________________
126
of Nirvāna, we can easily compute the dates of the important events of his life as follows:
Date
Event of Buddha's Life
Birth
Renunciation
582 B.C. 554 B.C. 547 B.C. 502 B.C.
Enlightenment Nirvana
The comparative chronological table of the important events of their life is as follows:
Mahavira
Buddha
Birth
599 B.C. 569 B.C. 557 B.C.
582 B.C. 554 B.C. 547 B.C.
Renunciation Enlightenment (Omniscence) Nirvana
527 B.C.
502 B.C.
Thus Mahavira and Buddha lived contemporarily from 582 B.C. to 527 B.C. i. e. for 55 years. As religious leaders, their contemporaniety lasted from 547 B.C. to 527 B.C. for 20 years.
It should also be noted here that Buddha had attained Nirvāna in 42nd year of Ajātasatru's reign; and that Candra. Candragupta Maurya and Asoka acceded to the throne of Magadha 180 and 229 years after Buddha's Nirvana respectively.
