Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra
by Helen M. Johnson | 1931 | 742,503 words
This page describes Parshva’s shasanadevatas (messenger-deities) which is the twelfth part of chapter III of the English translation of the Parshvanatha-caritra, contained within the “Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Caritra”: a massive Jain narrative relgious text composed by Hemacandra in the 12th century. Parshvanatha in jainism is the twenty-third Tirthankara (Jina) and one of the 63 illustrious beings or worthy persons.
Part 12: Pārśva’s śāsanadevatās (messenger-deities)
Originating in that congregation, the Yakṣa Pārśva, with a tortoise for a vehicle, dark, elephant-faced, splendid with an umbrella of serpent-hoods, four-armed, holding an ichneumon and a serpent in his left hands, a citron and a serpent in his right hands, became the Lord’s messenger-deity.
Likewise the goddess Padmāvatī, with a kurkuṭa-serpent for a vehicle, gold colored, carrying a lotus and a noose in her right hands, a fruit and a goad in her left hands, became the second messenger-deity of Lord Śrī Pārśva. The Lord, his vicinity unceasingly presided over by the messenger-deities, wandered over the earth, attended by reverent gods and others.