________________
90
Mahāvīra and Buddha
present, in the year 1963 A. D., the era of Mahāvīra's Nirvāṇa is 2490, which is 527 years ahead of Christian era, as it should be.
Chronology of Mahāvīra’s Life.
After having decided the date of Mahāvīra's Nirvāna, now we can easily chronologize the important events of Mahāvīra’s life as follows: B.C.
Event 599
Birth 569
Initiation into ascetic life. 557
Attainment of omniscence. 527
Final emancipation. Traditional dates of Nirvāņa
It is not so easy to discover a unique date for Buddha's Nirvāṇa as in the case of Mahāvīra. More than a millenium ago, there existed ambiguity about it and even today it persists to a great extent. Famous Chinese traveller Fa-Hien, who visited India in 400 A.D., remarks!. “Up to now, 1497 years have passed since the Nirvāņa of the Blessed One (Buddha).” Another well-known Chinese traveller HiuenTsang who toured in India in 630 A.D., wrote”. “Lord Buddha lived for 80 years. There is a great controversy over the date of his Nirvāṇa. Some believe that Buddha attained the Nirvāṇa on the full-moon day of Vaišākha, while the Sarvāstivādins take the full-moon day of the month Kārtika as the day of Nirvāņa. Some people say that 1200 years have passed since the Nirvāṇa, while others contend that 1500 years have passed, and some other believe that 900
1. Bhāratīya Prācīna Lipimātā, by Rayabahādura Mahāmahopadhyāya
Gourishankar Hirāchand Ojha. 2. Ibid.
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