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Universal Message of Lord Mahāvīra
in April 2001. The Jaina tradition accepts, without any difference of opinion, the Jayanti and Mahānirvāņa years of Lord Mahāvīra as 599 BC and 527 BC), respectively, thereby implying a life-span of 72 years for this great Tīrthankara.
Lord Mahāvīra and the Buddha, though they are contemporaries (Buddha was 39 years junior, 560 BC), the two never met each other.
The Jaina tradition believes there were lakhs of Sūtras voiced by the 24 Tīrthankaras. But, all those of the 23 earlier Tīrthankaras were irretrievably lost. The Gaņadharas passed on to succeeding generations, by the system of rote, the sūtras on which the 24h Tīrthankara Mahāvīra discoursed. These were duly codified and made available almost a thousand years after the Mahānirvāna of Mahāvīra.
Religions are many, the differences are superficial. The goal is the same!
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