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ANCIENT JAINA HYMNS Padmāvati's being referred to as a "Vidyā” in the above passage, is nothing out of the ordinary in view of her being the central figure of Jaina Tantrasastra, and, as such, subject to the moods and whims of the "ārādhaka”, who considers it as his privilege to invest his "Sakti” with whatever attributes his desire may drive at, not hesitating to address her as Laksmi, Ambikā, Tripurāsundarī, Kāli, Cakresvarī, Sarasvati, or even Kundaliņi. Besides, “Padmāvati” may in fact originally have been a “Vidyādevi”, ;. e., one of the original Vidyadhara-vidyās.
On what basis the Prabhāvaka-carita (V, st. 11) mentions Vairotyā as the "Sasana-devatā" in Pārsvanátha's temple, is not clear. The poet may have done so, thinking of her as one of the consorts of Dharana, the Śāsanadeva, or he may have used the word "Sāsanadevatā" not in the technical sense of "divine attendant on a particular Jina", but in a more general sense of “divine devotee".
Anyhow, the goddess which the poet of our present "Vira-stuti" invokes under the name of Vairotyā, is most decidedly the divinity whom later Svetāmbara literature would define as the 13th “Vidyādevi”. Her martial qualities, suggested in her representations and descriptions by the sword and shield in two of her hands, are clearly expressed in the first two lines, while her character as a snake goddess is unambiguously represented by the writhing snakes with which our poet describes her as tying her matted locks.
The MS. in which this stuti is handed down, belongs to Muni Sri Nyāyasāgaraji (disciple of Paṇyāsa Sri Candras īgara Gaņi), with whose permission the
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J. Bh. Jhaveri, 1. c. p. 63 and 315.
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Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
