Maṇibhadra (Yaksha)
Maṇibhadra is the chief of the rākshasa and yaksha guardians who protect Kubera’s Mandākinī lake at Alakāpurī. He appears in the Mahābhārata, in the Anuśāsana Parva, when the ṛshi Ashṭāvakra travels to the north. When Ashṭāvakra came to the golden gate of Alakāpurī, Maṇibhadra and the other guardians stood up at once to welcome him. They told Kubera he had come, and Kubera came in person to receive the ṛshi with full honour.
His place at Kubera’s court
Kubera’s Mandākinī is a lake filled with the waters of the Gaṅgā and named after the divine river. It lies within Alakāpurī. Maṇibhadra and his fellow rākshasa attendants guard it.
When Ashṭāvakra arrived, Maṇibhadra and the guardians saw him from far off. They rose at once and came forward to greet him with respect. At Ashṭāvakra’s request they told Kubera that a brahmarshi (a brahmin ṛshi) had come. Kubera already knew why Ashṭāvakra was visiting, through his own foresight. He came in person, shining with tejas (radiance), to receive him.
The apsarasas of Alakāpurī then entertained the ṛshi with song and dance for a year of the devas. Maṇibhadra and the other yaksha, gandharva and kinnara attendants of Kubera’s court sat in their proper order beside Kubera and Ashṭāvakra during this time. The Mahābhārata tells this in the Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 19.
Sources
- Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 19