The Development of Hindu Iconography c16.5

c16.5

Whatever may be the root meaning of the word Yakṣa¹, it does not fail to make its appearance in the Vedic literature in the sense of a class of beings, supernatural no doubt, but undoubtedly of a category far dissimilar to the order of the proper Vedic divinities. One of the earliest allusions to the Yakṣas is to be found in the *Atharvaveda* where they are named as Itarajanāḥ, ‘other folks’; in the Paippalāda version of the same text, however, the word used is ‘Puṇyajanāḥ’, ‘sacred folks’. In later lexicons, both the words Puṇyajana and Itarajana are regarded as the synonyms of the word Yakṣa, and that this was also their meaning in the *Atharvaveda* passage is proved by the mention of Kubera or Vaiśravaṇa as the king of the Yakṣas (Yakṣeśa, Yakṣarāja, Yakṣendra, etc.); in the developed mythology of later times, he was also the guardian of the northern quarter (Uttaradikpati). The association of the Yakṣas and their king Kubera with riches (he is also called Dhanapati, Nidhipati) and one of their principal appellations, Guhyakas, mainly indicative of ‘concealment’, may also be traced to this *Atharvaveda* passage. Reference is made in it to the ‘milking of “concealment” (tirodhā) out of the Universe (Virāj) by the “Rajatanābhi son” of Kā(au)bera’. ² The Yakṣapati or Guhyakapati Vaiśravaṇa is referred to by Patañjali in his *Mahābhāṣya* several times, though his more common name Kubera is not mentioned. While commenting on Vārttika 2 on Pāṇini’s Sūtra VI. 3, 26 (*Devatādvandve ca*) he appears to distinguish between two different types of divinities, namely, *Vaidika* and *Laukika*, and the gods mentioned in this context by him can be placed under these two different groups. The names of the gods included in the two compounds, Śiva-Vaiśravaṇau and Skanda-Viśākhau, undoubtedly fall under the Laukika (folk) group. Again, while commenting on Pāṇini’s Sūtra, V. 2, 129 (Vātātisārābhyāṃ-kukca), he says that Vaiśravaṇa had Piśācas (as his attendants—piśācakī Vaiśravaṇaḥ). There can be little doubt that the commentator refers here to the Yakṣa attendants of Kubera, described here as Piśācas. His commentary on Vārttika 2 on Sūtra III. 1, 133 (nvulṭṛcau), clearly refers to the raised pedestals of (the images of) Vaiśravaṇa (utthitā āsakā Vaiśravaṇasyeti). Lastly, while commenting on Sūtra II. 2, 34 (alpāctarau), he refers to the temples of Dhanapati (Kubera-Vaiśravaṇa), Rāma (evidently Balarāma) and Keśava (Kṛṣṇa) where various kinds of musical instruments were played on in the assemblage of the worshippers (mṛdaṅgaśaṅkha-tūṇavaḥ pṛthañnadanti saṃsadi prāsāde Dhanapati-Rāma-Keśavānām).