Mahāmūni Jambūsvāmī and Bengal

Summary

Chitta Ranjan Pal’s extensive two‑part essay explores the figure of Jambūsvāmī, the last omniscient saint (kevalin) of the Jain tradition, and examines his little‑studied connection with Bengal. Drawing on canonical texts, medieval chronicles and regional legends, Pal reconstructs Jambūsvāmī’s life and assesses claims about his missionary work. The first part recounts the sparse but evocative narratives preserved in the Kalpasūtra and Hemacandra’s Pariśiṣṭaparvan. Born to the wealthy merchant Ṛṣabhadatta in Rājagṛha, Jambūsvāmī married eight daughters on a single night but soon resolved to embrace monastic life. His decision was tested when the robber‑prince Prabhava cast spells to attack him; Jambūsvāmī remained untouched and gently convinced both the robber and his own family to renounce worldly life. Ordained by the fifth gaṇadhara Sudharmān, he lived as a monk and attained liberation sixty‑four years after Mahāvīra’s nirvāṇa. Pal then turns to the vexed question of where Jambūsvāmī achieved nirvāṇa and whether he helped spread Jainism east of Magadha. Later traditions link his liberation to Caurasia near Mathura, but the author argues that this association emerged in the sixteenth century and lacks support in early texts. By contrast, several medieval sources and local Bengali legends place his nirvāṇa at Koṭṭapura (also called Koṭitīrtha) in Puṇḍravardhana, suggesting that the saint’s memory was tied to Bengal centuries earlier. Pal analyses evidence from the Divyāvadāna, Aśokāvadāna, medieval pilgrimage records and accounts by scholars such as Devacandra and Nṛsiṃha Sūri to argue that Koṭṭapura was an ancient Jain centre. He also surveys epigraphic and literary references indicating that Jain monks were active in Bengal by the fifth century BCE and that Jambūsvāmī, as Sudharmān’s successor, may have played a role in this eastward expansion. In the second part, Pal discusses the broader history of Jainism in Bengal. Early sources describe Mahāvīra’s own visit to Lāḍha (part of Bengal) where he faced hostility from local tribes, leading later monastic rules to restrict travel east of Aṅga‑Magadha. Despite these challenges, Jainism spread to Puṇḍravardhana and Vaṅga, perhaps through the efforts of itinerant teachers like Jambūsvāmī. The essay reviews how later sectarian disputes between Śvetāmbaras and Digambaras obscured his legacy; while both traditions revere him as a perpetual celibate saint, neither records his missionary activities in detail. Pal concludes by suggesting that rehabilitating Jambūsvāmī’s connection with Bengal enriches our understanding of Jainism’s early diffusion into eastern India.