Re; Antiquity

[Aniruddhan]

namaste,

>Some traditional sources put Buddha at around 1800 BC
>and Adi Shankara around 500 BC.

Actually, I think that The Buddha's date is pretty accurately established
to be ~500 BC using different dating sources, including some from outside
india. For example, some of the sources used are Ashoka's inscriptions,
Alexander's invasion of India etc. Also, these have been closely cross-
checked with external sources like Heun Tsang (~3rd century BC?) and Fa
Hien (~4th century AD?) (both buddhist scholars and pilgrims to India from
China).

Aniruddhan

Sruti smRti purANAnAm Alayam karuNAlayam
namAmi bhagavatpAda Sam.karam lokaSam.karam

>From  Wed Apr 16 22:14:20 2003
Message-Id: <WED.16.APR.2003.221420.0700.>
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 22:14:20 -0700
Reply-To: sanjay1297 at yahoo.com
To: List for advaita vedanta as taught by Shri Shankara
        <ADVAITA-L at LISTS.ADVAITA-VEDANTA.ORG>
From: Sanjay Verma <sanjay1297 at YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: Antiquity
In-Reply-To: <20030416122204.410C88043 at mail.braincells.com>
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"B. Shankar" <ShankarPll at AOL.COM> wrote:

My understanding was that Buddha lived between 560 and 480 BCE and that
Nagarjuna lived between the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. If these dates are
correct then this would mean that Sri Adi Shankaracharya and Buddha lived
around the same time. In fact Buddha would have been around 50 when Sri
Shankaracharya was born. This would suggest that it is possible that Sri
Gaudapada predates Buddha.

  Pranam to all, Namaste. You may want to refer to the following book: LIFE AND THOUGHT OF SANKARACHARYA
by GOVIND CHANDRA PANDE
The book is available at Motilal Benarsidas Bookstore (online at http://www.mlbdbooks.com/index.html ) as well as most large indology libraries. I read the book many years ago, so I do not recall all the details; however, the first half of the book deals extensively with the issue of dating Adi Shankaracharya. Also, with respect to Shankara being an avatara of Shiva: "Therefore, the widespread development of Saivism as a creed was later than Shankara's days. He was of course, acquainted with the Pasupata-Mahesvara ideology (which he criticizes in VSB: 2, 2, 37), which is the basis of Saivism." "This leaves us with no alternative to dismissing the convention of Siva's incarnation as Shankara, as a later one, invented to accomodate the master in the growing popularity of Saiva beliefs." Both of the above are found on page 12 of "Shankara and Adhyasa-Bhashya" by S.K. Ramachandra Rao. I leave it to you to ascertain the merits or demerits of these assessments... Om Shanti,Sanjay



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<DIV><STRONG><EM>"B. Shankar" <ShankarPll at AOL.COM></EM></STRONG> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">
<P><BR>My understanding was that Buddha lived between 560 and 480 BCE and that<BR>Nagarjuna lived between the 1st and 2nd centuries CE. If these dates are<BR>correct then this would mean that Sri Adi Shankaracharya and Buddha lived<BR>around the same time. In fact Buddha would have been around 50 when Sri<BR>Shankaracharya was born. This would suggest that it is possible that Sri<BR>Gaudapada predates Buddha.<BR></P></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Pranam to all,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Namaste. You may want to refer to the following book:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="http://www.mlbdbooks.com/bookcovers/religion/3-20/sankara.jpg"><STRONG><FONT face=TIMES>LIFE AND THOUGHT OF SANKARACHARYA</FONT></STRONG></A><STRONG><FONT face=TIMES color=#801905> <BR></FONT></STRONG><FONT color=#000000><FONT face=TIMES><I>by GOVIND CHANDRA PANDE </I><BR></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>The book is available at Motilal Benarsidas Bookstore (online at <A href="http://www.mlbdbooks.com/index.html">http://www.mlbdbooks.com/index.html</A> ) as well as most large indology libraries.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I read the book many years ago, so I do not recall all the details; however, the first half of the book deals extensively with the issue of dating Adi Shankaracharya.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Also, with respect to Shankara being an avatara of Shiva:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"Therefore, the widespread development of Saivism as a creed was later than Shankara's days. He was of course, acquainted with the Pasupata-Mahesvara ideology (which he criticizes in VSB: 2, 2, 37), which is the basis of Saivism."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"This leaves us with no alternative to dismissing the convention of Siva's incarnation as Shankara, as a later one, invented to accomodate the master in the growing popularity of Saiva beliefs."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Both of the above are found on page 12 of "Shankara and Adhyasa-Bhashya" by S.K. Ramachandra Rao.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I leave it to you to ascertain the merits or demerits of these assessments...</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Om Shanti,</DIV>
<DIV>Sanjay<BR><BR></DIV><BR><BR>_______________________________________<br><br>The journey of a thousand miles begins<br>with a single step.--Chinese Proverb<br><br>_______________________________________<p><br><hr size=1>Do you Yahoo!?<br>
<a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/search/mailsig/*http://search.yahoo.com">The New Yahoo! Search</a> - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
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