________________
122 The Hathigumpha Inscription and the Bhabru Edict Date of Mahāvīra's nirvāņa An entirely new chronological build-up is being suggested by some scholars and it has been summarised in a way in The Mahāvīra Era supplement appended to the Tulsi Prajñā, XVIII, 4 (28 February, 1993). It has been edited by Dr. Parmeshwar Solanki who himself pushes the date of Mahāvīra's nirvāņa back to 1761 BC and includes an article by Upendra Nath Roy who pushes the date further back to 1834 BC. They respectively place the demise of the Buddha in 1738 BC and 1890 BC. They substantiate their view by an amalgam of Kalki myth of the Jains, Saptarsi (Seven Star) constellation, and the lore in the Vāyu, Matsya and Vişnu Purāṇas. In their zeal to press their point, Roy would dismiss the epigraphic evidence dateable in 396 Bc affirming the 544 Bc date of the Buddha's demise (ref. Dr. S. Parana Vitana: 'New Light on the Buddhist Era in Ceylon and Early Simhalese Chronology, University of Ceylon Review, XVIII, 1960, pp. 19-55), while Solanki would invent dasame ca vase Kalimga răjavasane tatiyayuge sagāvasāne Kalimgayuvarājanaṁ vāsakāram kārāpayati as the tenth line of the Hāthīgumphä Inscription of Khāravela. All this pushes the chronology of the historical period of Ancient India also into a mythological haze, and these dates ought not to be taken seriously therefore.
Similarly, some scholars insist on 467 BC as the date of Mahāvira's nirvāṇa (demise) on the basis of some Svetāmbara Pattāvalis including the Himavanta-Theravali and the error made by Hemacandra Sūri in placing Candragupta 155 years after Mahāvīra's nirvāņa. Dr. Sagarmal Jain admits that the authenticity of the dates of pontiffs given in the Pattāvalis is suspect and there is no basis to reconcile the discrepencies, but all the same he would insist on 467 BC (vide, Sāgara Jaina-Vidyā Bhārati, pt. I, pp. 254-68). It is to be noted that the error of Hemacandra was detected by Merutunga in his Vicārasreni, and that Hemacandra himself did not have any doubt about 527 BC as the date of Mahāvira's nirvāna since he says in his
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
