Yaksas and Yaksinis in World of Hinduism/Buddhism in ancient India
Yakṣas are a class of demigods regarded as attendants of Kubera, the lord of wealth. They are often mentioned together with gandharvas and rākṣasas and other semidivine members of the Hindu pantheon. Their female counterparts are the yakṣīs, also called yakṣiṇīs, sexually voracious beings who are usually not related by marriage to the yakṣas. Both yakṣas and yakṣiṇīs range in disposition from benevolent to malignant. Though they may do harm to human beings as they are believed to cause ailments, they are generally beneficial, especially when propitiated. Yakṣiṇīs are considered to be harbingers of fertility as they are said to be capable of making a barren woman conceive. The widely documented association of yakṣas and yakṣiṇīs with water and trees and wealth in general points to their significance for concepts of prosperity. They are most often associated with a specific territory that they guard as local gods or goddesses. They are assigned the role of gatekeepers for a whole region, or guardians of a pond or lake and particularly of Kubera’s treasure. Even today, some villages – for example, in the region of Mathura – bear the name of a yakṣa or yakṣiṇī and are thus designated as a certain yakṣa’s territory.
It has been surmised that yakṣá belongs to the Sanskrit verbal root yakṣ-, which goes back to Indogermanic i̯ek(u̯)s- “to appear” (LIV. cf. 312; comp. EWA. vol. II, 391; VIA. 571). In that case, the basic signification of Sanskrit yakṣá is “apparition,” which in context tends to mean “evil apparition.” The native Indian tradition, however, takes a different approach. Dhātupāṭha (10.153), an ancient list of verbal roots ascribed to Pāṇini, explains yakṣ- by pūj- “to worship.” Sāyaṇa and Mādhava, commentators on the Ṛgveda, follow this explanation at some instances (e.g. Sāyaṇa ad RV. 7.61.5; Mādhava ad RV. 4.3.13), while at others (e.g. Sāyaṇa ad RV. 4.3.13; 7.88.6) yakṣa is linked to yaj- “to sacrifice.” Pali commentators (VvA. 224.15–16) take a similar stand. They explain that yakṣas (Pal. yakkha) are referred to as such because “(people) sacrifice [to them]” (yajanti).
Yakṣas and yakṣīs appear to be capable of changing their form and even their sex at will (Rām. 1.23.24; MBh. 3.297.11; 5.193.36–37). Hence their physical appearance might vary. On the whole, the yakṣas are described as a kind of giants with massive bodies and odd eyes, which are armed with clubs, bludgeons, swords, spears, spikes, and battle axes (MBh. 3.157.42–43; 297.20). Though possibly menacing, the yakṣas, and especially the yakṣiṇīs, are most often of pleasing appearance. At first encounter, a handsome man is welcomed with an inquiry as to whether he is a god, gandharva, or yakṣa (MBh. 3.40.30; 3.52.16; see AN. 2.38.14–15). The same question serves as a greeting or compliment for beautiful women (MBh. 1.92.31; Rām. 3.32.15; see Jāt. 4.459.12–13). A comparison with these creatures being reckoned as a compliment is further substantiated by the fact that the word “yakṣa” serves as one of Buddha’s epithets (AN. 1.386.31).
The yakṣas are inhabitants of Hiraṇmaya, one of the nine divisions of the continent said to be situated between the mountainous ranges of Śveta and Śṛṅgavat (MBh. 6.9.5–6). There they live near or at the abode of their Lord Kubera, on the mountain Gandhamādana or Kailāsa (which are, probably, two names of the same mountain). In the city of Alakā (MBh. 9.10.48), capital of the region, the yakṣas, together with gandharvas, kiṃnaras, and rākṣasas, attend Kubera’s assembly hall (MBh. 2.11.45; see also 2.10). According to the Mahābhārata (12.163.1), their dwellings are trees (caityavṛkṣa), a trait widely recognized in Jain and Buddhist traditions. In Purāṇa sources, they are sometimes said to inhabit the netherworlds. Yakṣiṇīs are not named in connection with Kubera’s hall but are usually said to live in forests (Rām. 1.23.28–30). In Hindu traditions they do not appear to be as integrated into a community of semidivine and demonic creatures as their male counterparts.
Freestanding stone yakṣas can be found dating from the 3rd or 2nd century BCE onwards in most areas of India, especially in the northern and central regions. They are larger than life and corpulent, with protuberant bellies surrounded by a thick scarf. Heavy jewelry and a prominent moustache are further typical yakṣa features. Occasionally yakṣa statues are equipped with arms, but more often their left hand carries a money bag or a wine cup (see also Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra 77.64). The latter attribute makes them comparable to Saṃkarṣaṇa, a Hindu god of agriculture who is as fond of alcoholic drinks, as the yakṣas. In the right hand, they hold a fruit, probably a lemon, because the yakṣas closely resemble their Lord Kubera, whose attribute is – according to Rūpamaṇḍana (2.37), a Jain iconographic work – such a fruit. Yakṣiṇīs are most often depicted as beautiful women, scantly clad wearing (only) a broad, jeweled belt and with a dwarfish yakṣa as their mount. In a common posture, the śālabhañjikā (breaking a branch of the śāla tree), they stand underneath an aśoka (bot. Saraca asoca [Roxb.] Wilde) or mango tree, entwined with it like a creeper plant and bending down one of the branches (see figure below). Here the tree appears to be the giver, fertilizing or decorating the yakṣiṇī. Nevertheless, some depictions are not clearly distinguishable as yakṣas and yakṣiṇīs – for example, a statue from Patna bearing a fly whisk and dated back to the Maurya period.
Fig. 1: Yaksī in Bharhut (A. Cunningham, An Archaeological Survey of India, 1875).
The cult of yakṣas and yakṣiṇīs has been prevalent in many regions of the Indian subcontinent as well as in Southeast Asia. Though there is contemporary worship, the cult of these beings reached its peak in the aftermath of the Maurya period in northern and eastern India. The area in and near Mathura has been a prominent center of yakṣa cult, particularly in the Shaka/Kushana period, which lasted from the late 1st to the 3rd century CE. This is evidenced by dozens of yakṣa and Kubera images found in that area. The colossal 2.62-meter-tall statue of the yakṣa Maṇibhadra, found at Parkham (no. C1 in the Government Museum of Mathura) and dated to the 1st century CE, is widely known. He is portrayed standing, in a strictly frontal position. It seems, however, that the cult of yakṣas, worshipped as divinities, was declining in Mathura by the 4th century CE.
The characteristic traits of the yakṣa figures have apparently left their mark on the iconography of Hindu gods. Many scholars have speculated about possible connections between yakṣa iconography and, for example, depictions of Gaṇeśa, Lakṣmī, Kāma, and others.
In the oldest Indic text, the Ṛgveda, the neuter word yakṣá denotes evil that is planned against someone by means of magic (Bodewitz, 2006, 247). It is a wondrous power one has to beware of (see JaiBr. 3.203). The Atharvaveda speaks of the “great yakṣa in the middle of the world” and identifies it – most probably – with the sun miraculously glowing “on the back of the [heavenly] flood” (AV. 10.7.38). The tendency to identify such “unique” entities with the one, the brahman , is a line of thought especially popular with the Upaniṣads (see KeU. 3.6; 3.10; the equation with ātman is less common, but compare MaiU. 7.6).
Subsequently the yakṣá concept seems to have been personified, and the word came to be used as a masculine with a corresponding feminine yakṣī denoting male and female semidivine beings that possess a kind of magic power (compare the neuter word rákṣas and masculine rakṣás/rākṣasa). These beings are mentioned together with other classes of similar creatures like, e.g., gandharvas, apsarases, nāgas (snakes; , and rākṣasas, in Gṛhyasūtras and epics alike (see e.g. ĀśvGS. 3.4.1; MBh. 1.1.33). The ritual texts mention a couple of techniques to ward off yakṣas. Usually these creatures are compensated with a bali, an oblation that basically consists of the remnants of another sacrifice and is most often left at a crossroad. The Mānavagṛhyasūtra (2.14.28–29) names such a bali offering as part of the vināyaka ritual, which aims at propitiating and exorcising dangerous beings. Here the litany is directed at a heron (see MBh. 3.297.11), who is a yakṣa, Vaiśravaṇa (i.e. Kubera), and other gods or semidivine beings. Some of the latter appear to be individual yakṣas, such as Virūpākṣa (“Of Odd Eyes”; see MBh. 3.297.20) and Lohitākṣa (“Of Red Eyes”; see Ja. 6.337.10). The sacrificial substances of this bali characteristically comprise meat and alcoholic drinks (see below). Baudhāyanagṛhyasūtra (3.11.3) knows a ritual called yakṣībali, which is a popular rite for neutralizing molestation caused by two female supernatural beings. This molestation is said to occur at the time of marriage. Other ritual texts specify that yakṣas are to be invoked in the intermediary time between samāvartana (“returning” ceremony, marking the end of the student period) and marriage. According to Śāṅkhāyanagṛhyasūtra (1.11.6) and Kāṭhakagṛhyasūtra (21.2), Vaiśravaṇa, the lord of the yakṣas, is to be worshipped in the bridegroom’s house just before marriage. And though Āpastambagṛhyasūtra itself does not mention the yakṣas, the commentaries of Haradatta and Sudarśanārya (ad ĀpGS. 2.15) indicate that bali offerings to them and the nāgas should be performed before the preparatory nuptial rite, the indrāṇīkarman. The water libations for the yakṣas, which are mentioned in Śāṅkhāyanagṛhyasūtra (4.9.3), are – according to the commentary of Nārāyaṇa – performed subsequent samāvartana (see ĀśvGS. 3.4.1). Gobhilagṛhyasūtra (3.4.28) and Khādiragṛhyasūtra (3.1.27) teach that the adorned Veda alumnus should stand in front of his teacher while wishing to be “dear like the yakṣa.” In the view of the ritual texts, yakṣas and yakṣiṇīs, as well as Kubera, do not only need to be propitiated for their possible molestation but also appear to be invoked for prosperity of the household started by marriage. Characteristically they are integrated into the ritual actions at the interval between samāvartana and marriage, the time when bridegroom and bride are invested with all splendor.
The personification of the yakṣá concept evident in the Gṛhyasūtras is fully consolidated in the epics and Purāṇas. Here the masculine word yakṣa clearly identifies a class of semidivine beings. According to epic mythology, the yakṣas are born out of the “cosmic egg” together with, but distinct from, other groups of demons, and demigods as well as the ancestors (MBh. 1.1.27–33). In another section of the Mahābhārata, their king, Kubera, is said to be the son of the ancient seer Pulastya (MBh. 3.258.12). The rākṣasas, and presumably the yakṣas as well, are progeny of the same seer (MBh. 1.60.7; Rām. 7.4.4). A creation myth from Rāmāyaṇa (7.4.12–13) also relates the “fraternal” connection between rākṣasas and yakṣas. While Brahmā creates the waters and the creatures to guard it, some cry out “let us guard” (rakṣāmaḥ), and they become the rākṣasas; others cry out “let us worship” (yakṣāmaḥ), and they become the yakṣas (see ViP. 1.5.43; MkP. 48.20). This popular etymology has already been discussed above. In puranic mythology, yakṣas and rākṣasas are both born in the line of the seer Kaśyapa (e.g. MtP. 6.46–47).
Yakṣas bear not only demonic traits, but bellicose ones as well. Hence some of the fallen warriors join the yakṣas in their godly abode after death (MBh. 18.4.18; cf. Rām. 3.10.91). The yakṣas are, in this context, denoted as “good people” (puṇyajana), probably a euphemism that expresses the wish for the benevolence of the yakṣas toward oneself. In the Atharvaveda (AV. 8.8.15; 11.9.24), these good people are, among others, invoked to slay yonder armies and to make enemies visible.
In the Mahābhārata the motif of bloody encounters between armies of yakṣas and the Pāṇḍava brothers is common. A whole chapter (3.155–172; see especially 157.35–51) relates the “war of the yakṣas,” which they inevitably lose as they attack the invincible Pāṇḍava hero Bhīma when he enters Kubera’s territory. In the same book of the Mahābhārata, the Āraṇyakaparvan (The Chapter of the Jungle), another meeting with the Pāṇḍavas is mentioned (MBh. 3.296–298). When the brothers come to a pond in search of water, the voice of a yakṣa residing there in the form of a heron declares the water to be his “old property” and warns them not to drink the water before having answered certain questions. As they ignore the warning, four of the Pāṇḍavas lifelessly fall to the ground. Yudhiṣṭhira alone answers the yakṣa’s questions. These turn out to be very philosophically challenging and more than a hundred in number. Ultimately the yakṣa reveals that he is the god Dharma and bestows life to the four “dead” brothers. The taking on of various forms (e.g. of a Brahman and a dog) for testing human beings is a typical trait of Dharma (MBh. 5.106; 17.3). Derived from this story, the term “question [posed] by a yakṣa” (yakṣapraśna) has become proverbial in vernacular Hindi to indicate vital questions.
The yakṣas are often portrayed as guardians of water. Nevertheless, their major duty is the protection of Kubera’s treasures (MBh. 5.109.8). Apparently they take this task rather seriously as, according to Bhāgavatapurāṇa (11.23.9; 11.23.24), people eagerly guarding their treasure instead of using it are believed to be “found [i.e. seized] by a yakṣa” (yakṣavitta). In other instances it is said that due to “possession by a yakṣa” (yakṣagraha), a person quickly goes mad (MBh. 3.219.51; cf. Ja. 6.586.17; SN. 1.208.19; ViyPa. 14.2.1). The yakṣas share this characteristic trait with other semidivine beings, namely, the gandharvas (see TaiBr. 3.4.8.4).
The sometimes demonic nature of yakṣas is also revealed by the oblations offered to them. These must be a mixture of meat and some kind of liquor (MBh. 14.56.22–23; 14.64.6–7; MaSm. 11.96; see also Megh. 66). Their fondness of intoxicating drinks is confirmed by the term “sap of yakṣas” (yakṣarasa), which the ancient thesaurus Trikāṇḍaśeṣa (2.10.15) explains to designate such drinks. The worship of yakṣas and rākṣasas is said to be performed by men of passionate (rājasa) soul, while men of pure soul worship the gods, and those of dark soul the spirits or ghosts of deceased persons (MBh. 6.39.4). The Kāmasūtra (1.4.27) knows a festival called “night of the yakṣas” (yakṣarātri), which the commentary of Yaśodhara explains to be a night of joy or prosperity (sukha) when humans as a rule engage in gambling because of the proximity of the yakṣas. The Trikāṇḍaśeṣa (1.1.108) and the Deśīnāmamālā (3.43), an ancient lexicographic work of Prakrit, explicitly identify yakṣarātri with the great Hindu light festival dīpāvalī or dīvalī, which today is celebrated in the last night of the lunar year in honor of Lakṣmī, the Hindu goddess of wealth.
Kubera, also named Vaiśravaṇa, Dhanada, and Naravāhana, is the lord of yakṣas, guhyakas, kiṃnaras, gandharvas, and other semidivine and demonic beings.He is mentioned already in the Atharvaveda (8.10.28) where he appears to be an aboriginal earth spirit. According to the epics, he lives in Laṅkā (MBh. 3.258.16) but is vanquished in battle by Rāvaṇa, his stepbrother, and thus leaves to dwell on the mountain Gandhamādana together with the yakṣas (3.259.32–33). Previously mortal, Kubera is bestowed immortality only later by the god Prajāpati (MBh. 3.258.15) and attains lordship over wealth and guardianship over the northern direction through great penance (MBh. 2.24.1; 3.258.16; MaSm. 7.42; see TaiBr. 3.12.3.1). Like the guardians of the other directions, he owns an assembly hall.
Some individual yakṣas are mentioned by name when the attendants of Kubera’s hall are enumerated. These are, among others, Mahābala (“Having Huge Strength”), Viśālaka (“Of Huge Appearance”), Gajakarṇa (“Whose Ears Are [Like That of an] Elephant”), Hemanetra (“Whose Eyes Are Golden”), and Piṅgalaka (“Of Reddish Complexion”; MBh. 2.10.15–17). The yakṣas Māṇicara and Māṇibhadra are also mentioned in close connection with Kubera, the latter as “leader of the yakṣas” on almost one level with their Lord Kubera (MBh. 3.140.4–6). Similarly, Amogha is said to be a “great yakṣa” who leads a troop consisting of different groups of demons (jambhakas, yakṣas, and rākṣasas) in the lustrous procession of Hara – that is, Śiva-Rudra (MBh. 3.221.7).
The yakṣa Macakruka owns a lake at the border of Kurukshetra, an extensive plain near Delhi which is said to be the site of the great battles between Kurus and Pāṇḍavas. Macakruka is recognized as mighty gatekeeper of that country. When a person goes there, even if it is only in thought, all his evil deeds disappear and he will obtain the reward of a gift of a thousand cows, especially when he salutes Macakruka (MBh. 3.81.7; 3.81.178).
Another prominent individual yakṣa is Sthūṇa. He lives in a beautifully decorated house where raw meat and liquors are available in abundance. However, out of compassion for Śikhaṇḍinī, the daughter of King Drupada, he changes sex with her and thus incites Kubera’s anger. He is cursed by his lord to remain a woman until Śikhaṇḍinī, now called Śikhaṇḍin, has been killed in battle (MBh. 5.193.30–65).
Tāṭakā, a “great yakṣī” of pleasing appearance, is cursed by Agastya to be a rākṣasī, a “man-eater with a hideous face.” Now strong and terrifying, this woman can take on any form at will. She lives in the forests of Malada and Karuṣa, blocking the path of men. Ultimately she is killed by Rāghava (Rām. 1.23.24–1.25.14). The Mahābhārata offers few allusions to yakṣīs, and here no proper name is given. However, two yakṣiṇī shrines are mentioned (MBh. 3.81.19; 3.82.89–90). Worship at these “well-known” places produces the reward of a horse sacrifice and even exonerates a person from the sin of killing a learned Brahman.
Yakṣas and yakṣiṇīs were not only worshipped in the past. Their cult is popular even in contemporary South and Southeast Asia. In the North Indian region Braj, most yakṣa worship occurs under the name of jakhaiyā, apparently a Braj corruption of yakṣa. According to local belief, jakhaiyā fulfils one’s desires, particularly in connection to the acquisition of wealth. Bestowment of children is also a major concern. The premier jakhaiyā event of the year is the jakhaiyā festival, which among the lower castes involves a blood sacrifice (bali).
In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the yakṣī lives on as a shape-shifting, “vampiric” maiden not only in Hindu but also in Christian traditions. Though there are no Kerala temples dedicated solely to these female creatures, a yakṣī stone, most often in a Bhagavatī temple compound, often stakes a particular yakṣī’s terrain, providing devotees access to her powers. Furthermore, these beings are believed to be capable of possessing women during their menstrual period. Today the yakṣī not only is featured prominently within contemporary devotional and folkloristic systems but also is assigned leading roles in countless films and some play productions as well.
The South Indian theatrical tradition yakṣagāna deserves special reference, too
The precise history of the term is uncertain, but its apparent meaning, troop of yakṣas, led some scholars to identify the jakkus or jakkulus, traditional yakṣagāna performers from Andhra Pradesh, with the ancient yakṣas. Descent from these semi-divine beings is also claimed by other yakṣagāna groups.
Yakṣas and yakṣīs are repeatedly mentioned in classical Sanskrit poetry. In Kālidāsa’s poem Meghadūta (The Cloud Messenger), perhaps the most famous and most accomplished work of this genre, they are featured in a very prominent way. Here Kālidāsa describes how a yakṣa, the guardian of Kubera’s treasures, has been banished from Alakā, the city of the gods in the north, to distant Rāmagiri in central India. In the eighth month of his one year’s exile, when the yakṣa sees the first signs of the approaching monsoon, he asks a passing rain cloud to do him the service of acting as his messenger. In his imagination he sends this cloud to Alakā, where his wife, who is awaiting his return, is aflame with the pangs of love. Kālidāsa has not included the demonic tendencies of the yakṣas, but concentrated on that side of the creature’s character that is linked to nature and fertility. The imagination of the exiled yakṣa is full of vivid love fantasies and the touching picture of his wife’s suffering is full of affection. The loving husband does not name his wife as yakṣiṇī, but describes her prettiness. He even says that an aśoka and a kesara tree (bot. Mimusops elengi) long for the touch of her left foot and wine from her mouth, respectively (see Megh. 75). These are dohada wishes, which are usually only felt by pregnant women. In classical poetry, as elsewhere, these desires have been transferred to certain trees which are said to long for similar objects and acts performed by beautiful women. The fuilfilment of these wishes is believed to bring about the blossoming of the tree.
Being popular in ancient times, yakṣas and yakṣiṇīs are also evident in Jainism and Buddhism. In Jaina traditions, these creatures, the jakkhas and jakkhiṇīs, belong to the vyantara/vāṇamantara group, a class of demonic and semidivine beings (Ṭhāṇ. 8.116; Utt. 36.207; Tattvārthasūtra [Umāsvati] 4.12). They live mainly in Rayaṇakāṇḍa, the intermediary space between the surface of the earth and Ratnaprabhā/Rayaṇappabhā, the uppermost region of the netherworld (Jīv. 69, 72). Their shrines (caityas) are usually situated outside the cities in the vicinity of trees (Utt. 7.8), particularly banyan trees (Ṭhāṇ. 8.117). In postcanonical literature, yakṣas and yakṣiṇīs are reckoned as attendant deities (śāsanadevatā) of the tīrthaṅkāras, the Jain saviors. Hence in Jaina iconography, yakṣas are regularly depicted on the right and yakṣiṇīs on the left side of each tīrthaṅkāra.
In Buddhism the yakṣas (Pal. yakkha) and yakṣiṇīs (Pal. yakkhinī) are chthonic beings who have red, unwinking eyes and do not cast a shadow (Jāt. 6.337.10–11). The Mahāmāyūrī – one of the five famous magical texts of northern Buddhism, collectively referred to as the Pañcarakṣā – enumerates the yakṣas known in Buddhist traditions and the places that are believed to be their territories. They are very often converted by Buddha and become patrons of Buddhist faith (Ja. 2.17.2–18???). Many yakṣa figures hold their hands together in an adoring gesture toward Buddha. But without having accepted Buddhist faith, they are of essentially malevolent character. When Buddha visits Mathurā, he finds the place to be inhospitable not only due to uneven roads, the quantity of dust, wild dogs, and the difficulty of obtaining alms, but also because of the perturbing yakṣas prevailing there (AN. 3.256.16–20) who, as its guardians or owners, are intimately connected with this territory. Yakṣiṇīs are usually even more frightening and cruel than their male counterparts. They eat flesh and blood and even devour human beings, especially children (Jāt. 2.127.23–25; 6.336.31–6.337.15).
It has been surmised that yakṣá belongs to the Sanskrit verbal root yakṣ-, which goes back to Indogermanic i̯ek(u̯)s- “to appear” (LIV. cf. 312; comp. EWA. vol. II, 391; VIA. 571). In that case, the basic signification of Sanskrit yakṣá is “apparition,” which in context tends to mean “evil apparition.” The native Indian tradition, however, takes a different approach. Dhātupāṭha (10.153), an ancient list of verbal roots ascribed to Pāṇini, explains yakṣ- by pūj- “to worship.” Sāyaṇa and Mādhava, commentators on the Ṛgveda, follow this explanation at some instances (e.g. Sāyaṇa ad RV. 7.61.5; Mādhava ad RV. 4.3.13), while at others (e.g. Sāyaṇa ad RV. 4.3.13; 7.88.6) yakṣa is linked to yaj- “to sacrifice.” Pali commentators (VvA. 224.15–16) take a similar stand. They explain that yakṣas (Pal. yakkha) are referred to as such because “(people) sacrifice [to them]” (yajanti).
Yakṣas and yakṣīs appear to be capable of changing their form and even their sex at will (Rām. 1.23.24; MBh. 3.297.11; 5.193.36–37). Hence their physical appearance might vary. On the whole, the yakṣas are described as a kind of giants with massive bodies and odd eyes, which are armed with clubs, bludgeons, swords, spears, spikes, and battle axes (MBh. 3.157.42–43; 297.20). Though possibly menacing, the yakṣas, and especially the yakṣiṇīs, are most often of pleasing appearance. At first encounter, a handsome man is welcomed with an inquiry as to whether he is a god, gandharva, or yakṣa (MBh. 3.40.30; 3.52.16; see AN. 2.38.14–15). The same question serves as a greeting or compliment for beautiful women (MBh. 1.92.31; Rām. 3.32.15; see Jāt. 4.459.12–13). A comparison with these creatures being reckoned as a compliment is further substantiated by the fact that the word “yakṣa” serves as one of Buddha’s epithets (AN. 1.386.31).
The yakṣas are inhabitants of Hiraṇmaya, one of the nine divisions of the continent said to be situated between the mountainous ranges of Śveta and Śṛṅgavat (MBh. 6.9.5–6). There they live near or at the abode of their Lord Kubera, on the mountain Gandhamādana or Kailāsa (which are, probably, two names of the same mountain). In the city of Alakā (MBh. 9.10.48), capital of the region, the yakṣas, together with gandharvas, kiṃnaras, and rākṣasas, attend Kubera’s assembly hall (MBh. 2.11.45; see also 2.10). According to the Mahābhārata (12.163.1), their dwellings are trees (caityavṛkṣa), a trait widely recognized in Jain and Buddhist traditions. In Purāṇa sources, they are sometimes said to inhabit the netherworlds. Yakṣiṇīs are not named in connection with Kubera’s hall but are usually said to live in forests (Rām. 1.23.28–30). In Hindu traditions they do not appear to be as integrated into a community of semidivine and demonic creatures as their male counterparts.
Freestanding stone yakṣas can be found dating from the 3rd or 2nd century BCE onwards in most areas of India, especially in the northern and central regions. They are larger than life and corpulent, with protuberant bellies surrounded by a thick scarf. Heavy jewelry and a prominent moustache are further typical yakṣa features. Occasionally yakṣa statues are equipped with arms, but more often their left hand carries a money bag or a wine cup (see also Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra 77.64). The latter attribute makes them comparable to Saṃkarṣaṇa, a Hindu god of agriculture who is as fond of alcoholic drinks, as the yakṣas. In the right hand, they hold a fruit, probably a lemon, because the yakṣas closely resemble their Lord Kubera, whose attribute is – according to Rūpamaṇḍana (2.37), a Jain iconographic work – such a fruit. Yakṣiṇīs are most often depicted as beautiful women, scantly clad wearing (only) a broad, jeweled belt and with a dwarfish yakṣa as their mount. In a common posture, the śālabhañjikā (breaking a branch of the śāla tree), they stand underneath an aśoka (bot. Saraca asoca [Roxb.] Wilde) or mango tree, entwined with it like a creeper plant and bending down one of the branches (see figure below). Here the tree appears to be the giver, fertilizing or decorating the yakṣiṇī. Nevertheless, some depictions are not clearly distinguishable as yakṣas and yakṣiṇīs – for example, a statue from Patna bearing a fly whisk and dated back to the Maurya period.
Fig. 1: Yaksī in Bharhut (A. Cunningham, An Archaeological Survey of India, 1875). The cult of yakṣas and yakṣiṇīs has been prevalent in many regions of the Indian subcontinent as well as in Southeast Asia. Though there is contemporary worship, the cult of these beings reached its peak in the aftermath of the Maurya period in northern and eastern India. The area in and near Mathura has been a prominent center of yakṣa cult, particularly in the Shaka/Kushana period, which lasted from the late 1st to the 3rd century CE. This is evidenced by dozens of yakṣa and Kubera images found in that area. The colossal 2.62-meter-tall statue of the yakṣa Maṇibhadra, found at Parkham (no. C1 in the Government Museum of Mathura) and dated to the 1st century CE, is widely known. He is portrayed standing, in a strictly frontal position. It seems, however, that the cult of yakṣas, worshipped as divinities, was declining in Mathura by the 4th century CE.
The characteristic traits of the yakṣa figures have apparently left their mark on the iconography of Hindu gods. Many scholars have speculated about possible connections between yakṣa iconography and, for example, depictions of Gaṇeśa, Lakṣmī, Kāma, and others.
In the oldest Indic text, the Ṛgveda, the neuter word yakṣá denotes evil that is planned against someone by means of magic (Bodewitz, 2006, 247). It is a wondrous power one has to beware of (see JaiBr. 3.203). The Atharvaveda speaks of the “great yakṣa in the middle of the world” and identifies it – most probably – with the sun miraculously glowing “on the back of the [heavenly] flood” (AV. 10.7.38). The tendency to identify such “unique” entities with the one, the brahman , is a line of thought especially popular with the Upaniṣads (see KeU. 3.6; 3.10; the equation with ātman is less common, but compare MaiU. 7.6).
Subsequently the yakṣá concept seems to have been personified, and the word came to be used as a masculine with a corresponding feminine yakṣī denoting male and female semidivine beings that possess a kind of magic power (compare the neuter word rákṣas and masculine rakṣás/rākṣasa). These beings are mentioned together with other classes of similar creatures like, e.g., gandharvas, apsarases, nāgas (snakes; , and rākṣasas, in Gṛhyasūtras and epics alike (see e.g. ĀśvGS. 3.4.1; MBh. 1.1.33). The ritual texts mention a couple of techniques to ward off yakṣas. Usually these creatures are compensated with a bali, an oblation that basically consists of the remnants of another sacrifice and is most often left at a crossroad. The Mānavagṛhyasūtra (2.14.28–29) names such a bali offering as part of the vināyaka ritual, which aims at propitiating and exorcising dangerous beings. Here the litany is directed at a heron (see MBh. 3.297.11), who is a yakṣa, Vaiśravaṇa (i.e. Kubera), and other gods or semidivine beings. Some of the latter appear to be individual yakṣas, such as Virūpākṣa (“Of Odd Eyes”; see MBh. 3.297.20) and Lohitākṣa (“Of Red Eyes”; see Ja. 6.337.10). The sacrificial substances of this bali characteristically comprise meat and alcoholic drinks (see below). Baudhāyanagṛhyasūtra (3.11.3) knows a ritual called yakṣībali, which is a popular rite for neutralizing molestation caused by two female supernatural beings. This molestation is said to occur at the time of marriage. Other ritual texts specify that yakṣas are to be invoked in the intermediary time between samāvartana (“returning” ceremony, marking the end of the student period) and marriage. According to Śāṅkhāyanagṛhyasūtra (1.11.6) and Kāṭhakagṛhyasūtra (21.2), Vaiśravaṇa, the lord of the yakṣas, is to be worshipped in the bridegroom’s house just before marriage. And though Āpastambagṛhyasūtra itself does not mention the yakṣas, the commentaries of Haradatta and Sudarśanārya (ad ĀpGS. 2.15) indicate that bali offerings to them and the nāgas should be performed before the preparatory nuptial rite, the indrāṇīkarman. The water libations for the yakṣas, which are mentioned in Śāṅkhāyanagṛhyasūtra (4.9.3), are – according to the commentary of Nārāyaṇa – performed subsequent samāvartana (see ĀśvGS. 3.4.1). Gobhilagṛhyasūtra (3.4.28) and Khādiragṛhyasūtra (3.1.27) teach that the adorned Veda alumnus should stand in front of his teacher while wishing to be “dear like the yakṣa.” In the view of the ritual texts, yakṣas and yakṣiṇīs, as well as Kubera, do not only need to be propitiated for their possible molestation but also appear to be invoked for prosperity of the household started by marriage. Characteristically they are integrated into the ritual actions at the interval between samāvartana and marriage, the time when bridegroom and bride are invested with all splendor.
The personification of the yakṣá concept evident in the Gṛhyasūtras is fully consolidated in the epics and Purāṇas. Here the masculine word yakṣa clearly identifies a class of semidivine beings. According to epic mythology, the yakṣas are born out of the “cosmic egg” together with, but distinct from, other groups of demons, and demigods as well as the ancestors (MBh. 1.1.27–33). In another section of the Mahābhārata, their king, Kubera, is said to be the son of the ancient seer Pulastya (MBh. 3.258.12). The rākṣasas, and presumably the yakṣas as well, are progeny of the same seer (MBh. 1.60.7; Rām. 7.4.4). A creation myth from Rāmāyaṇa (7.4.12–13) also relates the “fraternal” connection between rākṣasas and yakṣas. While Brahmā creates the waters and the creatures to guard it, some cry out “let us guard” (rakṣāmaḥ), and they become the rākṣasas; others cry out “let us worship” (yakṣāmaḥ), and they become the yakṣas (see ViP. 1.5.43; MkP. 48.20). This popular etymology has already been discussed above. In puranic mythology, yakṣas and rākṣasas are both born in the line of the seer Kaśyapa (e.g. MtP. 6.46–47).
Yakṣas bear not only demonic traits, but bellicose ones as well. Hence some of the fallen warriors join the yakṣas in their godly abode after death (MBh. 18.4.18; cf. Rām. 3.10.91). The yakṣas are, in this context, denoted as “good people” (puṇyajana), probably a euphemism that expresses the wish for the benevolence of the yakṣas toward oneself. In the Atharvaveda (AV. 8.8.15; 11.9.24), these good people are, among others, invoked to slay yonder armies and to make enemies visible.
In the Mahābhārata the motif of bloody encounters between armies of yakṣas and the Pāṇḍava brothers is common. A whole chapter (3.155–172; see especially 157.35–51) relates the “war of the yakṣas,” which they inevitably lose as they attack the invincible Pāṇḍava hero Bhīma when he enters Kubera’s territory. In the same book of the Mahābhārata, the Āraṇyakaparvan (The Chapter of the Jungle), another meeting with the Pāṇḍavas is mentioned (MBh. 3.296–298). When the brothers come to a pond in search of water, the voice of a yakṣa residing there in the form of a heron declares the water to be his “old property” and warns them not to drink the water before having answered certain questions. As they ignore the warning, four of the Pāṇḍavas lifelessly fall to the ground. Yudhiṣṭhira alone answers the yakṣa’s questions. These turn out to be very philosophically challenging and more than a hundred in number. Ultimately the yakṣa reveals that he is the god Dharma and bestows life to the four “dead” brothers. The taking on of various forms (e.g. of a Brahman and a dog) for testing human beings is a typical trait of Dharma (MBh. 5.106; 17.3). Derived from this story, the term “question [posed] by a yakṣa” (yakṣapraśna) has become proverbial in vernacular Hindi to indicate vital questions.
The yakṣas are often portrayed as guardians of water. Nevertheless, their major duty is the protection of Kubera’s treasures (MBh. 5.109.8). Apparently they take this task rather seriously as, according to Bhāgavatapurāṇa (11.23.9; 11.23.24), people eagerly guarding their treasure instead of using it are believed to be “found [i.e. seized] by a yakṣa” (yakṣavitta). In other instances it is said that due to “possession by a yakṣa” (yakṣagraha), a person quickly goes mad (MBh. 3.219.51; cf. Ja. 6.586.17; SN. 1.208.19; ViyPa. 14.2.1). The yakṣas share this characteristic trait with other semidivine beings, namely, the gandharvas (see TaiBr. 3.4.8.4).
The sometimes demonic nature of yakṣas is also revealed by the oblations offered to them. These must be a mixture of meat and some kind of liquor (MBh. 14.56.22–23; 14.64.6–7; MaSm. 11.96; see also Megh. 66). Their fondness of intoxicating drinks is confirmed by the term “sap of yakṣas” (yakṣarasa), which the ancient thesaurus Trikāṇḍaśeṣa (2.10.15) explains to designate such drinks. The worship of yakṣas and rākṣasas is said to be performed by men of passionate (rājasa) soul, while men of pure soul worship the gods, and those of dark soul the spirits or ghosts of deceased persons (MBh. 6.39.4). The Kāmasūtra (1.4.27) knows a festival called “night of the yakṣas” (yakṣarātri), which the commentary of Yaśodhara explains to be a night of joy or prosperity (sukha) when humans as a rule engage in gambling because of the proximity of the yakṣas. The Trikāṇḍaśeṣa (1.1.108) and the Deśīnāmamālā (3.43), an ancient lexicographic work of Prakrit, explicitly identify yakṣarātri with the great Hindu light festival dīpāvalī or dīvalī, which today is celebrated in the last night of the lunar year in honor of Lakṣmī, the Hindu goddess of wealth.
Kubera, also named Vaiśravaṇa, Dhanada, and Naravāhana, is the lord of yakṣas, guhyakas, kiṃnaras, gandharvas, and other semidivine and demonic beings.He is mentioned already in the Atharvaveda (8.10.28) where he appears to be an aboriginal earth spirit. According to the epics, he lives in Laṅkā (MBh. 3.258.16) but is vanquished in battle by Rāvaṇa, his stepbrother, and thus leaves to dwell on the mountain Gandhamādana together with the yakṣas (3.259.32–33). Previously mortal, Kubera is bestowed immortality only later by the god Prajāpati (MBh. 3.258.15) and attains lordship over wealth and guardianship over the northern direction through great penance (MBh. 2.24.1; 3.258.16; MaSm. 7.42; see TaiBr. 3.12.3.1). Like the guardians of the other directions, he owns an assembly hall.
Some individual yakṣas are mentioned by name when the attendants of Kubera’s hall are enumerated. These are, among others, Mahābala (“Having Huge Strength”), Viśālaka (“Of Huge Appearance”), Gajakarṇa (“Whose Ears Are [Like That of an] Elephant”), Hemanetra (“Whose Eyes Are Golden”), and Piṅgalaka (“Of Reddish Complexion”; MBh. 2.10.15–17). The yakṣas Māṇicara and Māṇibhadra are also mentioned in close connection with Kubera, the latter as “leader of the yakṣas” on almost one level with their Lord Kubera (MBh. 3.140.4–6). Similarly, Amogha is said to be a “great yakṣa” who leads a troop consisting of different groups of demons (jambhakas, yakṣas, and rākṣasas) in the lustrous procession of Hara – that is, Śiva-Rudra (MBh. 3.221.7).
The yakṣa Macakruka owns a lake at the border of Kurukshetra, an extensive plain near Delhi which is said to be the site of the great battles between Kurus and Pāṇḍavas. Macakruka is recognized as mighty gatekeeper of that country. When a person goes there, even if it is only in thought, all his evil deeds disappear and he will obtain the reward of a gift of a thousand cows, especially when he salutes Macakruka (MBh. 3.81.7; 3.81.178).
Another prominent individual yakṣa is Sthūṇa. He lives in a beautifully decorated house where raw meat and liquors are available in abundance. However, out of compassion for Śikhaṇḍinī, the daughter of King Drupada, he changes sex with her and thus incites Kubera’s anger. He is cursed by his lord to remain a woman until Śikhaṇḍinī, now called Śikhaṇḍin, has been killed in battle (MBh. 5.193.30–65).
Tāṭakā, a “great yakṣī” of pleasing appearance, is cursed by Agastya to be a rākṣasī, a “man-eater with a hideous face.” Now strong and terrifying, this woman can take on any form at will. She lives in the forests of Malada and Karuṣa, blocking the path of men. Ultimately she is killed by Rāghava (Rām. 1.23.24–1.25.14). The Mahābhārata offers few allusions to yakṣīs, and here no proper name is given. However, two yakṣiṇī shrines are mentioned (MBh. 3.81.19; 3.82.89–90). Worship at these “well-known” places produces the reward of a horse sacrifice and even exonerates a person from the sin of killing a learned Brahman.
Yakṣas and yakṣiṇīs were not only worshipped in the past. Their cult is popular even in contemporary South and Southeast Asia. In the North Indian region Braj, most yakṣa worship occurs under the name of jakhaiyā, apparently a Braj corruption of yakṣa. According to local belief, jakhaiyā fulfils one’s desires, particularly in connection to the acquisition of wealth. Bestowment of children is also a major concern. The premier jakhaiyā event of the year is the jakhaiyā festival, which among the lower castes involves a blood sacrifice (bali).
In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the yakṣī lives on as a shape-shifting, “vampiric” maiden not only in Hindu but also in Christian traditions. Though there are no Kerala temples dedicated solely to these female creatures, a yakṣī stone, most often in a Bhagavatī temple compound, often stakes a particular yakṣī’s terrain, providing devotees access to her powers. Furthermore, these beings are believed to be capable of possessing women during their menstrual period. Today the yakṣī not only is featured prominently within contemporary devotional and folkloristic systems but also is assigned leading roles in countless films and some play productions as well.
The South Indian theatrical tradition yakṣagāna deserves special reference, too
The precise history of the term is uncertain, but its apparent meaning, troop of yakṣas, led some scholars to identify the jakkus or jakkulus, traditional yakṣagāna performers from Andhra Pradesh, with the ancient yakṣas. Descent from these semi-divine beings is also claimed by other yakṣagāna groups.
Yakṣas and yakṣīs are repeatedly mentioned in classical Sanskrit poetry. In Kālidāsa’s poem Meghadūta (The Cloud Messenger), perhaps the most famous and most accomplished work of this genre, they are featured in a very prominent way. Here Kālidāsa describes how a yakṣa, the guardian of Kubera’s treasures, has been banished from Alakā, the city of the gods in the north, to distant Rāmagiri in central India. In the eighth month of his one year’s exile, when the yakṣa sees the first signs of the approaching monsoon, he asks a passing rain cloud to do him the service of acting as his messenger. In his imagination he sends this cloud to Alakā, where his wife, who is awaiting his return, is aflame with the pangs of love. Kālidāsa has not included the demonic tendencies of the yakṣas, but concentrated on that side of the creature’s character that is linked to nature and fertility. The imagination of the exiled yakṣa is full of vivid love fantasies and the touching picture of his wife’s suffering is full of affection. The loving husband does not name his wife as yakṣiṇī, but describes her prettiness. He even says that an aśoka and a kesara tree (bot. Mimusops elengi) long for the touch of her left foot and wine from her mouth, respectively (see Megh. 75). These are dohada wishes, which are usually only felt by pregnant women. In classical poetry, as elsewhere, these desires have been transferred to certain trees which are said to long for similar objects and acts performed by beautiful women. The fuilfilment of these wishes is believed to bring about the blossoming of the tree.
Being popular in ancient times, yakṣas and yakṣiṇīs are also evident in Jainism and Buddhism. In Jaina traditions, these creatures, the jakkhas and jakkhiṇīs, belong to the vyantara/vāṇamantara group, a class of demonic and semidivine beings (Ṭhāṇ. 8.116; Utt. 36.207; Tattvārthasūtra [Umāsvati] 4.12). They live mainly in Rayaṇakāṇḍa, the intermediary space between the surface of the earth and Ratnaprabhā/Rayaṇappabhā, the uppermost region of the netherworld (Jīv. 69, 72). Their shrines (caityas) are usually situated outside the cities in the vicinity of trees (Utt. 7.8), particularly banyan trees (Ṭhāṇ. 8.117). In postcanonical literature, yakṣas and yakṣiṇīs are reckoned as attendant deities (śāsanadevatā) of the tīrthaṅkāras, the Jain saviors. Hence in Jaina iconography, yakṣas are regularly depicted on the right and yakṣiṇīs on the left side of each tīrthaṅkāra.
In Buddhism the yakṣas (Pal. yakkha) and yakṣiṇīs (Pal. yakkhinī) are chthonic beings who have red, unwinking eyes and do not cast a shadow (Jāt. 6.337.10–11). The Mahāmāyūrī – one of the five famous magical texts of northern Buddhism, collectively referred to as the Pañcarakṣā – enumerates the yakṣas known in Buddhist traditions and the places that are believed to be their territories. They are very often converted by Buddha and become patrons of Buddhist faith (Ja. 2.17.2–18???). Many yakṣa figures hold their hands together in an adoring gesture toward Buddha. But without having accepted Buddhist faith, they are of essentially malevolent character. When Buddha visits Mathurā, he finds the place to be inhospitable not only due to uneven roads, the quantity of dust, wild dogs, and the difficulty of obtaining alms, but also because of the perturbing yakṣas prevailing there (AN. 3.256.16–20) who, as its guardians or owners, are intimately connected with this territory. Yakṣiṇīs are usually even more frightening and cruel than their male counterparts. They eat flesh and blood and even devour human beings, especially children (Jāt. 2.127.23–25; 6.336.31–6.337.15).
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