Yaksha

Yaksha (Sanskrit यक्ष, "IAST|yakṣa" , "yakkha" in Pāli ) is the name of a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, who are caretakers of the natural treasures hidden in the earth and tree roots.cite web
url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9077732/yaksha
title=yaksha
publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica
accessdate=2007-07-15] They appear in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist mythology. The feminine form of the word is IAST|yakṣī or IAST|yakṣiṇī (Pāli: yakkhī or yakkhinī).Fact|date=July 2007

General character

In Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist mythology, the IAST|yakṣa has a dual personality. On the one hand, a IAST|yakṣa may be an inoffensive nature-fairy, associated with woods and mountains; but there is a much darker version of the IAST|yakṣa, which is a kind of cannibalistic ogre, ghost or demon that haunts the wilderness and waylays and devours travelers, similar to the IAST|rakṣasas.

In Kālidāsa's poem Meghadūta, for instance, the IAST|yakṣa narrator is a romantic figure, pining with love for his missing beloved. By contrast, in the didactic Hindu dialogue of the IAST|Yakṣapraśnāḥ ("questions of the IAST|Yakṣa"), a dangerous cannibalistic IAST|Yakṣa, the tutelary spirit of a lake, threatens the life of the epic hero IAST|Yudhiṣṭhira.

The IAST|yakṣas may have originally been the tutelary gods of forests and villages, and were later viewed as the steward deities of the earth and the wealth buried beneath.

In Indian art, male IAST|yakṣas are portrayed either as fearsome warriors or as portly, stout and dwarf-like. Female IAST|yakṣas, known as IAST|yakṣiṇīs, are portrayed as beautiful young women with happy round faces and full breasts and hips.

In the state of Kerala, in South India, Yakshis are depicted as vampire enchantresses.

Yakshas in Mahabharata

The banks of river Narmada is described as the birth place of yaksha king Kubera (Vaisravana), where his father Visravas, who was a sage, lived. It is also a territory of Gandharvas. (Mahabharata: 3,89). Gokarna, Karnataka is also mentioned as a place of yakshas and pisachas, and kinnaras and the great nagas, and siddhas and charanas and gandharvas. (3,85)

IAST|Yakṣas in Buddhism

In Buddhist countries IAST|yakṣas are known under the following names: Chinese Pinyin: 夜叉 yè chā, Japanese: nihongo|Yasha|夜叉|, Burmese: "ba-lu", Tibetan: གནོད་སྦྱིན་ "(gnod sbyin)".

In Buddhist mythology, the IAST|yakṣa are the attendants of IAST|Vaiśravaṇa, the Guardian of the Northern Quarter, a beneficent god who protects the righteous. The term also refers to the twelve heavenly generals who guard the Buddha of Medicine (Sanskrit: IAST|Bhaiṣajya; Tibetan: sangs-rgyas sman-bla; Chinese and Japanese: 藥師如來, 薬師如来)

In the Pali Canon

The Alavaka Sutta (SN 10.12) of the Pali Canon details a story where the Buddha was harassed by a Rakshasa, who asked him to leave and then come back over and over. The Buddha refused to leave, whereby the Rakshasa threatened to harm him if he could not answer his questions. The rest of the sutra concerns the question and answer dialogue, and at the end, the demon is then convinced and becomes a follower of the Buddha. [ [http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn10/sn10.012.piya.html Alavaka Sutta (SN 10.12)] ]

Yaksha in Jainism

23rd Jain tirthankar Parshvanath is always represented with the hood of a snake shading his head. The Yaksha Dharanendra and the Yakshi Padmavati are often shown flanking him.

ee also

* Didarganj Yakshi

Notes

References

*"Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend" (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dhallapiccola
*"Encyclopaedia Britannica": [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9077732/yaksha Yaksha] , [http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9077732 EBC: Yaksha]