Yakshas

Yaksha

The Yakshas are a race of celestial beings, named again and again in the Vāmana Purāṇa with the devas, gandharvas, kinnaras, vidyādharas and rākshasas. The ṛshis taught that their dharma is lordship over wealth, the enjoyment of bhogas (pleasures), svādhyāya (study of the Veda) and the ārādhanā (worship) of Bhagavān Śiva, together with pride and haughtiness. Maṇibhadra is named lord of the yakshas, and when the daitya Dhundhu gathered wealth for his yajñas, he planned to have the yakshas bring him the nine nidhis (treasuries).

In the hosts of the devas the yakshas ride on men. They stood at Daksha‘s yajña when Vīrabhadra came, marched with Indra against Andhaka and against the armies of Bali, gave fifteen chief gaṇas to Skanda, and fled before the daitya Kālanemi. They praise Bhagavān Śiva by the name Bhīma, they honoured the Saptarshis and joined the wedding procession of Śiva and Pārvatī, and they played music at Bali’s court. They come forth from Bhagavān Vishṇu, the all-pervading Sanātana, and in his virāṭ form they are the fingers of his hands. With Brahmā and the devas they serve Kurukshetra, and yakshas guard its gates.

Their nature and dharma

When the rākshasa Sukeśī asked the ṛshis what dharma is, they taught him the dharmas that Brahmā laid down for the twelve yonis (classes of beings). Tenth in their list are the yakshas, whose dharma is:

  • dhana-ādhipatya, lordship over wealth;
  • bhogas, enjoyments;
  • svādhyāya, study of the Veda;
  • the ārādhanā of Śiva;
  • ahaṅkāra, pride;
  • auddhatya, haughtiness.

These marks, the ṛshis said, give each class of beings sadgati, a good destination.

In the stotra that Andhaka sang to Bhagavān Śiva in his Bhairava form, each kind of being praises Śiva by its own name for him: the devas as Śiva, the siddhas as Hara, the maharshis as Sthāṇu, the yakshas as Bhīma, humans as Maheśvara, the bhūtagaṇas as Bhūtanātha, the niśācaras as Ugra, and the virtuous and the pitṛs as Bhava. When the girl Carcikā arose from the sweat of Śiva’s forehead, he gave her a vara (blessing) that the devas, pitṛs, ṛshis, uragas, yakshas, vidyādharas, humans and all others would worship her with bhakti, offering her bali and handfuls of flowers and reciting stotras to her. In the stotra of Vena to Bhagavān Śiva as Sthāṇu, Vena says: “Mṛtyu, the cause of death, the yaksha, the one who makes the yakshas afraid, Saṃvartaka, Antaka, and the Saṃvartaka and Valāhaka clouds: all are your forms.”

In the Vishṇu Sārasvata stotra, which Devī Sarasvatī spoke through the tongue of a brāhmaṇa boy, the yakshas are among those who come forth from Bhagavān Vishṇu: “Namas to the all-pervading Sanātana, from whom suras, asuras, the pitṛ-gaṇas, devas, gandharvas, yakshas and rākshasas come forth.” In the Vishṇu-pañjara stotra, a tapasvin prays that by the waves of the sound of Bhagavān Vishṇu’s divine cakra the yakshas, daityas, kūshmāṇḍas, niśācaras, pretas, vināyakas, cruel men, jṛmbhakas, birds, lions and other beasts and venomous serpents may all lose their power and become quiet.

Śukrācārya told King Bali that Vāmana, then coming to his yajña, holds the whole universe of the five elements, with its devas, asuras, gandharvas, yakshas, pannagas and humans. When the water of the gift fell into Vāmana’s hand, he showed his virāṭ form, made of all the devas; in that form the fingers of his hands are the yakshas, and his nails too are the yakshas. When Śukrācārya was within the belly of Bhagavān Śiva, he saw there all the worlds from Pātāla upward, and among all the beings the hosts of the yakshas, kinnaras, gandharvas and apsarases.

When Bhagavān Vishṇu begins his sleep on the bed of Śesha on the śukla ekādaśī of Āshāḍha, the devas, the gandharvas, the yakshas and their mothers sink one after another into deep sleep. On the caturdaśī that follows, the yakshas sleep on a cool bed spread with golden lotuses, with fine pillows. In the month of Āśvayuja, when the lotus was born from the navel of Jagannātha, the devatās brought forth their own trees and flowers: from Maṇibhadra, lord of the yakshas, came the vaṭa (banyan), the tree he loves greatly.

The daitya Dhundhu, resolved to perform a hundred aśvamedha yajñas so as to reach Brahmaloka, told his people: “Let us call the yakshas and have the nine nidhis brought.” Sudharma, who kept the Śravaṇa Dvādaśī vrata through his births, was born once as a yaksha and enjoyed every kind of bhoga in Yaksha loka.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 11, 17, 18, 43, 44, 52, 53, 59; Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 10, 26

In the hosts of the devas

When the lion-faced Rudragaṇas led by Vīrabhadra came to Daksha‘s yajña at Kanakhala, the ṛshis headed by Indra, the yakshas and the gandharvas were anxious, asking “What is this?” When Vīrabhadra entered the yajñaśālā, all who were there rose: the eight Vasus, the nine grahas, the twelve Ādityas, the eleven Rudras, the Viśvedevas, the Sādhyas, the siddhas, gandharvas and kiṃpurushas, the pannagas, the yakshas, the birds and the cakradharas.

When Devendra Indra rode out against the daitya Andhaka, the deva army went in its order: the twelve Ādityas in front, the Rudras behind, and in the middle the eight Vasus, the Viśvedevas, the Sādhyas, the Maruts, the Aśvins, and the yakshas and vidyādharas, each on his own vāhana. Kubera‘s vāhana is a best of men, born from the feet of Ambikā Devī, with eyes as large as cart-wheels, in the shape of a mountain; the Vasus ride elephants, and the yakshas ride men. The battle that followed was dreadful to cowards and delightful to the yakshas and rākshasas.

When Sūrya, burned by the fire of Bhagavān Śiva‘s eye, fell between the rivers Varaṇā and Asī, the ṛshis, yakshas, rākshasas, nāgas, vidyādharas, apsarases, birds, bhūtas and pretas went together to Brahmaloka to tell Brahmā. When Kātyāyanī Devī came forth in the āśrama of Kātyāyana Maharshi, each part of her form came from the tejas (radiance) of one of the devas, and her nose came from the tejas of the yakshas. Mahishāsura sent her word that among devas, asuras, yakshas and bhūtagaṇas there was no one who could face him in battle and live.

When Skanda was consecrated, the devas gave him gaṇas. Mitra gave Suvrata and Satyasandha, and the yakshas gave fifteen chief gaṇas: Ananta, Śaṅkupīṭha, Nikumbha, Kumuda, Ambuja, Ekāksha, Kunaṭi, Cakshu, Kirīṭī, Kalaśodara, Sūcīvaktra, Kokanada, Prahāsa, Priyaka and Acyuta. In the svastivācana (blessing for well-being) that Bhagavān Vishṇu spoke for Skanda, the Viśvedevas, the Aśvins, the Rudras with śūla in hand, the Sādhyas, the Maruts, the Agnis, the yakshas, the piśācas, the Vasus and the kinnaras are all asked always to help his rise.

The dānava Mura, holding Brahmā’s vara that whomever he touched would die, went to Meru, the dwelling of the devas, and challenged the devas, yakshas, kinnaras and others to battle; no one came out to fight him. When Devarāja Indra led the devas out against the armies of King Bali, the Ādityas, Vasus, yakshas, Rudras, Sādhyas, Viśvedevas, Aśvins, vidyādharas, yakshas, rākshasas, pannagas, rājarshis, siddhas and the many bhūtagaṇas went out on elephants, horses, chariots, vimānas and bird-vāhanas. Then the great daitya Kālanemi grew his body by māyā and seized every devatā within reach of his hand, yakshas and kinnaras alike, and threw them into his mouth, which was like a mountain cave; and seeing his body fill the directions, the devas, gandharvas, yakshas, siddhas and sādhyas fled wherever they could.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 4, 9, 16, 19, 20, 31, 32, 34, 47

At the great festivals and in pūjā

When Devī Pārvatī worshipped a clay mūrti of Śaṅkara, Bhagavān Śiva appeared in his own form and told her it would be famed as Bhadreśvara: devas, dānavas, gandharvas, yakshas, kiṃpurushas, nāgas, humans and others who worship it gain all that is auspicious. When the Saptarshis went to the city of Himavān to ask for her hand for Bhagavān Śiva, they were honoured by the mountain-women, by the mountains led by Sunābha, and by gandharvas, kinnaras and yakshas. In the wedding procession, countless hosts of yakshas, kinnaras and rākshasas went along with a great tumult, and Śiva, the Nāgakaṅkaṇa, worthy of the salutation of the siddhas and yakshas, every limb adorned with bhasma (sacred ash), came to the wedding vedi.

In King Bali‘s court in svarga, while the gandharvas led by Viśvāvasu sang and the apsarases led by Tilottamā danced, the yakshas, kinnaras and vidyādharas played many instruments together to delight him. When Indra had been freed from pāpa, he received the pūjā of the suras, siddhas, yakshas and others, and went to the āśrama of his mother Aditi. When Bhagavān Vishṇu had freed Gajendra, he withdrew while the ṛshis, devas, gandharvas and yakshas offered stotras.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 25–27, 48, 50, 58

The yakshas of Mālavaṭa

The rākshasa brothers Rambha and Karambha, being without sons, performed tapas in the waters of Pañcanada, directed to the yaksha Mālavaṭa: Karambha stood in the middle of the water and Rambha in the middle of fire. Indra, in the form of a makara, seized Karambha and killed him. Agni stopped Rambha from offering his own head into the fire and granted him a vara of a mighty son. By Agni’s command Rambha went to see the yaksha Mālavaṭa, who was surrounded by many yakshas; in that place lived Padmanidhi, with his elephants, horses, buffaloes, cows and goats. There Rambha took a she-buffalo as his wife, and when his fellow rākshasas cast him out, he went back to Mālavaṭa, and she followed him to that yaksha-maṇḍala. There she gave birth to Mahisha.

When another male buffalo pursued her, Rambha leapt at it with his sword and was gored to death. With her husband dead, the she-buffalo took refuge with the yakshas. Held back by the yakshas, the buffalo fell into a divine lake nearby, died, and took the form of the rākshasa Namara; under the shelter of the yakshas he drove away all the animals there. The yakshas headed by Mālavaṭa placed Rambha on the pyre, and Śyāmā, the she-buffalo, entered the fire with her husband. From the middle of the pyre-fire a man of fearsome form came forth, sword in hand, and drove away all those yakshas. He slew all the buffaloes except Mahisha, the son of Rambha. He was Raktabīja.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 18

Yakshas named in the Purāṇa

  • Añjana: a yaksha named Añjana comforted Citrāṅgadā in the great forest and sent her to the kshetra of Śrīkaṇṭheśvara on the Yamunā. Añjana, best of the yakshas, is the father of Nandayantī; when she fell into the river Hiraṇvatī, he went to Añjanādri and stayed there in tapas for many years under a vow of silence. At the Śrīkaṇṭheśvara temple Ṛtadhvaja wrote a verse saying that no deva, asura, yaksha, man or rākshasa could by his valour take away the sorrow of the doe-eyed Citrāṅgadā.
  • Candra, the yaksha whom Śrīman Nārāyaṇa appointed as one of the guardians of Kurukshetra, with the pannaga Vāsuki, the vidyādhara Śaṅkukarṇa, the rākshasa lord Sukeśī, the king Ajāvana and Pāvaka Mahādeva.
  • Maṇibhadra, lord of the yakshas, from whom the vaṭa tree came.
  • Mālavaṭa, the yaksha to whom Rambha and Karambha directed their tapas.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 18, 23, 37, 38

At Kurukshetra

Brahmā and the devas, the ṛshis, siddhas, yakshas, gandharvas, apsarases and the rest serve the kshetra of Kurukshetra so as to keep their own positions. The pilgrimage there begins with the Yaksha of Rantuka, the mighty dvārapāla (door-guardian) at the place where the Sarasvatī enters Kurukshetra, also called Yaksheśvara and the mahātmā Yakshendra:

  • First the pilgrim walks around the Sthāṇu-sarovara, goes to Rantuka asking forgiveness again and again, bathes in the Sarasvatī, has darśana of the Yaksha, worships him with dhūpa, dīpa, flowers and naivedya, and prays: “O Yakshendra, by your grace alone may this pilgrimage I have begun, to the tīrthas, the forests and the lakes, be fulfilled without obstacle.”
  • On the second visit the pilgrim spends one night there, bathes in that tīrtha, worships the second dvārapāla, feeds brāhmaṇas, and bows with the prayer: “Yaksheśvara, forgive my offences. By your grace may all my faults be removed, and may I gain the siddhi I desire.” That is what he gains.
  • One who fasts and bathes in the Sarasvatī tīrtha of that Yakshendra gains, by the yaksha’s grace, the fruits he desires.

At the Pushkara tīrtha the dvārapāla is the mahāyaksha Kapila, who troubles those who do pāpa by placing obstacles in their way. His wife is the mahāyakshiṇī Udūkhalamekhalā, “the one with a mortar for a girdle”, who is ever beating a drum. She told a woman: “Eat curd at the Yugandhara tīrtha, fast at the Acyuta tīrtha, and bathe at the Bhūtālaya tīrtha; then you can live with your son. I am telling you this in the daytime; as soon as night comes I shall surely devour you.” When the frightened woman begged her for help, the yakshiṇī took pity on her and told her a way: “If at any time during a solar eclipse you plunge into the Sannihita tīrtha here, you will become pure and can go to svarga.”

At Muñjavaṭa is the Mahāgrāhī yakshiṇī tīrtha, the door of Kurukshetra that increases puṇya. One who bathes and fasts there, makes the yakshiṇī devatā gracious, walks around the place and honours brāhmaṇas is freed from all the most terrible pāpas. In the holy land around Sthāṇu, south of Svāmi, the liṅgas installed by the gandharvas, yakshas and kinnaras are beyond counting.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 12–14, 25

Sources

  • Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 4, 9, 11, 16–20, 23, 25–27, 31, 32, 34, 37, 38, 43, 44, 47, 48, 50, 52, 53, 58, 59
  • Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 10, 12–14, 25, 26