Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v2.c4.s4.937

v2.c4.s4.937

Yakṣu is mentioned, once in the singular and once in the plural, in the hymn of the Rigveda¹ which celebrates Sudās’ battle with the ten kings. Who they were and what part they played in that conflict is quite uncertain. They seem, from the wording of the text, to have taken part in two conflicts, as Zimmer² says—one on the Paruṣṇī (Ravi), and one on the Yamunā (Jumna)—with the aid of the Ajas and Śigrus, under the leadership of Bheda. It is, however, at least possible that in the former passage Yadu should be read for Yakṣu, or, at any rate, Yakṣu be deemed a contemptuous substitute of the name of a possibly un-Āryan or unimportant tribe (as their allies, the Ajas and Śigrus, clearly were) for the name of the certainly famous Yadus, as is suggested by Hopkins.³ Cf. Turvaśa.