Jain Journal 1985 07

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 15

JAIN JOURNAL
The nearest town has been referred with respect to the river Rjupalika, the sight of kevala-knowledge with respect to an old Yaksa temple and then to the field of a local chief or renowned householder Samaga.
In those days monks and ascetics used to wander not by the highways used by the officials but by the village tracks keeping some river as guide. As the Lord was wandering through the pathless country of Ladha, we can well assume that he too kept a river as guide and that river was Rjupalika or Ujuvalia.
But then this river should have its origin near Nalanda and should flow through Ladha. While studying the courses of rivers of Ladha we see that it is Ajoy that has its origin very close to Nalanda and it flows through Ladha dividing it into two-north and south Radha. Also it flows very close to existing Paniati and many other ancient villages and places associated with the travel of the Lord as described in the Jaina literature.
Rjupalika was changed to Ajoy by Ajoypala who was responsible for the destruction of Jainism in the Ajoy valley in the years between 1174-76, when the last Pala king Govinda Pala was confined to his small kingdom of eastern Bihar with its capital at Mudgagiri or Monghyer. The names of the villages wherever his army stayed during the expedition were changed to Govindapura which exist frequently in the valley
Two villages have been found on the bank of river Ajoy near the Bihar border at a distance of about 4 miles from each other both of whose names are Cicurbil. Both the villages are on the bank of Ajoy but in opposite direction and both are surrounded by low swamp (bill—lowland filled by flood water) and hence these names would have been Ajoybil. It seems that in ancient times these two villages were called Rjurbil which gradually changed to Cicurbil and these indicate that in past this river was not called Ajoy but Rju or Rjupalika or Ujuvalia. Ofcourse pronunciation similarity has accelerated this change.
According to Kalpa Sutra the site of kevala-knowledge has to be on this river Ajoy (Rjupalika) and interestingly enough a very big village called Jamagrama (Irmbhikagrama/Jambhiyagrama/Jamagrama) has been found on the bank of this river at about 4 miles west of Cicurbil (Rjurbil) and 7 miles south-west of Paniati.
This Jamagrama apparently looks like combination of 6 different villages situated at a distance of 2 to 3 k.m. from each other and its total area is about 30 square k.m.