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10
MAHẬVÎRA & BUDDHA
Kamta Prasad
“How to emancipate man from the trammels of the world”, has been the subject of a rational speculation to Indian philosophers from time immemorial. The Jainas say that it was their first Tirthankara, Lord Rsabha, whom the Buddhists named as an ancient monarch of India and an omniscient Jain Teacher and who is regarded as the eighth incarnation of Visnu by the Brahmanas?, was in fact, that first great teacher of the world, who showed the right path to the suffering humanity at the very dawn of civilisation, when the Stone age ended to give place to that of Agriculture. The Dharma thus preached by the first Lord of mankind was soon lost in dark oblivion and the Tirthankaras and Buddlias one after another followed him. Lord Parsva just preceded Mahâvîra and Buddha, being the 23rd of the 24 Tirthankaras, who also preached Ahinsa Dharma. But the people were so highly infatuated in sensual gratification that the bloody sacrifices and licentiousness became dominant. Truth was ignored. Early Life
When such was the condition of Indian community and the philosophical controversy, also wrought a havoc, then there appeared two great heroes. The darkness of ignorance in which the atmosphere plunged, took to its heels before these two luminous stars who came of Ksatriya Sramanas, Buddha and Mahâvîra were known as Sakyaputra and Jnatraputra respectively. Suddhodana, the father of Buddha, was a democratic head of the clan of the Sakyas; so was the father of Mahâvîra Raja Siddhartha of the clan of Jnatras. Buddha was born at Kapilvastu; Mahâvîra in the town of Kundagrama, which
