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Mahăvira and Buddha
Problem of Chronology
There are mainly three sources, which throw light on the ancient chronology of India :
1. Purāņic, 2. Jain, 3. Buddhist
The first of these, viz. the Purāņic chronology is based on the Purāna such as Vişnu Purāņa, Matasya Purāņa, Vāyu Purāņa, Ehāgvat-Purāņa, etc. The second one i.e. the Jain chronology is found in the ancient works of Jain tradition such as, Titthogali Painnaya, Merutunga's Vicāra Śreņi, etc. The Buddist chronology is based on the Ceylonese chronicles Dipavaṁsa and Mahāvamśa.
The first of the above sources is the earliest of all. The Purāṇas cited above according to the historians, were compiled in the fourth century B.C.
Titthogali Painnaya, the work of the Jain tradition describing the chronology of ancient India, is believed to be composed in the 3rd or the 4th century A.D.
1. The Purāna certainly existed in any form in the fourth century
B.C., for we find in Kautilaya's Arthaśāstra, a reference to the Purāna.-- Janārdana Bhatt, Bhaudha Kālina Bhärata, p. 3.
In the opinion of scholars, the administrative system, described in Kautilya's Arthaśāstra is, in reality, an elaborated discussion of Candragupta Maurya's administration. So, the date of Arthaśāstra is, in no case, later than 3rd century B.C. Hence, it can be said that the Puranas were composed much earlier than the 3rd century B.C.
Shri Baladeva Upadhayaya, Ārya Samskști Ke Muladhāra, p. 164. 2. Muni Kalyan Vijayaji, op. cit—, p. 30n.
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