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Makāvīra and Buddha
Muni Shri Nagrajji has made an extremely reflective study of the subject in this work. On the basis of his research-work, he has found out that
(1) Mahāvira was senior to Buddha ; (2) Mahăvira predeceased Buddha ; (3) Mahāvira had earned much fame and veneration on
account of his religious leadership and erudition long before the enlightenment of Buddha.
The learned author has established that Buddha attained the Nirvana in 502 B.C., while Mahāvıra in 527 B.C. It should be noted that due to the lack of purely Indian sources, it is very difficult to decide the exact date of Buddha's death. On the one hand, the Ceylonese Chronicle Mahavamsa puts the event in 544 B.C., while on the other hand, by putting the event 218 years before the consecration of Asoka, 487 B.C. is also accepted as the date of Buddha's Nirvana.
527 B. C. is generally accepted to be the date of Mahāvīra's Nirvana. Nevertheless, some scholars have put forward some arguments against this date. But all of them are adroitly refuted by the author.
The author has critically discussed the views of Indian as well as foreign scholars such as Dr. Jacobi, Dr. Charpentier, Dr. Jayaswal, Dr. Shanti Lal Shah, Pt. Sukh Lalji, Muni Kalyna Vijayaji, Shri Vijayendra Suti and several other prominent historians. Such a contemplative and unbiased discussion of the problem of the contemporaneity and chronology of Mahavīra and Buddha is not found anywhere else.
Dr. DASHRATH SHARMA, M.A., Ph. D. Reader, Department of History
University of Delhi
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