Sramana 2016 04

Author(s): Shreeprakash Pandey, Rahulkumar Singh, Omprakash Singh
Publisher: Parshvanath Vidhyashram Varanasi

Page 52

Reconsidering the Date of the Nirvāņa of Lord Mahāvira : 45
the throne 155 years after Vīra Nirvāņa. Similarly, in Laghupoşālika Pattāvali (p. 37) it is written that 155 years after Vira Nirvana Candragupta Maurya ascended the throne. Also, in Nāgapurīya Tapāgaccha Pattāvali (p. 48) it is written that 155 years after the Vira Nirvāṇa Candragupta became the king, (Virat 155 varse Candraguptonpaḥ). According to this Pattāvalī, the reign of Mauryan dynasty ended after 278 years of Vira Nirvāņa. Now the period of 189 B.C. as the end of the Mauryan dynasty can be justified only when the Vira Nirvāṇa is accepted as to be 467 B.C. It is worth mentioning here that the historians have accepted 187 B.C. to be the date of accession to the throne of Pușyamitra. This second theory, presented by Hemacandra, is a hindrance in ascertaining the year 527 B.C. to be the year of the Nirvanaof Mahāvira. It is clear from these discussions that there has been a controversy regarding the date of the Nirvāṇa of Mahāvīra even in ancient times. Since the old internal evidences regarding the date of the Nirvāṇa of Mahāvīra were not strong, the Western scholars on the basis of the external evidences alone, tried to ascertain the date of the Nirvāņa of Mahāvīra; and as a result many new theories came into light regarding the same. The following are the opinions of different scholars regarding the date of Mahāvīra's Nirvāņa: 1. Hermann Jacobi (It is to be noted that initially Hermann Jacobi accepted the traditional date 527 B.C., but later on he changed his opinion), 476 B.C. He has accepted the reference found in the Parisista Parva of Hemacandra to be authentic which says that 155 years after the Vīra Nirvāṇa Candragupta Maurya ascended the throne, and he ascertained the date of Mahāvīra's Nirvāṇa on the basis of this reference only. 2. J. Charpentier, 467 B.C.. He followed the opinion of Hemacandra and ascertained that the date of Virvāṇa of Mahāvīra as to be 155 Years before Candragupta Maurya. 3. Pandit A. Shanti Raja Shastri. 663 B.C.. He considered the Saka Era to be the Vikrama Era and establish the date of Nirvāņa of Mahāvīra as to be 605 years before the Vikrama Era.