Date of the Buddha and RV

[Madhav Deshpande]

I would agree that the date of the Upani.sads is indeed closely related to
the date of the Buddha and Mahavira, but I would not extend the same logic
to the date of the RV, which would have to be reasoned on the basis of
independent evidence.
                                Madhav Deshpande

On Fri, 3 Sep 1999, N. Ganesan wrote:

> Dear Dr. Deshpande & Dr. Cousins,
>
> P. Olivelle, upaniSads, OUP, p. xxxvi
> [footnote 21]
> "Much of the chronology of the upani.sads and of other ancient
> texts depends on the date of the Buddha's death. The generally accepted date
> of around 486 BCE has been challenged recently.
> Bechert's dating  of 375-355 BCE ('The Date of the Buddha
> reconsidered', Indologica Taurinensia, 10, 1981, 29-36) has been
> supported by Erdosy using archaeological data ('The archaeology of
> Early Buddhism' in N. K. Wagle and F. Watanabe (eds.)
> Studies in Buddhism in honor of A. K. Warder (Toronto: University
> of Toronto Centre for South Asian studies, 1993), p. 40-56. If the
> latter date is accepted, which I favor, then the dates of the early
> upaniSads should be pushed forward a century or so
> (see Witzel 1989, 241-251)"
>
> I just extended this reasoning to RV date.
>
> Regards,
> N. Ganesan
>
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