________________
138
JAIN JOURNAL
Mahavira passed away could not have come over to the enemy country that Magadha was. Both the points clash headlong with the Jaina tradition which is now upheld by many European scholars as correct. Even Jacobi has written that there is nothing to question the authenticity of the Jaina tradition. But unfortunately the claim of the Buddhist Pava as the place where Mahavira passed away is now being pressed afresh by a section of the Jaina community on the same grounds as aforesaid. It is, therefore, necessary to dissect the point at issue to meet the renewed challenge against the Jaina tradition whose correctness is upheld not only by thousands of devoted hearts in the Jaina community but is strictly in conformity with the words of the Agamic texts.
According to the Kalpa Sūtra, Bhagavan Mahavira entered into nirvāņa at pāvāe majjhimāye. Anyone having a knowledge of the geography of the region at that time should recollect that there were three Payas of which one, the Buddhist Pava was in the north, near Kusinara, the second Majjhima Pava of the Jainas was in the middle in Magadha, the principal region of Mahavira's activities, and the third, the capital of the Mallas of the Bhanga country was somewhere near the Parsvanath Hill (Sammet Sikhar). Pava of the Jaina tradition geographically stood in the middle between the other two. Sentimentally, too, this place was to Mahavira as Sarnath was to the Buddha. It was at this middle Pava that Mahavira took his first disciples, and hence it was natural for him to select the same place for his final moments where one day he 'started as a Tirthankara.
Some of the recent enthusiasts of the controversy, notably Mr. K. L. Saraogi is of opinion that the word majjhimāye stands for Madhyadesa and in support of this he cites an incomplete text from Bịhat KalpaSutra confusing it to be from Bhadrabahu's Kalpa Sūtra, where, according to him the boundary of Madhyadesa has been given : kappai nigganthāna vā nigganthiņa vā puratthimenań jāva anga-magahão ettae dakkhinenań jāva kosambio pañcātthimeņam jāva thūnā visayāo uttarenaṁ jāva kuņālā visayão ettae etāvatāva kappai. But truly speaking this is not the boundary of Madhyadesa but the area where a wandering monk could go, because that was the limit of the Aryan zone : etāva tāva ārie khette no se kappai etto bahir tena param jattha nāna dansana caritāis ussapparti tti bemi. So majjhimā does not stand for Madhyadesa and majjhimāye pāvāe does not signify Pava which was to the north of the Ganga.
Other evidences cited by Mr. Saraogi are flimsy and may simply. be overlooked. For instance, he cites that about 10 years back a college
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
