Suketu (Yaksha)

Suketu was a yaksha (a kind of nature being) of great merit. He had no children. He performed hard tapas (austerity) and pleased Brahmā, who gave him a vara (boon). The vara was a daughter of very great strength. This daughter was Tāṭakā. She was born with the beauty of a yakshī, the female of the yakshas, and with great power. Suketu gave her in marriage to the rākshasa Sunda, son of Jambha. Tāṭakā later became a rākshasī, and Rāma slew her.

The vara and the daughter

Viśvāmitra tells Rāma the story of Tāṭakā’s birth in the Bāla Kāṇḍa of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Chapters 24 and 25.

Suketu was a yaksha of great merit. Though he had power and virtue, he had no child. He did intense tapas and Brahmā was pleased with his devotion. Brahmā gave him a daughter rather than a son. She had the might of a thousand elephants. This daughter was Tāṭakā.

Marriage of Tāṭakā

Suketu gave Tāṭakā in marriage to the rākshasa Sunda, the son of Jambha. Tāṭakā afterwards became a rākshasī, and in the end she died at the hands of Rāma.

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapters 24–25