Jain Journal 1967 04

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 27

158
JAIN JOURNAL
71 years and 6 months. The Buddha was born in 567 B.C. (May) and he died in 487 B.C. (May). He was alive exactly for 80 years.
The point which induced us to try to find out the correct date of Mahavira is this :
In the Buddhist Tripitaka literature (Maj. Nik. II.3.7.) it is stated in most unequivocal terms that one particular rainy season was spent at Rajagrha by the Buddha as well as Mahavira and five other heretical teachers. Scholars so far have not paid serious attention to it. Had they done it, they would have been able to find out the correct date of Mahavira. Charpentier also knew this passage and certain other passages of the same type. On page 126 (foot-note 29) of the Indian Antiquity for 1914, he says, "The Majjhima Nikāya II, p. 2. sq. tells us how the six heretical teachers once spent the rainy season in Rajagrha at the same time as Buddha. Mahavira spent fourteen of his varşas there according to Kalpa Sūtra $122.” But he, too, ignored it. This passage, as a matter of fact, provides us with another means from the Buddhist side (besides the one indicating that Mahavira predeceased the Buddha) to arrive at the correct date of Mahavira.
We proceeded to find out the date of that specific rainy season and consulted the lives of the Buddha and Mahavira, viz., Buddhacaryā (in Hindi) by Rahula Sankrityayana (2nd Ed.. Banaras. 1952) and Bhagawan Mahāvīra (in English) by Muni Ratnaprabha Vijaya, Vol. II, Parts I and II (Ahmedabad, 1948 and 1951) respectively. According to the former the date of the Buddha is 563 B.C.-483 B.C. and according to the latter the date of Mahavira is 597 B.C.-526 B.C. We have, however, followed only the years of the lives of these teachers with regard to particular events and not the dates of these events in terms of B.C. years offered by the two above mentioned writers. We were surprised to see that we could find out the particular rainy season in which both the Buddha and Mahavira were at Rajagrha. This was done in the following way :
In Buddhacaryā, which is a systematised collection of the Hindi translation of the selected passages from ancient Buddhist literature, especially Tripitaka literature, it is stated (p. 248) that Lord Buddha spent his 17th rainy season (after enlightenment) at Rajagrha ; and then follows the Hindi translation of Mahāsakuludāyi Sutta (Maj. Nik., II. 3.7) in which it is said (p. 249) that on that particular occasion both the Buddha and Nirgrantha Nataputta spent their rainy season at Rajagrha.