History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c12.s6.68

c12.s6.68

More serious is the fact that the Pāli scriptures record the death of Mahāvīra or Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta as taking place at Pāvā during the Buddha’s lifetime, and as being accompanied by serious confusion and quarrelling among his supporters. The event was reported to the Buddha by the novice Cuṇḍa, who expressed the hope that on the death of the Buddha similar quarrels would not arise in his order.⁵ This fact indicates that Mahāvīra’s death was thought of as having taken place towards the end of the Buddha’s life, when the Buddhist *bhikkhus* were very concerned about the future of the community on the death of its founder. We suggest that the Pāli record may not in fact refer to the death of Mahāvīra at Pāvā, but to that of Gosāla at Sāvatthi, which the *Bhagavatī Sūtra* also mentions as having been accompanied by quarrelling and confusion.⁶ At a later date, when the chief rival of Buddhism was no longer Ājīvikism but Jainism, the name may have been altered to add to the significance of the account.