Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c11.170

c11.170

If tradition is to be believed, the court of the first Maurya, like that of many of his successors who wore the imperial crown of India, opened its portals to a third group of personages, besides ministers and diplomats, viz., religious teachers. Jain writers emphasise that in his later days Chandragupta came into intimate touch with pontiffs of their faith, the most eminent among whom was Bhadrabāhu who is reported to have died in 170 A.V., i.e., 15 years after the accession of the first Maurya according to one reckoning². He was the reputed author of the *Kalpasūtra* and other works. According to the *Rājāvalikathe* he was born in a Brāhmaṇa family at Koṭikapura in Puṇḍravardhana³.