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INTRODUCTION
APPENDIX 14
Appendix 14 contains 'Sārdāstavana' a Mantric hymn to Sarasvati by Sri Jinaprabhasuri whose life we have already described (see pp. 229-236). It is a beautiful hymn and may serve as an illustration of the great poetical powers of its author and his fondness for Mantras. As in the writer's copy of the hymn instead of yea' in v. 4 the reading is afa' there appears to be an allusion to the great Mantrika Indranandi. V. 7 describes a rosary, a lotus, a Viņā or lute and a book as the symbols of Sarasvati who is said to be residing in a lotus. It is expressly stated in v. 9 that the hymn contains a great Sarasvata Mantra which is probably this: " ऐ ही श्रीं वद २ वाग्वादिनि भगवत aceafa grá an:"
APPENDIX 15
The Devistotra comprised in the 15th Appendix is probably composed by some non-Jain writer. It contains various names of Sarasvati, Laksmi, Yogini and others. It may be noted that the author identifies Devi with Jainesvarī, Bauddhamātar and Jinamatar. It is easy to identify Jainesvari as Sri Ambikā as she is described as riding
on a lion.
ŚRI AMBIKA
As the works in Appendices 16 to 21 relate to Sri Ambika, we shall offer a few preliminary remarks about her.
We have already shown that Sri Ambika has been worshipped by the Jains from very ancient times and that she is considered to be the Jain Amnaya deity. Many have been perplexed as to why Sri Ambikā is associated with the images of various other Tirthankaras although an attendant deity of the 22nd Tirthankara Sri Neminatha. The reason is that she is the deity taken to represent the Jain Amnāya as Tārā represents the Bauddha Amnaya. Not only is she associated with other Tirthankaras but her images also are found installed in the temples of various other Tirthankaras-not merely in the temple of Sri Neminatha. For instance, Sri Jinaprabhasuri in his Vividhatirtha Kalpa on
