Contemporaneity and Chronology of Mahavira and Buddha

Author(s): Nagrajmuni, Mahendramuni
Publisher: Today and Tomorrows Book Agency

Page 10

Mahavira and Buddha
in all preached for over a period of forty-four years. Now if, according to Dr. Jacobi, Mahavira attained the Nirvana seven years later than Buddha, how is it possible that Mahāvīra had already done a good deal of preaching even before Buddha ?
"Relying on the Uvavai Sutra, one of the thirty-two canons accepted by the Terapantha Sect, Dr. Jacobi has tried to refute the erroneous theory of some of the Western scholars based on (i) the Samagama Sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya, (ii) the Pasadika Suttanta of the Majjhima Nikāya, and (iii) the Sangitipariyaya Suttanta of the Digha Nikaya. Therefore, the untenable notion of the Terapantha sect stands to scrutiny. It is not without significance that Mahāvīra himself said in the Bhagavati Sūtra that he would live for sixteen years after the death of Gośalaka and that the Mahasilä kanṭaka and Rathamusala wars were fought by Konika, just after he became the king of Magadha. The first war was spoken of as a 'finality' by Gośālaka. Moreover, according to the Buddhists, Buddha attained the Nirvana in the eighth year of Ajatsatru's (Konika's) reign.
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"In spite of all these evidences to the contrary, it is beyond my comprehension how Terapanthis continue to hold to their rigid belief. It verily needs an explanation....It will be in the fitness of things if you publish an article detailing the evidence and the reasons for the said belief."
I received this letter during my chaturmasa at Saradarasahara in Vikrama Samvat 2019 (i.e. in 1962). At that time I was extremely busy in my usual literary pursuits and in seasonal festivities. Simultaneously, I was carrying on the onerous responsibility of giving religious instruction to 1500 Jain families of Saradarasahara. The result was that I could not give any serious thought to the above-mentioned letter. However, a copy of the same was sent to Acharya Sri Tulsi, at Udaipur, by Jaina Bharat quarterly of the Jain Svetambara Terapanthi Maha