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Observations on Gommata, Gommataraya and Gommatadeva*
B. K. Khadabadi
A few decades ago a good number of scholars like M. G. Pai, S. C. Ghoshal, N. R. Premi etc. thought that Gommata was another name of Bahubali, the son of Lord Rṣabha, and, hence, his colossus at Sravanabelagola got this name and the term (gommata) was applied to several persons and things associated with it. Some scholars proposed interesting vocables like manmatha (cupid), go (speech) etc. from which the word gommata was said to have been derived.1 Later Dr. A. N. Upadhye put forth a theory that gom(m)ața is not derived from any Sanskrit or Prakrit vocable, but is a local word found in slightly varied forms in Kannada, Telugu, Konkani and Marathi languages and used in the sense of good, handsome, benefactor etc.3 He opined that Gommața must have been a pet name of Camuṇḍaraya, which in course of time came to be applied to several things, including Bahubali's image, associated with him. This theory, though not propounded on any contemporary evidence, but being most plausible was accepted by the majority of scholars in the field.
*Revised version of the Paper presented at the Symposium on Gommatesvara, held at the University of Mysore, in January, 1981.
Recently, in the Seminar on Lord Gommatesvara, held at Sravanabelagola in December, 1980, Dr. R. Hiremath suggested the following derivation: Brahma (great)> Bomma> Gomma> Gommata, the change b> g being on the analogy of bombe> gombe in Kannada.
2 Anekanta, Vol, IV, 3-4.
3 (i) In Marathi language gomata is still a living word. The Maharastra Sabdakosa, Vol. III (Pune 1934). notes its meaning as follows: gomata-tem-sweet, beautiful, good, charming, of fair complexion.
(ii) Curiously enough, Kittel does not note it in his Kannada Dictionary. However he notes gumma, meaning devil.
4 1t is interesting to note in this context that a small merchantile community named Kommatigas, found even today in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, are said to have been formerly devout followers of Lord Gommatesvara,
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