Contemporaneity and Chronology of Mahavira and Buddha

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

Page 36

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Mahāvīra and Buddha
cation. Dr. Jacobi also holds that it is not justifiable to doubt the Jain traditions about the sacred place of Mahāvīra's Nirvana. Even if we may assume that the Buddhists had made this mistake on account of the identical name of Pāvā allotted by them, for such mistakes are liable to be committed, it can not be interpreted that the whole story about Mahāvīra's Nirvāṇa is completely forged. As a matter of fact, Dr. Jacobi's caution against our expressing even the slightest possible doubt regarding the Pāvā accepted in the Jain tradition, has not only been rendered dubious on historical grounds, but it has also become baseless.
Often there happens to be a striking contrast between history and tradition. The traditional Ksatriyakunda situated near Lichchhuad is supposed to be the birth-place of Mahāvīra but the research carried into it by modern history has proved it wholly un-authentic. According to the historical concept, the village Basādh, situated in Mujjaffarpur District, 27 miles away to the North of Patna is no other than the Ksatriyakunda, the birth-place of Mahāvīra. Thus the traditional birth-place lies far off to South of the Ganges, while the historically accepted place is situated to the North of the Ganges.
So is the case of Pāvā. Traditionally accepted Pāvā lies in the South Bihar and the splendid temples standing there have made it to be the place of pilgrimage for the Jains. But history does not share the belief that it is the true place of Mahāvīra's Nirvāna. According to the modern view, the Pāvā of Mahāvīra's Nirvāṇa should be in the North of the Ganges, for the 18 kings of the republics of Mallas and Licchavis were present in Pāvā at the time of
1.
Ivid, p. 16.