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there prevailed a rumour that Mahāvira would die within six months, as foretold by Gosalak? (97). This rumour would have reached Buddha, and consequently the story about Mahavira's Nirvana would have become prevalent.
Developing his line of argument, Muni Kalyana Vijayaji writes (98). "The belief of the Buddhist that Buddha died just one year after he had heard about Mahāvira's deaths (precisely speaking, the rumour of the Maha vira's death) gives us a clue to find out the exact interval between the death of Mahavira and Buddha". Further, he states that according to the Bhagavati Sutra (99), Mahāvira died 16 years after having been injured by the Tejo-lesya of Gosa-. laka. On this basis, he has fixed the date of Buddha's Nir - vāna. Muni Kalyana Vijayaji also claims that (100) the date of Buddha's Nirvana inferred by him, is coincident with the Ceylonese date of Buddha's death.
A Critique
As far as the date of Mahāvira's Nirvana is concerned, Muni Kalyana Vijayaji's view seems to be quite correct. But it appears that in deciding Buddha's date, he has nearly depended on guesswork. The allusions of the Buddhist scriptures, which relate the event of Mahāvira's death, have been much distorted by him. Such far-fetched interpretations can never be regarded as historical facts. To call the date of Buddha's Nirvana decided by him (542 B.C.). to be coincident with the Ceylonese date of the Buddha's Nirvana (544 B.C.) (101) is a good example of far-fetching technique used by him. There is a clear difference of two years, which can not be regarded negligible, as he has asked us to do so (102).
One of the evidence, adduced by him to show Buddha's seniority to Mahāvira, is (103): "In the Buddhist texts, wherever the rival teachers of Buddha are enumerated, the name of Niggantha Nataputta (i, e. Mahavira) appears in the end of the lists. This has also happened, perhaps in the end of the lists. It is so, most probably, because Mahavira was the youngest amongst the rivals of Buddha". The weakness of argument is obvious. Even Mahāvira's name appears in the end of the list of Buddha's rivals, it does not at all mean that Mahāvira was younger than Buddha. On the contrary, such references clearly indicate that all the six rivals
