Jain Journal 2006 07

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

Page 28

Chitta Ranjan Pal: Mahamuni Jambusvämi and Bengal
To speak in a nutshell, we come to know from the Kalpasūtra and the Parisiṣṭaparvan that Jambu, son of Rṣabhadatta and Dhāriņīdevi was born in Rajagrha and belonged to kāśyapa gora. He was the perpetual celebate and was ordained by Sudharman, the fifth gaṇadhara, in Rājagṛha; reached beatification sixty four years after Mahāvīra's nirvāṇa."
This is all that we know about Jambusvami, the last kevalin of the Jainas. The Kalpasütra and other older texts as well as the celebrated Parisistaparvan are silent about activities of Jambu whether missionary or spiritual.
A patriarch like Jambusvami who had embraced the life of a monk at an early age was expected to be very energic and pushing in his zeal for the expansion of the religion, he had embraced and it is an undeniable fact that a century or more ofter his nirvāņa in circa 403 B.C., many regions of ancient Bengal like Pundravardhan, Kotivarsa and Tamralipta were aglow with enthusiasm for receiving the messages and gospels of the Tirthankaras.13 Would it be worng if we assume that the Eastward triumphant march of Jainas was initiated by the Jaina Mahamuni Jambūsvāmī ? Proofs though of indirect nature are not lacking to substantiate this assumption. Legends embedded in Divyavadana and Aśokāvadāna reveal that from the days of Gautama Buddha to the days of king Asoka, Pundravardhana was mostly dominated by the Jainas. On the other hand, another old tradition reveals that there were two very ancient Jaina holy places at Pundravardhana one at Pundraparvata and other at Kottapura later know as Devakotta. Kotta pura / koti Tirtha was considered to be the most holy place because here mahamuni Jambusvāmī attained nirvāņa and
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K. C. Lalwani, Kalpasūtra . p. 136-137
Mrs. S. Stevenson, Heart of Jainism. p. 69
K. C. Lalwani, Kalpasūtra p. 140
N. N. Dasgupta. Banglay Bauddhadharma (in Bengali) p. 15 ff.
Hariṣeṇa Sūri, Brhatkathākoṣa (131st chapter)
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