________________
Four More Popular Yakşinis
279
with the goad and the noose was a later development. Archaeological evidence referred to previously also points to the same conclusion.
The lotus again is the chief recognition symbol of the Buddhist Tārās, and here again Padmăvati offers an interesting comparison. One of the forms of Padmavati is almost identical with that of Durgottāriņi Tārā. Again, Viśvamātā, a variety of white Tårā, actually rides on a snake, while the Buddhist snake-goddess Jánguli, who sits on the snake-vehicle, is also a variety of Tara. The four-armed Pomini-devi (Padmini-devi) described in the Jaina text Karakanda-cariu, holding the book and the lotus amongst other symbols, 296 finds another Buddhist parallel in the Dhananda Tārå,297
Jaina Tantras also identify her with Tara on the one hand and Durgā and Gauri on the other. SriCandra suri in his Adbhuta-Padmavati-Kalpa calls her Candi, Tāra, Tårāvatară and Durga, thus suggesting some sort of relationship amongst them. In another place, the same author eulogises the goddess as Padmāyatı of the Jainas, Gauri of the Saivites, Tārā of the Buddhists, Praksti of the Samkhyas, Gayatri of the Bhattamärgis and Vajra of the Kaulikas. According to the author, she is found everywhere in every religion and every cult, even the whole universe is pervaded by her.298 The same idea is repeated in the Padmavati Stotra where she is named Tripura.299
It is thus possible that Padmavati originated from the conception of the Buddhist Täră. The earliest texts like the Bhagavati and Sthānanga do not mention her in the lists of chief queens of Dharanendra. Padmavati with the lotus symbol is only a later innovation in the mythology of Pārsvanātha. In the scenes of Kamatha's attack at Ellora and other places she (Padmavati) is not known and the queen of Dharanendra, holding the umbrella, is called Padmavati (in the preceding descriptions of such reliefs) for the sake of convenience only. In all early sculptures, at least upto the beginning of the ninth century A.D., Padmavati did not figure as the Yakşini of Pårsvanátha, but it was Ambika who figured as the Yaksioi for all Tirthankaras. With this it must be remembered that both Padmavati and Tåră are chiefly associated with the lotus.
Padmavati and Jänguli are remarkably alike. The Buddhist snake-goddess Jänguli is a variety of Tara, She resides on the snake and has a snake over her crown. Now, Jänguli, according to (later) Buddhist traditions, is as old as Buddha himself"300 which suggests that she existed in ancient Indian popular worship in the age of Buddha and Mahavira, or that a prototype of her with any other name certainly did exist.
It is always difficult to ascertain the correct age of introduction of a god or goddess in any pantheon, since the presence of the deity is generally noted in the texts much later when the deity is already popular with the laity.
As noted above, Jaina texts address Padmavati as Durgå and Gauri and say that she herself is Tripurā. This is borne out by the fact that the symbols of Tripurā given in the Rūpamandana exactly correspond to those of Padmavati described in the Padmavati-mantrāmnāya-vidhi. Both show the abhaya, the varada, the noose and the goad. Tripura in the Brahmanical pantheon is only one of the forms of Gauri. Moreover, deities like Jaya, Vijaya, Ajitā, Aparajitā---the doorkeepers associated with Padmavati and the deities Mohini and Sthambhini, who find a place in the Yantras of Padmavali, are also included in the lists of pratihäras of the Brah manical Gauri. The lotus is also one of the most common symbols of Gauri and is seen in the hands of Umā, Gaury and Savitri. But Padmavati does not seem to have been directly borrowed from Gauri although one or more forms may be found to possess similarity in symbols.
The source of Tará, Padmavati and Gauri-- the three well-known goddesses of the principal Indian sects-should be searched elsewhere, when it is known that Jaina writers regard them as all forms of one and the same deity. And the nearest approach to them is the ancient goddess Padma-Sri, so thoroughly discussed by Coomaraswamy and Moticandra. The lotus symbol was primarily associated with the goddess of wealth and beauty -- Lakşmi or Padmi-Sri. The Jaina Padmavati is a mixture of two cults-- one of Sirima Devata and the Naga cult of the ancient Magadha where Jainism had its origin. That Padmi-Sri or the Padmini Vidya is the source of these three goddesses is evident from the following passage, from Bharata, first pointed by J.N. Banerji:
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
