Ambika on Jaina Art and Literature

Author(s): Maruti Nandan Prasad Tiwari
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

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present avasarpini, on four sides. The finas are provided with their respective cognizances, namely, bull, elephant, horse and monkey. The figure is procured from the Vaibhāragiri (Räjgir, Bihar) and now preserved in the Archaeological Museum, Nālandā.
Sāsandevatā or Yakşa-Yakşi Couples
Yaksas and Yaksis constituting a class of divine beings of Jaina pantheon are technically known as Sāsanadevatās, guardian deities of the order (inaśāsanaraksā-kārakāya; Acāradinakara). They figure in Jaina pantheon as the subsidiary deities and were accorded the most venerated position next to the Jinas. Their reference in the Harivaṁsapurāna (783 A.D.) as 'Sāsana' and 'Upāsaka' devas marks the beginning of the concept of Sāsanadevatās. The Harivamsapurana also speaks of the relevance of the veneration of the Sãsanadavatās who are capable of pacifying the malefic powers of the grahas, rogas, bhūtas, piśācas and raksasas. 34 According to the Jaina belief, Indra appoints a Yaksa and a Yakşi to serve as attendants upon every Jina. Thus they are mainly the attendant spirits regarded as devotees of the Jinas. In Jaina representations they possess divine attributes, and also symbolic meaning of various kinds. Gradually their position was elevated and most of them attained even the status of independent deities. We have literary as well as archaeological evidences between tenth and thirteenth centuries A.D. that the Yaksa Sarvānubhūti or Sarvāhna and the Yaksis Cakreśvarī, Ambikā, Padmāvati, and Jvālāmālini attained such a position in Jaina pantheon that independent cults developed around them. This, of course, happened due to the increasing importance of material achievements which could not, however, be obtained by the worship of the Vitarāga Jinas.
The Yaksas as a class of divinities existed in popular folk-belief and also in literary tradition of the Brāhmaṇas much before the rise of Buddhism and Jainism. The Jaina texts classify Yakşas as Vyantara devas, who are wandering spirits. The Yakşas have both benign and malign aspects. As benign spirits they bestow happiness upon devotees and fulfil their desires while as malefic spirits they bring about disaster. The early Jaina works like the Sthânăngasūtra, Uttaradhyayanasūtra, Bhagavatisútra, Tattvārthasūtra, Antagada. dasāo and Paumacariya make frequent references to the Yaksas. Of all the Yaksas, Manibhadra and Pūrnabhadra Yaksas and Bahuputrikā
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