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Was Ramaputta a Jain?

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Is there any evidence for the claim that Udaka Ramaputta was a Jain? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.164.49.21 (talk) 09:12, 3 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I can't access all the sources tacked onto that sentence, but there doesn't seem to be any such claim in the Eliade book. I've tagged it for citation. --Spasemunki (talk) 02:09, 13 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
I’ll see if I can find any additional attestation. If not, I’ll remove it. Bagabondo (talk) 19:47, 4 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I've checked two biographies of the Buddha (one by John S. Strong and the other by Karen Armstrong) and neither mention Uddaka as being a Jain. Looking at the Lalitavistara and Buddhacarita, I can't find any mention of Uddaka as a Jain, and he's actually a very minor character in both instances. Online, there's mostly only speculation in forums and Quora about Uddaka being a Jain, so the claim seems to be unverifiable conjecture, and this doesn't appear to be an important idea in Buddhist scholarship. I'll go ahead and remove the mention. Bagabondo (talk) 19:54, 4 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, in several of the oldest Jain texts a teacher named RAMAPUTTA is described in detail.
This can be found in the RISHIBHASHIT chapter 23, SUTRAKRITANGA SUTRA 1.3.4.2-3, and STANANGA SUTRA 755. In these texts, the Jains treat Ramaputta with great respect and describe his teachings as being basically in line with Jainism. This Ramaputta appears to be a bit older than both Mahavira and Buddha.
So friends, it helps to study Jainism and not ignore it, if you are serious about understanding ancient India and the ancient world in general. Jainism had a tremendous influence on Indian religions and Indian culture in general. Cheers
Reference: RISHIBHASHIT: A STUDY by Sagarmal Jain published by Prakrit Bharatiya Academy, Jaipur 1988. 47.138.18.163 (talk) 20:40, 26 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]