Yakshas and Yakshinis
Jains
pay their respect and worship idols of Jinas for three reasons:
He has liberated Himself and attained Moksha
He expounded the path of Liberation
To get an inspiration to become like Him
The
only goal of Jainism is to free ourselves from the worldly sufferings and
attain liberation. Jin is a liberated soul, freed of its material body and
resides in the top of the universe, called Siddha-loka. The images of
Jinas are intended to serve as reminders to the faithful of the
possibility of liberation; i.e., they served as role models for both the
Jain laity, guiding their ethical code of living, and for the aspirant,
Jin providing inspiration and a reminder that spiritual liberation is an
attainable goal. As a detached soul, removed from this world, the Jin is
incapable of responding to a devotee's prayers or requests. This inability
to be interventionist, to respond to the prayers and offerings from the
faithful, sets Jin images apart from both all Hindu and most Buddhist
deities, who can be called upon to ritually correct approaches by a
devotee.
In
addition to images of Jinas, we notice images of Yakshas and Yakshinis
(deities) in many Jain temples. These deities are seen as neither eternal
nor divine, and they themselves are said to be worshippers of the Jin,
true devotees of Jin. In addition, these Yakshas and Yakshinis are full of
passions and are wandering through the cycles of births and death just
like us. Yakshas are males and Yakshinis are females. They are also called
Shäsandevtäs (male ones) and Shäsandevis (female ones). They are
guardian deities, angels of order. They are heavenly beings of Vyantar
group who have supernatural powers including ability to change their forms
and sizes. Either these Yakshas and Yakshinis were appointed by Indra
(king of heaven) or were positively associated with Tirthankars in their
previous lives. Even though, Tirthankars do not require or ask for any
protection, these Yakshas and Yakshinis looked due to their devotion after
Tirthankars and came back to protect the Jainism when it became necessary.
The
earlier scriptures like the Sthänänga-sutra, Uttarädhyayan-sutra,
Bhagawati-sutra, Tattvärtha-sutra, Antagadadasäo-sutra, and
Pauma-chariya have frequent references to Yakshas and Yakshinis. Many
Jains pay their respect to these Yakshas and Yakshinis for having them
provided protection to Tirthankars and to the existence of Jainism. These
are the reasons, they are found around the images of Jinas as well as
their individual images in many Jain temples. Yaksha usually found on the
right side of the Jin idol while Yakshini on the left side. In Jain
temples, they are never situated in superior physical locations in
relation to images of the Jinas. These are benevolent Yakshas and
Yakshinis. There are also malevolent Yakshas and Yakshinis who caused
sufferings to Tirthankars and troubles to Jains and existence of Jainism.
For example, Yaksha Sulpäni troubled Lord Mahävir in his mediation and
inflicted much suffering and there are similar stories in which malevolent
Yakshas troubled others as well. We Jains do not pay our respects or
worship Yakshas and Yakshinis for the material gains, favor and freedom
from fear, illness and disease. We do pay our respect to them for their
service to Tirthankars and Jainism. Asking for materialistic gains from
them will be quite opposite of the teachings of Jinas.
The
followings provide the brief description of commonly found Yakshas and
Yakshinis in Jain temples:
Chakreshwari
Devi
She
is the dedicated attendant deity of lord Ädi Näth (Rishabhadev). She is
also called by another name i.e. Apratichakrä. The color of this goddess
is golden. Her Vehicle is the eagle. She has eight arms. In her four right
hands she holds the blessing Mudrä (posture), arrow, rope and wheel. In
her four left hands she holds the rein, the bow, the protective weapon of
Indra and the wheel.
Ambika
Devi
She
is the dedicated deity of Lord Nemi-Näth the 22nd Tirthankar. She is also
called Ambai Amba and Amra Kushmändini. Her color is golden and the lion
is her vehicle. She has four arms. In her two right hands she carries a
mango and in the other a branch of a mango tree. In her one left hand she
carries a rein and in the other she has her two sons.
Padmävati
Devi
She
is the dedicated deity of Lord Pärshva-Näth, the 23rd Tirthankar. Her
color is golden and her vehicle is the snake with a cock's head. She has
four arms and her two right hands hold a lotus and a rosary. The two left
hands hold a fruit and a rein.
Saraswati
Devi
Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, is considered to be the source of all
the learning. This divine energy is the source of spiritual light, remover
of all ignorance and promoter of all knowledge. She is respected and
adored by all the faiths, worldly persons and saints. She has four arms,
one holding a book, the other a rosary and two hands holding a musical
instrument Veenä. Her seat is a lotus and the peacock is her vehicle
representing equanimity in prosperity. In some places it is mentioned that
the swan is her vehicle.
Lakshmi
Devi
Goddess
Lakshmi represents the wealth. The people worship her as the goddess of
wealth, power, money etc. In the upper two hands, she is holding a lotus
with an elephant, in the lower right hand a rosary and in the lower left
hand a pot.
Manibhadra
Dev
Shri
Manibhadra is originally a Yaksha, worshipped by Indian masses since very
old times and his introduction to Jain worship is only a later adaptation.
It is an image of six armed Yaksha with an elephant as his vehicle.
Ghantakarna
Veer
This
deity is worshipped for the protection and for driving away the evil
influence created by the lower types of negative energy. His arrow
indicates penetration of evil forces. The bow gives forceful momentum to
the arrow. His symbol is the bell that resounds to create auspicious
sounds in the atmosphere. Sometimes the people who are not aware of the
facts call him by mistake Ghantäkarna Mahävir that creates confusion
between Lord Mahävir and Ghantäkarna Veer. He is not connected to Lord
Mahävir in any way.
Nakoda
Bhairava
This
is the tutelary deity of Bhairava. This deity is usually found near the
entrance of the temple. People from far and near, visit the shrine and
make offerings to the deity on fulfillment of their material desires. It
is the positive force around the temple.
Bhomiyaji
This
deity is in the shape of a mountain. It is the natural positive energy of
the mountain Sametshikhar. This energy inspires and guides the believers
and the travelers.
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Information Courtesy :
Mr. Pravin K. Shah
Chairperson JAINA Education Committee
Federation of Jain Associations in North America
509 Carriage Woods Circle Raleigh, NC 27607-3969 USA
Email - Pkshah1@attglobal.net
Telephone and fax 919-859-4994
Websites - www.jaina.org and www.jainism.org
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Mail to : Ahimsa
Foundation
www.jainsaamaj.org
R301002