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JAIN JOURNAL: VOL-XLI, NO.3 JANUARY 2007
“thira-satta-caritta ñāña-sampanna I
theram ca ayya Jambum
Goyama-gottam namamsāmi II
The English translation of the ninth gāthā is as follows -
“Bowing down may head, I pay my reverence to the sthavira Jambū of the Gautama gotra, who possessed steady virtue, good conduct and knowledge”.
After the perusal of the list of the sthaviras, it seems that the sccond partriarch of the Nirgranthas, Sthavira Jambūnāma of Kāśyapagotra and the Sthavira Jambū adored in the gāthā (no. ix) are identical, though in the gāthā his gotra name has been mentioned as Gautama.
In this connection another question may be raised : why has Jambūsvāmī, the recipient of the Āgamas, been adored after eight patriachs who were less celebrated and less famous than Jambūsvāmī? Will this matter be regarded as a case of inadvertent error of the composer of the gāthā or of the fading away of the memory of Jambāsvāmī from the ecclesiastical history of the hierarchy of the Nirgranthas (the Jainas)?
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