Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c11.s2.3

c11.s2.3

The most important synonym of Yaksha was Brahman, the Mahābhārata referring to a Yaksha festival as Brahma Maha in which members of all the four Varṇas took part in a festive mood (tataste brāhmaṇāḥ sarve kshatriyāścha suvismitāḥ, vaiśyāḥ śūdrāś cha muditāḥ chakrur brahma-maham tadā, Ādi Parva, 152, 18). In the Matsya country round about Jaipur at its capital city Viraṭa, there used to be a big Yaksha festival or Brahma Maha which was supervised by the king himself and at which wrestling bouts formed the main feature. From the earliest times Yaksha came to be associated with long life and wealth and it was an important factor in their cult becoming so popular. In iconography we find Yakshas holding a nectar flask. The Yaksha city is called Brahma-pura in the Śānti Parva and referred to as inviolable (avadhyam-Brahma-puram, Śānti Parva 171.15). Indeed the belief in the death-conquering ability of the Yakshas was so deep-rooted that even the gods Saṅkarṣaṇa and Vāsudeva have been given the epithet anihata, a synonym of avadhya, in the Ghosundi inscription.