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336
Studies in Jainology, Prakrit
39
OBSERVATIONS ON GOMMAȚA, GOMMATARAYA
AND GOMMATADEVA
A few decades ago a good number of scholars like M.G.Pai. S.C.Ghoshal, N.R.Premi etc. thought that Gommaļa was another name of Bahubali, the son of Lord Rsabha, and, hence, his colossus at Sravanabc!gola 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.' Later Dr.A.N.Upadhye put forth a theory that gom(m)ata is not derived from any Sanskrit or Prakrit vocable, but is a local word found in slightly varicd forms in Kannada, Telugu, Konkani and Marathi languages and used in the sense of good, handsome, benefactor etc. He opined that Gommaļa must have been a pet name of Camundarāya, 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.
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