________________
[ 100 ]
scriptures I met with the mention of Mahavira under the name Niganth Natagsuta. Nagatsuta is name of Mahavira since he belonged to the Kshtriya clan of the Natas or Jnatas, and Nigantha is an ancient name of the Jain used in their sacred books. So there could be no doubt that Mahavira was a contemporary of Budha; the Budhist further mentions the name of the place where Mahavira died. The independence of Jainisrn from Budhism being thus proved we were able to proceed one step further. The Budhists frequently refer to the Niganthas or Jains as a rival sect, but they never so much as hint that this sect was a newly founded one. On the contrary from the way in which they speak of it, it would seem that this sect of Nigant has was at Budha's time already one of long standing, or in other words it seems probably that Jainism is considerably older than Budhism. We shall find in the sequel reasons to confirm this view,
PRINCIPLES OF BUDHIST PHILOSOPHY
Wben we study more closely the principles of Budhist philosophy on the one hand and those of Jain philosophy on the other, the difference seems so great that it precludes an idea of common origin. Budha denied being a something permanent,
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
