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Vol. XXI, 1997
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and positive aspects of Jainism. N.M.K. WHEN DID THE BUDDHA LIVE ? THE CONTROVERSY OF THE DATING OF THE HISTORICAL BUDDHA. Edited by Heinz Bechert. Sri Satguru Publications a division of Indian Books Centre, Delhi, 1995. PP. 8 + 387, Rs. 1200/-. From the beginning of modern Indological research, the dates of Buddha have been recognized as having crucial importance for early Indian history. The date of the Buddha's Parinirvana has been varying from ca 480 B.C. to 368 B.C. Confronted with the divergent theories of scholars, the present author felt challenged to test the reliability of the various chronological calculations, and for this purpose, a symposium on this problem was convened under the auspices of the Akademie der Wissenschaften in Gottingen, in April 11-18, 1988. The present volume represents an updated survey of the state of research in this field which is based largely on the results achieved at this symposium and incorporated some more recent investigations. It concentrates mainly on those aspects which are directly relevant for the reconstruction of the early history of Buddhist chronology as well as for the understanding of the related developments in India, Sri Lanka, and in the countries of South Asian Theravada tradition.
In all twenty-one (21) papers are included here. They are arranged under five sections : I. Introductory Essays; II. History of Research; III. Cultural Setting; IV. Evaluation of the Indian Theravada Traditions; V. Central and East Asian Traditions. In section II five research papers by scholars like Siglinde Dietz, Jens-Uwe Hartmann, Gustav Roth, Heinz Braun and Hajime Nakamura treat the topics like History of Western Scholarship up to 1980, South Asian Studies Published in Western Languages, Hindi writings, Era in Malalankaravatthu and Japanese Research, all pertaining to the problem of the date of Buddha. In Section III, scholars like Herbert Hartel, Hermann Kulke, George Von Simson, Adelheid Mette, Oskar Von Hinuber, Wilhelm Halbfass, Andr Bareau, and Heinrich Von Stietencron have discussed, in eight research papers, archaeological research. Some considerations for the History of North India, the Historical Background for the Rise of Buddhism, the Synchronism of Buddha and the Jina Mahāvīra, linguistic considerations, early Indian references to the Greeks and the First Encounters between Buddhism and the West, Some considerations concerning the Problem and the Puranic Geneologies, in connection with the date of Buddha. In section IV, scholars like Heinz Bechert, Corneelia Mallebrein,
