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Exchange of embryos; Queen Trisala recounting the auspicious dreams to the king; Kalpasütra; paper; ca. 1439 A.D., Marwar.
Courtesy: National Museum, New Delhi.
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Angered at the treatment of Ambika by her husband, the gods burned to the ground the village where she had lived; the only house that remained unaffected was her own. So the word spread that it was the wife's saintliness that had saved the building. The Brahmans now begged for the same food which they had earlier spurned as impure, and her husband felt sad and remorseful.
The husband decided then to look for his wife and ask for her forgiveness. However, when the repenting husband approached her, fearing that he meant more harm, she jumped into a well with her sons. They all died. Later she was reborn as a goddess, a yakṣi of tirthankara Neminatha. Her husband was born as a lion, whom she rode as her mount. The two sons were initiated by Neminatha.
In Jain iconography, Ambika is often shown with four arms standing or seated under a mango tree, or with a bunch of mangoes hanging over her. She holds a child in her lap, and a lion sits at her feet.
Worship of Ambika is very old, and images and temples of Ambika have been consecrated at many places in India. There is also a large number of Ambikă images in various museums in the country.
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