Source: here.
Continuing with our encounters with padubai (padmAvatI), we come to that
expedition that opened to us the secrets of this deity. The our nAstIka
astronomer acquaintance of the 3rd varNa had mentioned that there was a
large idol of padmAvatI in the depression to the south of our city where
also lay an old temple of rudra. That leader amongst the shUdra-s told
us right then that he recalled that there also lay an old aniconic rock
of padubai. We desired to see this site and set out with our henchmen of
the 3rd and 4th varNa-s. We rode along on our “ashva-s” and reached the
said hamlet where vIrakals of old cattle herders, including perhaps the
ancestors of the Bhosles lay scattered. There shUdra-shreShTha led us to
a large scarlet-painted rock that was worshiped extensively by the local
tribesmen and cowherds as padubai. The vaiShya pointed us to a ruined
shrine where there was a large exquisite rock image of padmAvatI, which
he claimed was installed by a jinendra named pradyumna-sUri. We noted
that on the pedestal of the image of the devI was inscribed a peculiar
mantra:
OM hrIM namo.astu bhagavati padmAvatI ehi ehi saM vauShaT ||
There was something about the icon — one could feel the great goddess
with many arms, holding many weapons inspire a sense of awe. I had the
same feeling as what I felt only in the presence of another old idol of
the great mantrinI, who is sangIta-yoginI, at some other point in time.
I kept this in mind and was to learn more of it some months later.
Both me and the muni had enjoyed the excellent hospitality of a remarkable jinendra during our expeditions to the north of the city of my birth in the kAlAmukha country. This jinendra was remarkable in that he doubled both as priest of temple of rudra and as an AchArya of the nAstIka-s! As a result he was familiar with both traditions and was free from the rancor that characterized the medieval nAstika mantravAdin-s who fought their fierce abhichAra battles with AstIkas, bauddha nAstIkas and their digambara nAstIka cousins. It is well-known that that the jaina nAstIkas were tantrics right from their early days- the jaina hero kovalan of the draviDa epic shilapadhikAraM is described as performing different mantra prayogas. But their mantra-shAstra has remained more hidden than the famous activities of their bauddha rivals. One evening after an exploration we were returning to the house of the jinendra, when we noted him performing a homa with several mantras. This piqued our interest and we made inquiries and he was kind enough to reveal to us over some time period the details of the nAstIka mantrashAstra. He was himself in the parampara of the following great nAstIka prayoga adepts who attained siddhi of the mantras of our goddess pratya~NgirA as per the nAstIka traditions. Each one of them had composed tantric kalpa-s on the prayogas of shrI pratya~NgirA devI: 1) the ShaT-karma master sAgara-chandra-sUri 2) bAlachandra-sUri 3) pradyumna-sUri 4) devabhadra. Of great interest was the fact that nAstIkas admitted possessing a class of mantras termed AtharvaNI from which stem the pratya~NgirA prayogas.
The jinendra explained that some of the main prayogas of great
importance (other than pratya~NgirA) were those of padmAvatI, ambikA
and saravatI. But he also possessed some other really tantalizing
vidyAs: 1) shaivAgamokta padmAvatI sAdhana with prayogas known as haMsa
padmAvatI, mokSha-padmAvatI, rakta-padmAvatI and shabarI padmAvatI 2)
kAmeshvarI mantra 3) bhairavI mantra 4) nityA mantra 5) tripurA mantra
6) chakreshvarI mantra 7) kurukullA mantra 8) baTuka bhairava prayoga 9)
svarNAkarShaNa bhairava prayoga 10) mR^ityu~n-jaya prayoga.
The jaina forms of these prayogas are not identical but related to their
AstIka counterparts in most cases. The jinendra explained that in the
padmAvatI kalpa that he followed for his worship she is termed: tvaritA,
nityA, tripurA, tripurabhairavI and kAmasAdhinI. One of the prayogas for
stambhana in the kalpa, with which an medieval jaina siddha had
destroyed a Sufi subversionist invoked vArtAlI-vArAhI. The mantra used
in the kalpa for escaping ordeal inflicted by rulers is the
rAja-shyAmalA or sangIta-yoginI mantra. The nityaklinnA prayoga is
provided for bewitching women. vidyA-s are also provided for
chandeshvara, garuDa (for countering snakes) and kurukullA.