Dharaṇendra is the Yaksha (attendant deity and protective god) or śāsana devatā of Parshvanatha, the twenty-third Tirthankara in Jainism.

[1] According to the Digambara Jain tradition, when Pārśvanātha was a prince, he saved two snakes (a nāga and a nāgina) that had been trapped in a log in the ritual fire of a sorcerer named Kamaṭha.

Later, these snakes were reborn as Dharaṇendra, the lord (ruler) of the underworld Nāgaloka, and Padmavati (as his consort).

They then sheltered ascetic Pārśvanātha when he was harassed by Meghalin (Kamaṭha’s reborn).

Western Ganga literature states that Nāga-rāja Dharaṇendra was worshipped for acquiring sons.