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શાસનદેવી શ્રી પદ્માવતી માતા ]
[ 389
PADMAVATI : IMAGES
AND ICONOGRAPHY || THE MOST POPULAR DEITY OF JAINAS
of Dr. Saryu V. Doshi and Dr. Geeta C. Sali
INTRODUCTION :
Shakti worship or Mother worship is a universal phenomena. Man, has worshipped Shakti - in one form or the other right from his emergence as is evidenced from the different archaeological as well as literary evidence. It was in the form of animism in the beginning which turned into image worship with the passage of time. The survival of this are found in the form of sacred stones, phallic worship, tree worship scattered over various parts of India.
It is a general belief that the worship of the jinas is undertaken for spiritual reasons and not for gaining any worldly benefit. In the earliest phase of their history the Jainas launched a systematic campaign against the cult of ritual and sacrifice as destructive of all morals, and laid great stress on the purification of soul for the attainment of nirvana or salvation. Idol worship first appeared in the early centuries of the christian era and elaborate rules were developed for performing the different rituals of Jaina worship. Samantabhadra, who belongs to the early century of the christian era, was probably the first to lay down worship as the religious duty of a layman. He included it among the 'six savratas' or educative vows and gave it a place of some importance in his rules for Jaina householders. (Brahmchari S.P., Grhasthan dharma, v,119, p.144). From this time onwards the Jaina teachers further developed their system of worship. The Jaina teacher always glorified and attributed divine grace to the Jinas. They devoted their talents to the deification of the Jinas.
The Karnataka Jaina literature and epigraphs indicate that the Jaina objects of adoration resemble mainly the Brahmanical objects of worship. Like the Hindus, the Jainas show their reverence not only to the Jinas alone but also to their associated deities, sacred things and symbols. The attendant deities of the Jinas and their emblems
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