History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas: A Vanished Indian Religion c13.s2.39

c13.s2.39

We suggest that Pūraṇa’s death took place towards the end of the reigns of Bimbisāra and Pasenadi; thus it must have occurred at least nine or ten years before that of the Buddha, on the basis of the Sinhalese Chronicle,⁷ and eight years or more before that of Makkhali, on the basis of our previous calculations.⁸ The Jaina statement that Pūraṇa died in the eleventh year of Mahāvīra’s asceticism⁹ is not unplausible. It would place the event in the year *c.* 500–499 B.C., immediately after Makkhali Gosāla’s claim to enlightenment. This does not invalidate the framework of the *Sāmañña-phala Sutta*, wherein King Ajātasattu states that he had sought guidance from Pūraṇa as well as from the other five heretics, since he may well have visited Pūraṇa before his usurpation of the throne of Magadha. This date for Pūraṇa’s death does, however, somewhat lessen the probability that he was a follower of Makkhali Gosāla. That he died in the first or second year of Makkhali’s *jina*-hood, after what seems to have been a long ascetic career, indicates that he was Makkhali’s senior. But it is not impossible for an older teacher to respect a considerably younger man as his spiritual superior, and a comparatively young man may acquire a reputation of great sanctity. Despite Pūraṇa’s probable seniority to Makkhali our conclusion is by no means invalidated.