Indian Epigraphy c6.s4.21

c6.s4.21

Thus the *Milindapañha* places Milinda, the Yavana or Greek king of Śākala, 500 years (i.e. in the 6th century) after the Buddha’s *parinirvāṇa*. As regards the date of the battle of Kurukṣetra, there were several different traditions: (1) about the beginning of the Kali-yuga in 3102 B.C., (2) 653 years after the beginning of the Kali-yuga, i.e. 2449 B.C., and (3) 1015 or 1050 years before the accession of Mahāpadma Nanda (4th century B.C.), i.e. about the middle of the second millennium B.C. The third of these dates was arrived at by the Puranic chroniclers by adding together the durations of the reigns of a succession of kings from Parikṣit down to the predecessor of Mahāpadma Nanda. The above reckonings are certainly not of much use for purposes of chronology; but they appear to show that the Indians of old were not absolutely devoid of a chronological sense.