________________
11
JAMBU-A HISTORICAL PERSON AND THE STORIES ABOUT HIM
WITH THEIR ORIGIN*
A historical tradition of the Jain literature begios form Mahavira who got Nirvana (emancipation) in 527 B.C. equal to 470 Vikrama Samvat (V.S.) according to almost all the Indian and foreign scholars of Indian history and civilization. 1' After Mahavire, the name of Indrabhuti comes next. Mahavira as hinted before, got salvation in the early hours of the 15th of the dark-half of Kārttika and the same day in the evening, his first pupil, Gautama alias Indrabhūti got omniscience. He worked out his final release after twelve years which he spent in preaching the gospel to the people. This incident was immediately followed by another incident of Sudharma's getting omniscience. Sudharma who was another pupil of Mahāvīra next in rank to Gautama, spent eight years in preaching and got emancipation finally, Jambu soon succeeded Sudharma, his spiritual master, He gave a major portion of his life, something like forty four years, to spreading Jainism and thus enlightening the people. It is recorded that he got final freedom in 465 B. C. (408 V.S.). This very Jambu is the hero of the Jambucariyam (JC).
According to tradition, this Jambu is the last pontiff to get omniscience. After him no body got it. It is a historic fact that it is only through tradition successively tranasmitted from one pontiff to another pontiff that we have come to possess the substance of Jainism as preserved and presented in the Jaina Ardhamāgadhi canon. Thus it is obvious that Jambu's position in the Jajn hierarchy is foremost and highest. This also makes it clear that sixty four years (12 + 8 + 44 = 64) passed between the two periods of emancipation, that of Vira and that of Jambu.9 In this manner, the tradition transmitted by one omniscient to the other continued for sixty four years. After Jambu, his co-pupil, Prabhava, assumed the reins of the establishment for eleven years.
Sudharma, Jambu's teacher, attained salvation eighteen years after Jambu's initiation into the order. Jambu got omniscience just on the day on which Sudharma got emanciption. Thus the pupil's getting the omnisiencce coincided with the teachers' obtaining the emancipation. Now, Jambu got emancipation eighteen years after Sudharma's. This makes the total of thirtysix. Now if we
Seetion no 4 of the Introduction of Vira's Ja mbusa micariu, edited by Dr, Vimalaprakash Jain, Bharatiya Jhanapith Prakashan no. 7, 1968, which discusses Jambu as a historical person and which covers pp, 26 sf is the source of the most of material presented here in this article which is a literal translation of the same,
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
