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a branch of a mango tree on the other hand. In one of her left hands she carries a rein and in the other her two sons.
Ambikä, though very popular amongst Hindus, is perhaps not so popular amongst Jains. There are not as many Jain temples with the idols of Ambikä as there are of Padmavati. However, Ambikä is the Goddess of strength and power and Hindus celebrate the festival of Navratri in her honour.
Padmavati: the Mother Goddess
The Tirthankara Pärshvanätha was a prince of the kingdom of Käshi. He was then known as prince Pärshva. Once he went to see an ascetic who was performing a penance by lighting logs of wood. On the outskirts of the city this ascetic, whose name was Kamath, was performing the ritual of penance. Pärshva 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 Pärshva of trying to break his penance. Pärshva was the only person there who knew what was happening. When his requests were rejected, Pärshva 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 Pärshva recited the 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. Kamath was very angry but he could not do anything, as he was proved wrong.
After a few years Pärshva renounced everything and went away in search of eternal happiness and became a monk. One day Pärshvanatha was standing in meditation in a park when a demon called Meghmäli arrived. Meghmäli was no one but Kamath who had died and had taken birth in the form of Meghmäli. Meghmäli wanted to take revenge because of what had happened in his past life.
Meghmäli created all sorts of obstacles to break the meditation. He made the heavy rains to fall on Pärshvanatha with great intensity. Pärshvanatha continued in his meditation. He was not moved or disturbed by this severe calamity. Water started rising, and it came up to the knees of Pärshvanätha and it was still rising. At this juncture Dharnendra and Padmavati came and created a large lotus, which lifted Pärshvanätha above the water. Dharnendra made a hood (a snake hood) to prevent Pärshvanätha's head getting wet. Pärshvanatha was still deep in meditation. Meghmäli at last gave up his evil acts and apologised. Pärshvanatha forgave him.
This story of obstacles created by Meghmäli is quite famous. Dharnendra and Padmavati saved Pärshvanatha 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. In fact, she is the single most popular Goddess in Jainism. She is, as stated earlier, the dedicated deity of Lord Pärshvanatha, the twenty-third Tirthankara. Her colour is golden and her vehicle is the snake with a cock's head. Padmavati's images are found
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