History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c12.s6.47

c12.s6.47

If the tradition is accurate Vassakāra’s visit to the Buddha must have taken place within a year of the latter’s death. Three years were spent in preparing the ground for the invasion, which must therefore have occurred some two years or more after the death of the Buddha. If we allow a few months to cover the duration of the actual campaign, and the time taken for the news of the war to reach Sāvatthi, and if we accept Raychaudhuri’s equation of the Pāli and Jaina accounts, we may place the death of Gosāla approximately three years after that of the Buddha.