Answer

These statements are partly related to Jain tradition but should be stated carefully.

From a Jain perspective:

• Lord Mahavira and Gautama Buddha lived in the same broad historical period.
• Buddhist texts mention Jain ascetics, often called Nigaṇṭhas, and refer to Mahavira as Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta.
• It is historically accepted that the Buddha was aware of Jain ascetics and their practices.
• However, saying that “the Buddha practiced Jain austerities for 6 years” is not a Jain scriptural claim in that exact form.

A more careful statement would be:

“Before attaining enlightenment, Gautama Buddha practiced severe austerities for several years. Some of these resembled practices followed by Jain and other śramaṇa ascetics of that time, but Jain tradition does not describe him as a Jain monk or as formally practicing Jain Dharma.”

Explanation

In ancient India, there were many śramaṇa traditions—renunciant paths emphasizing detachment, meditation, austerity, and liberation from worldly bondage. Jain Dharma was one of the most ancient and prominent of these traditions.

The Buddha’s severe austerities included practices such as:

• extreme fasting,
• bodily hardship,
• renunciation of comfort,
• intense spiritual discipline.

These may look similar to Jain tapasya from the outside. But in Jain Dharma, tapasya is not merely bodily hardship. It must be joined with:

• samyak darshan — right faith,
• samyak jnan — right knowledge,
• samyak charitra — right conduct,
• careful non-violence, self-restraint, and purification of karma.

So, from the Jain viewpoint, one should not automatically call every severe austerity “Jain austerity.”

Spiritual Understanding

Jain Dharma teaches that tapasya is meaningful when it reduces attachment, ego, passions, and karmic bondage. Mere suffering of the body is not the goal.

The Jain path does honor deep austerity, but always with awareness, discipline, non-violence, and inner purity.

Takeaway

It is fair to say that the Buddha encountered Jain ascetics and practiced severe austerities similar to those found among śramaṇa traditions. But it is more accurate not to say that he formally practiced “Jain austerities for six years” unless one is speaking from a non-Jain historical or Buddhist framing.