Jain Journal 2003 10

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

Page 19

KAMALA HAMPANA POET PAMPA. JINAVALLABHA AND ANDHRA
Potthageyabali and Dēsiga-gaṇa of Koṇḍakunda Anvaya, a cohort of Mulasaṁgha, the original congregation. Pampa was a pupil of Devendramuni of the same lineage. He was honoured with titles such as sakalakalā-pravīņa, ‘expert in many arts', bhavya-ratnākara, ‘sea of eternal bliss' and guṇapakṣapāti, 'favourite of virtues'. Versatile in poesy, proficient in music and melodious recitation, Jinavallabha could effortlessly compose poems in various styles. With such extraordinary ability and skill, he could be the master of the goddess of learning! These titles remind us of the epithets that Pampa possessed: Sarasvatimaṇihāra 'the rosary of Sarasvati', Sukavijana-manomānasottasa, Ornament of good poets, samsāra-sārodaya, 'cream of the family' and kavitāguṇārṇava, the sea of poesy'.
The circumstances under which Jinavallabha wrote the renowned Kurkiyāla inscription are worth pondering:
1. Although the hillock near the village Kurkiyala, containing the historical inscription, is popular as Bommalaguṭṭa, the text of the inscription to it as the Siddha-sila, 'the rock of the Siddhas'. Jinavallabha, a devoted lay votary of Jaina faith, solicited the images of the Adyanta (the first and the last) Jinas, (i.e., Ādinātha and Mahāvīra), Chakreshvari (attendant deity of Adinātha Jina), and other Jaina divinities, carved on the huge boulder standing on the summit of the hillock.
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2. Ādinātha Jina was kuladaiva, the egeria of Pampa, and that was the reason for his authoring the Adipurāṇa, biography of Adinatha. Hence Jinavallabha also caused the image of Ādinātha carved on the Siddha-sila.
3. Mahāvīra, the last and the 24th Tirthankara was kuladaiva, the egeria of Bhagiyabbe of Paithana (Pratiṣṭhānapura, capital of the Sātavāhanas), and consort of Jinavallabha. She had commissioned a Jinālaya named after her but dedicated to lord Mahāvīra, and had set up a caturviṁsatipaṭṭa. Besides, Bhāgiyabbe had consecrated bronze images of Mahāvīra of which two are extant, preserved in the P.C. Nahar Museum in Kolkata and the Govt. Museum at Chennai, respectively. Paithana and Paṇḍarangapalli were nearer to Bodhana and Vemulavāḍa. The traditions and