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Mummon all his followers together and warned them against any scbismatic tendencies after his death, as was allegedly happening in the case of Mahavira's Nirvana. To ignore these facts as erroneous, because they run counter to one's own fanciful theories and calculations, is not rational and logical
Doubts and debates a part, there is no denying the fact that Mahavira and Buddha had a contemporaneity of more than two decades, preacbing in the same localitis and finding some of their followers changing allegiance from one to the other teacher even more than once. This, taken into account with the fact that they both belonged to an earlier phase of the Sramana ideology, would naturally lead us to expect a large annount of similarity in the teachings of the two systems and numerous references to one another in their literature. This is more so in the Buddhist works than in the Jaina, presumably because the younger were more envious of their seniors than vice versa. On the other hand, it is also a fact that the known Jaina canonical works assumed their present shape much later than their Buddhist counterparts. Hence, whatever historical, philosophical or religious references to Jainism are found therein, they are of great importance, not only for both the systems of thought but for the cultural history of India as a whole.
This is what has been thoroughly studied by the author of the present book, Dr. Bhagchandra Jain. He is by birth and faith a Jaina and a Buddhist scholar by choice. He has not only dived deep into Buddhist literature, but also stayed long and travelled widely in Ceylon, collecting sifting, selecting and classilying his data. The book Jainism in Buddhist Literature" was originally submitted as a thesis for a Doctor Degree, and its acceptance for the same in a Ceylon University was a strong evidence of the fact that it withstood well the scrutiny of a team of specialists. Still Dr. Bhagchandra did not think it fit to project his thesis into publicity imme.
