Jain Heritage and Beyond

Author(s): Shailesh Shah
Publisher: Oshwal Associations of The UK

Page 70

Padmavati Mata
Tirthankar Parshvanath was a prince in the kingdom of Kashi. He was known as prince Parshva then. Once he went to see an ascetic who was practicing the 'ordeal of five fires' to perform some penance. This ascetic (an esoteric mendicant) was Kamath and he was performing the ritual of penance by lighting the logs of wood. Parshva had a divine vision and only he could see that there were two snakes (male and female) in one of the logs. He asked Kamath to remove the log but Kamath could not see anything and accused Parshva of trying to break the penance. Parshva was the only person there who knew what was happening. When his requests were rejected, Parshva ordered one of his
servants to disturb the fire and remove the log in question. The servant did as he was told and everybody saw that there indeed were two snakes in the log. The snakes unfortunately did not survive and died. But before their death Parshva recited Namaskara Mantra and the snakes died in peace. These snakes in their next birth were born as Dharnendra (one of the Indra-Gods with the name Dharan) and Padmavati, Tirthankar Parshvanath's Yaksha and Yakshini. Kamath was very angry but he could not do anything, as he was proved wrong.
King Sanghafalquiera प्रेरणा राज कैलासनगरे अजन
After few years Parshva left everything and went away in search of eternal happiness and became a monk. Kamath was in pursuit for revenge and in order to disturb Parshva's meditation had created all sorts of obstacles when reborn as the evil deity, Meghamali in the next birth cycle. Meghamali had sent a great storm with severest intensity but Parshvanath continued in his meditation and was not moved or disturbed by this severe calamity. The storm had caused such a downpour that the water level came up to Parshva's nose and was still rising. At this juncture Dharnendra and Padmavati came and created a big lotus, which lifted Parshvanath above the water. Dharnendra made a hood (snake hood) to prevent Parshvanath's head getting wet. Parshvanath was still in deep meditation. Meghmali at last gave up his evil acts and apologised. Parshvanath forgave him.
Dharnendra and Padmavati saved Parshvanath and people believe that they can still come and save anyone who is in trouble. However it is noteworthy that Padmavati is revered more than Dharnendra. Infect she is the single most popular goddess in Jains. She is, as stated before, the dedicated deity of Lord Parshvanath, the 23rd Tirthankar. Like Lord Parashvanath, Padmavati also has 108 names that have been listed in a stotra found from the ancient Library of Manuscripts in Patan (Gujarat). She is of utmost beauty. Her colour is golden and her vehicle is the snake with a rooster's head. Padmavati's idols are found in seated position wherein her right leg is resting on the ground and the left leg is resting on the right thigh. Some images are found in a lotus position as well. Most images have snake-hood over her head. Her vehicle is a snake or lotus. She has a red complexion and has four arms and her two right hands hold a lotus and a rosary. The two left hands hold a fruit and a rein. There are different forms of goddess Padmavati. Shvetambars usually have her idols with four hands. Digambara Image of Padmavati has upto 20 hands.
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