him (63), "The southern Buddhists hold that Candragupta's accession took place 162 years after the death of Buddha. And the uncontroversial date of Candragupta's enthronement is 322 B.C. Hence (322 + 162 ) = 484 B.C. is the date of Bud dha's Nirvana". The fact regarding Candragupta's accession gleaned by Dr. Jacobi referring to the tradition of Southern Buddhists is taken from the Ceylonese chronicle - Mahavamsa (64). But on one hand the Mahavamsa state that Candragupta's accession took place 162 years after Buddha's death, while on the other hand it shows 543 B.C. as the date of Buddha's Nirvana (65). Dr. Jacobi, too has hold it as the most popular date of Buddha's Nirvana accepted by the traditions (66). Now if Mahavamsa considering 543 B.C. as the date of Buddha's Nirvana, place Candragupta's enthronement 162 years after the death of Buddha, we get 381 B.C.. as the date of Candragupta's accession. But it does not agree with the uncontroversial historical data of Candragupta's accession viz. 322 B.C. Hence, it is obvious that the date of Buddha's Nirvana fixed by Dr. Jacobi on the basis of the suspicious evidence of Mahavamsa (67) is not compatible.
