Life in Ancient India as Depicted in the Jain Canons, with Commentaries: An Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey c14.s3.t9.1

c14.s3.t9.1

The worship of the Jakkhas was most common in ancient India and so every important city had its own shrine dedicated to the Jakkha 210 We are told that by practising self-restraint one is born among the Yaksa 211 and the Yaksas including the Devas, the Dānavas, the Gandharvas and the Kinnaras pay veneration to those who practise celibacy 212 Reference is made to the Jakkha Gaṇḍiṭinduṅga of Vārāṇasi, who guarded the great sage Mātanga in the Tiṇḍuga garden. 213 Bihelaga was another Jakkha who paid reverence to Lord Mahāvīra when the latter was engrossed in meditation. 214 The Nāyādhammakahā speaks of another Jakkha of beneficent character, viz., Selaga This Jakkha had the appearance of a horse (āsarūpadhārī) and on every caturdasī, aṣṭamī, amāvasyā and pūrṇamāsī helped people He is said to have saved the two merchants from the clutches of a cruel goddess and carried them on his back to Campā 215