NO. 6 YAKSAS — COOMARASWAMY II 



Caksuraksa, Purnaraksa, Savvana, Savvajasa, Savakama, Saniiddha,' 

 Amohe, Asamta. It may be remarked incidentally that nearly all 

 these names of Yaksas are auspicious, implying fullness, increase, 

 prosperity, etc. 



As we have seen, Yakkhas are often called Devas in the Jaina 

 books, where, as Sasana Devatas, they are usually guardian angels. 

 But it is not at all clear whether the " false and lying Devas " who 

 persecute the followers of Mahavira in the Uvasagadasao, §§ 93 f., 

 224, etc., are to be regarded as Yakkhas or not. That they should be 

 so regarded in one case at least (§ 164) is suggested by the fact that the 

 Deva here appears in an asoga (asoka) -grove and takes possession of 

 objects laid on an altar. It may also be remarked that the Deva of 

 § 93 is an expert shape-shifter, which is a characteristic power for 

 Yakkhas ; the text speaks of the " Pisaya (Pisaca) form of the Deva," 

 and it may be that the Yakkhas, like the more orthodox Brahmanical 

 deities had their sdnta and ugra forms. But even if these false and 

 lying Devas are Yakkhas, it need not be forgotten that their objection- 

 able qualities are emphasized in the interests of Jaina edification. 



The Atanatiya Suttanta (Digha Nikaya, III 195 f.),' however, 

 speaks of good and bad Yakkhas, the latter being rebels to the Four 

 Great Kings (Kubera, etc.). If any of these assail a Buddhist monk 

 or layman, he is to appeal to the higher Yakkhas ; Vessavana himself 

 supplies to the Buddha the proper invocation, and gives a list of the 

 Yakkha chiefs; the list includes Ind(r)a, Soma, Varuna, Pajapati,* 

 Mani (-bhadda), Alavaka, etc. It will be observed that the first four 

 mentioned are orthodox Brahmanical deities ; but this is not the only 

 place in which Indra (Sakka) is spoken of as a Yakkha. Vessavana 

 (Kubera) goes on to say that there are Yakkhas of all ranks who do, 

 and others who do not believe in the Buddha, " But for the most part. 

 Lord, Yakkhas do not believe in the Exalted One." ^ 



Another list of Yaksas is to be found in the MahamdyfirV a work 

 which goes back to the third or fourth century A. D. In this list we 



* In Mahavai'iisa, i, 45, the Deva Samiddliisumana inhabits a idjayatana- 

 tree in the Jetavana garden at Savatthi : he had been a man in Nagadlpa. 



" S. B. B., vol. 4 {Dialogues of the Buddha. 3). This text contains much vaki- 

 able information on Yakkhas. 



' With Pajapati, cf. Prajapati, name of a Jogini, Pataini Devi temple (A. S. I., 

 A. R., Western Circle, 1920, p. 109). 



* A similar distinction of good and bad Yaksas is made in Mahavainsa, XXXI. 

 81, " Moreover, to ward off the evil Yakkhas the twenty-eight Yakkha chief- 

 tains stood keeping guard." The twenty-eight Yaksarajas are again referred to 

 in Lalita Vistara, Ch. XVI. 



* Levi, S., Le catalogue gcographique de Yaksa dans Ic Mahamayfirl, ]. A., 

 1915- 



