Yakṣas
demonic intermediate Hindu single tradition · 9
Yakṣas are evil spirits invoked in protective rituals to be warded off. They are listed among malevolent beings that threaten children and are to be destroyed by the recital of Viṣṇu's name.
↻ synthesized from 9 sources
When
- First attested
- 500 BCE
- Attested period
- -500 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Referenced in Mahāmāyūrīvidyārājñī Sūtra, translated from Sanskrit by Kumarajiva.
Relationships
- co occurs with
- Vināyakas, Kotarī, Revatī, Jyeṣṭhā, Pūtanā, Unmāda, Apasmāra, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Silesaloma, Yakkhas, Kiṁnara, Mahoraga, Vishnu, Chhaya, Pratyusha, Samjna, Rajni, Prabha, kumbhandas, Virūḍhaka, Kumbhīra, Rakṣasas, Eight Great Yakṣa Generals, Twenty-Eight Great Yakṣa Generals, Kubera, Guhyaka-s, Krishna, kali, Brahmarakshasa, Dakini, Matres, Śākinī, Bhūtas, Pramathas, Kūṣmāṇḍas, Parpaṭas, Caṭakas, Bhairavas, Kṣetrapālas, Vīrabhadra, Yātudhānīs, Piśācas, Yaksha, Yakshi, Garuda, Deva, Śiva, Aruṇa, Uṣas, Ashura
- syncretized with
- gandharvas
- allied with
- Guhyakas, Nāgas, Siddhas, Charanas, gandharvas
- serves
- Sūrya, Vaiśravaṇa
Mentioned by
- Krishna
- kali
- Brahmarakshasa
- Dakini
- Matres
- Śākinī
- Bhūtas
- Pramathas
- Kūṣmāṇḍas
- Parpaṭas
- Caṭakas
- Bhairavas
- Kṣetrapālas
- Vīrabhadra
- Yātudhānīs
- Piśācas
and 8 more
Sources
Source passages
“The Dākinīs, the Yātudhānīs, the Kūṣmāṇḍas, the infanticides, the goblins [Bhūtas], the Mātṛs, the Piśācas, the Yakṣas, the Rakṣasas, the Vināyakas...may these and all other evil spirits be destroyed”
#6138 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“Vaiśravaṇa is the guardian of the northern direction, and his home is in the northern quadrant of the topmost tier of the lower half of Sumeru. He is the leader of all the yakṣas who dwell on the Sumeru's slopes.”
#36418 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“It describes the story of a Yakṣa trying to send a message to his lover through a cloud.”
#46142 · extracted by openai/gpt-oss-120b:free