From: vidya@cco.caltech.edu (Vidyasankar Sundaresan)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Re: Time of Buddha's Appearance
Date: 10 Nov 92 11:05:20 GMT
Article-I.D.: ogicse.45666
Distribution: world
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena

In article <1d6prhINNru4@sandman.caltech.edu> "Ramesh K. Sitaraman"  
<rks@phoenix.princeton.edu> writes:
- In article <1c4u38INNmh2@sandman.caltech.edu>  
dkarma@pro-nbs.acme.fred.org (Druta Karma) writes:
- >
- >In most Western textbooks, Buddha is said to have appeared in about 563
- >B.C.  I have heard (and therefore cannot quote any references) that  
Buddha
- >actually appeared much earlier, and that this is born out by temple  
records
- >and inscriptions in India and elsewhere.  Also, Shankar, the founder of  
the
- >Vedic Advaita school, is said to have appeared around 788 A.D. in  
Western
- >textbooks. Again, I have heard that there are temple records and
- >inscriptions that place his birth much earlier. Anyone have any  
information
- >about early birth dates for Buddha or Shankar?
- >
- >Druta Karma
- 
- 
- Historically, India places very little emphasis on recording historical
- details of who did what and when but places all emphasis on the fruits
- of the deeds themselves. So most of the greatest poets, sculptors,
- philosophers in India leave no details as to who they are. They just
- didnt think that was important ! In very many cases, they haven't even 
- left their real name and had to be given some generic name like 
- Vyasa or Bodhayana or Patanjali at a later time for conveneient 
- reference. Modern Indologist are often left breaking their heads
- over historical issues like "Was the great grammarian Patanjali
- who lived in Takshasila university some 300 yrs before christ
- the same as the one who wrote the yoga sutras ?"  Or what 
- about Vyasa who wrote  the epic mahabharata ? Is he the one
- also credited to have wrote the Brahma Sutras ? 
- 
- So historical chronology may be quite a jungle. But I would think
- that Buddha and Shankar are two of the less nebulous figures in 
- Indian history. The meetings of Buddha and the great Mauryan
- king Bimbisara seem to be well recorded (sutta nipata vv 405-425). 
- Bimbisara himself can be fixed from famous kings to follow
- in his dynasty like Ashoka, who in turn can be corroborated 
- through sources from many places in the ancient world. So
- I would tend to believe Buddha's date. (Of course it is 
- only my feeling and i am not very knowledgeable.)
- 
- Shankar has 3 or so biographers. (very unusual given the indian
- viewpoint on history). I think one of them gives a different 
- date from others and a different birtrhplace as well (maybe 
- Ananda giri). I do know that Monastery in Kanchi (Kanchi Kamakoti)
- founded by Shankar records his date and all the Monastery heads
- since as more than 2000 yrs ago (as against 1400 yrs ago by 
- popular reckoning). 
- 
- 				-Ramesh
- 
- 
- 
-  
- 
-
That Shankara was born sometime in the early half of the 8th cent. A.D. is  
well borne out by most sources. None of the biographies would help in  
fixing Shankara's date as per the modern calendar as they only mention the  
Indian year he was born in and such other details. As the Indian system  
names its years in a sixty year cycle, these cannot be relied upon for any  
practical purpose. 

The Kanchi Kamakoti Math was not established by Shankara. It is a  
monastery of recent origin. That it was first established around 1842  
A.D., as a splinter organisation is well documented.

S.Vidyasankar