Contemporaneity and Chronology of Mahavira and Buddha

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

Page 61

Muni Kalyana Vijayaji used. This also proves that Buddha was younger than all. the six rivals of him.
In connection with the above occasion the Sāmmannyaphala-Sutta of the Digha Nikāya further states that the king Ajātšatru, after having heard from his ministers about the merits of all the teachers went to Buddha for passing his. time in religious discussion. There he asked Buddha what the direct fruit of monkhood was, and also informed Buddha that he had asked the same question to the six religious teachers before. This was the first contact of Ajātáatru with Buddha. Are not all these facts enough to show that Mahāvīra and other five religious teachers were: older than Buddha ?
Testimony of the Later Works
One of the testimonies advocated by Muni Kalyana Vijayaji to defend his view is? : “The Jain traditional record of Sreņika and his queen Cellana shows that Śrenika. was first a follower of Buddha and afterwards was converted to Jain faith. “But, as a matter of fact, this account is based only on later Jain stories and hence it has no historical importance. Moreover, Muni Kalyaņa Vijayaji has not men-- tioned in which authoritative work, the said account is. recorded. In a similar way, he has choosen five statements from the later Buddhist work to show the seniority of Buddha, and that too without mentioning the original references. Most of those beliefs seems to have no connection with the Buddhist Pițakas. Some of them even contradict the facts of the Buddhist Pițakas.
1. Op. cit. p. 2. 2. Op. cit. p. 2.