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Iconography of 24 Tirthankaras
171 the soul of Kamatha reborn as a tāpasa. The snakes, half-burnt, died immediately after Pārśva chanted before them the Navakara mantra and were reborn as Dharanendra (Indra of the Nägakumāra class of demi-gods) and his queen (Padmavati). Kamatha, after death, was reborn as a god called Samvara according to the Digambaras and Meghamāli according to the Svetämbaras.
King Prasenajit, son of Naravarman, the ruler Kuśasthala, had a beautiful daughter called Prabhāvati who, on hearing the virtues of Pārsvanátha, fell in love with him and decided to marry him. Her parents agreed, but kings of neighouring states of Kalinga etc., desiring to marry the princess, attacked Kuśasthala and besieged it. Pâréva, requested by Prasenajit, ran to his resue, subdued the opponents and married Prabhāvati. According to Hemacandra, the ruler of Kalinga was a Yavana king.294
It is interesting to note that the snake, which is a special cognizance of Pārsvanātha, figures on the archway of Anantagumpha, Khanda giri, Orissa, and that two Yavana warriors are carved in relief in the Ranigumpha. The caves are generally regarded as Jaina, while some of the reliefs of the caves are identified by V.S. Agrawala as referring to the Udayana story. The reference to the Kalinga-Jina in the Hathigumpha inscription may be to an image of Parsvanātha.295 Readings of the inscription, however, are largely disputed and uncertain in several cases.
For thirty years Parsva remained a householder and then renounced worldly ties, practised rigorous austerities and obtained kevalajñāna while meditating under a Dhätaki-tree (Grislea tomentosa). He had ten gañadharas with Svayambhu as their leader according to Digambara traditions and eight ganadharas with Subha or Subhadatta as the chief according to some Svetāmbara traditions.296 The Samavāyānga sūtra however calls him Dinna, while the Avaśyaka Niryukti speaks of ten ganadharas.297 Puşpacūlā was his chief äryikā as stated by the Samavāyānga and the Kalpa-sútra. According to the Digambaras she was known as Sulocana (called Sulokā by Tiloyapannatti).
According to Tiloyapannatti Pārsva's yakşa and yaksiņi were Mātanga and Padmă respectively while according to other Digambara and Svetāmbara traditions they were Parsva and Padmavati.
Kamatha (also called Katha) tāpasa who was reborn as Samvara (Dig.) or Meghamāli (Sve.) obstructed Pärsvanātha when he was practising penance. For seven days he poured heavy rains and made terrific noises and hurled stones etc. on him. In order to frighten Pärsvanatha he created lions, scorpions, terrific genii like Vetalas and others who issued fire from their mouths. But the great sage, unaffected by these obstructions (upasarga), remained steadfast in meditation. Dharana, the Indra of Nāgakumāra gods, remembering the obligation of Pārsva in the previous existence, came to the rescue of the Lord and, standing behind the Jina, held a canopy of his seven snake-hoods over Parśva's head, in order to protect the Lord's person from rains, stones, etc. His four queens staged dance with music before the meditating sage but the great sage was equally unmindful of this pleasure of music and dance and of the pain inflicted by Samvara (also known as Meghamalı). The villainy of the soul of Kamatha becoming fruitless, he repented, stopped all obstructions and bowing down before the Lord and begging his pardon, went away ashamed and repenting.298 It is said that Meghamali had so much flooded the area that water level rose upto the tip of the nose of Pärśva and that Dharanendra wrapping his coils all around the body of Parśva and holding the hoods as a canopy over the sage's head lifted out of water the whole body of the sage.
Both the sects agree in giving a cobra as the cognizance (dhvaja mark or lāñchana) of Parśva and generally represent five or seven snake-hoods over his head. The snake cognizance is shown on the pedestal and often coils of the snake's body are shown behind the body of the Jina either standing or sitting in meditation. The snake-hoods as well as the coils suggest Dharana Näga protecting the body of Pārsvanātha.
It will be remembered that Supārsvanatha, the seventh Tirthankara, is said to have a canopy of one, three or nine snake-hoods. Hemacandra and others speak of seven snake-hoods held over the head of Pārsva; the difference in the number of hoods for Pārśva and Supārsva often helps us in identifying their images.
Amongst the earliest known images of Parśvanātha are some sculptures obtained from the Kankali Tila, Mathura. The first is an Ayagapata, no. J.253 in the Lucknow Museum, assignable to the first
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