The Yaksha Who Deserves More Attention

Most yakshas (nature spirits) do not frown. Those, when they do, mean to scare away potential thieves and interlopers. Their duty as the custodians of fabulous riches, treasures, and hallowed grounds behooves these yakshas to wear stern countenances. Yet, gazing upon the figure standing guard outside the entrance to the office of the Reserve Bank of India in New Delhi, one cannot help but think that the usual explanation hardly does justice to the terrible scowl etched upon the face of this yaksha. It is more likely that it is his story that puts him in such a foul mood.

Presumably, this yaksha too began his life as just another nature spirit charged with the care of the earth, its trees, its mountains, its forests and wildernesses, its waterbodies, and maybe even the riches and treasures of people or their sacred spaces. By the early centuries BCE however, he seems to have come into considerable prominence as an autochthonous deity. The inscription on the pedestal of a colossal grey sandstone statue dedicated to him, measuring some 2.59 meters discovered in Parkham (south of Mathura city), for instance, gives us evidence of the efflorescence of exclusive and cult-based worship centered on the yaksha in early northwest South Asia (Luders 1961, 177-8). It states that the statue was made by Gomitaka, a student of Kunika, and was set up by eight brothers who comprised the congregation (puga) of Manibhadra. Obviously, to those ancients, the yaksha Manibhadra was a mighty and beneficent deity.

Historian Upinder Singh points out that the epigraphic record and textual sources identify Manibhadra as an important tutelary deity for travelers and merchants, so it is likely that he was worshipped in important trading centers in and around northwest South Asia, c. the third to the first centuries BCE (Singh 2010, 383-4). The epic Mahabharata for instance, tells us that Manibhadra was a yaksha who stayed at the court of Kubera and was worshipped by traders and travelers for their safety and the success of their endeavors (2.10.15 and 3.63.130 respectively). There is in the text mention also of an occasion when Arjuna sought to propitiate the yaksha to ensure his success in obtaining king Marutta’s wealth for an ashvamedha yajna (14.65.7). The Mahabharata’s account provides us with three conclusions as to the early career of the yaksha. Firstly, by its time, Manibhadra had entered the fold of Brahmanical religion as a deity in his own right. Secondly, simultaneously, the yaksha had begun firmly to be associated as a demigod dependent on Kubera, a more popular divinity of wealth. Thirdly, the yaksha’s capacity to exercise power over the fate of mortals and demi-gods alike speaks to the importance that was given to him (12.171.21 and 14.65.7).

More References

Further proof of an increase in his relevance comes from Padmavati Pavaya in Madhya Pradesh, where we find that Manibhadra had emerged as a deity of such renown that an idol of the yaksha was commissioned c. the first century BCE by “devotees of Manibhadra” according to the inscription at its base (Marshall 1915, 27-8; Garde 1916, 106). Indeed, textual references suggest that post the sixth century BCE, Manibhadra had begun to come into his own within the Jaina fold as well. For example, the Vyakhyaprajnapti, popularly known as the Bhagavati-sutra, the fifth of the twelve Jaina agamas, identifies Manibhadra as a powerful aide of the yaksha ruler Vaishramana (Dalal 2010, 731). The Suryaprajnapti on the other hand makes mention of the Manibhadra Chaitya located to the north-east of Mithila where Manibhadra was supposed to reside. Manibhadra’s presence in the Jaina doctrine is not altogether surprising given his association with commerce; trade was after all one of the more approved professions that could be practiced by lay believers of the faith. Somewhat similarly, we also know of Manibhadra’s involvement with the Buddhist tradition as well. The Samyukta Nikaya of the Pali canon, for instance, speaks of a Manimala Chaitya in Magadha, which was apparently the abode of the yaksha.

The idea emerges as we read through the historical record that, during the early centuries CE, particularly given his appropriation into an interface with the nastika religions (those religions which did not believe in the authority of the Vedas), Manibhadra was subjected to an elevation so that he now had the power to influence subtler and more intangible things as merit and karma, whilst enjoying great popularity as a deity related still with the custodianship of nature, wealth and commerce. For instance, in the later Mahayana tradition, the Chandragarbha-sutra gives us an account of how the yaksha Manibhadra was appointed divine protector deity to the kingdom of Tivani and was called upon by the Buddha himself to be a defender of the dharma (see chapter 17). It is ironic as such, given his immense acclaim, that the yaksha’s importance was not sustained in its entirety for much longer.

The Epic Dimension

Manibhadra’s incorporation into the folds of the major religions as we saw with the narrative of the Mahabharata had already resulted in his transformation from an autochthonous deity worthy of exclusive worship into a demigod to whom was not extended the same courtesy. His identification as a ‘bhagavata’ or “devotee of Vishnu” in the Pavaya icon’s inscription further enforces this idea. The manner of the situation he was subjected to within Hinduism and Buddhism, which already had their important divinities in charge of those issues Manibhadra concerned himself with and had power over, meant that the yaksha was increasingly being deprived of his influence by the time of the early to the middle centuries CE. So that, as Kubera grew in eminence about then, Manibhadra continued to fade in relevance till finally the pot-bellied god’s significance stretched so vast in his role as a custodian deity of the earth and the bestower of riches and as a friend to worthy kings of the world that the yaksha was relegated to a nominal position as the latter’s subject (Hopkins 1913).

Perhaps the most telling proof of this comes from the Uttarakanda of the Ramayana (7.15). There, a story is narrated to the eponymous hero about the time when Kubera’s city, bejeweled Alakapuri of tawny-hued elephants, was once besieged by Ravana because that great rakshasa was in a towering rage against the lord of wealth. Kubera, the text explains, was not one to take this challenge from his half-brother lying down. Under his command, the yakshas flowed out in streams from their hidden city by Kailash and attacked the invading rakshasa horde with all manners of terrible and magical weapons. Even so, undaunted and implacable, Ravana lay waste to the beautiful city of prosperity. The yaksha forces were blown helter-skelter against Ravana’s might — like blades of grass in the summer gale. Only two yakshas were able to stand against Ravana and his ministers. The first was the powerful doorkeeper Suryabhanu. The second was Manibhadra, who laid low the rakshasa minister Dhumraksha, but had to retire from the battlefield when a mighty swing from Ravana’s mace knocked the titanic yaksha’s diadem askew (whereupon Manibhadra was called Parshvamauli, “He of the Sideways Diadem”). What is striking in this narrative is that the monumental poem does not allude whatsoever to the functions the yaksha was once given to or the powers he once enjoyed. It merely mentions Manibhadra as one of the more capable yakshas under Kubera’s command.

In Early Medieval Period

It is also in a similar vein that the Mahamayuri of the genre of Buddhist literature known as dharani refers to the worship of the two yaksha brothers Manibhadra and Purnabhadra in the realm known as Brahmavati (Dalal 2010, 731). Elsewhere, the Manjushrimulakalpa makes note of Manibhadra as the demigod summoned by the Yamantaka mantra (1.74-75). By the time we move towards the early medieval period, this scheme of things appears to have seen greater diversification. The Nishpannayogavali of Mahapandita Abhaykara (eleventh century CE) names Manibhadra as one of eight yaksha kings who preside over wealth in the dharmadhatuvagishvara mandala (Bhattacharyya 1949, 60). The categorisation given in the text implies that Manibhadra belongs to the category of the vyantara gods, i.e., one of the four classes of celestial beings. In contrast, Somadeva’s Kathasaritasagara (again, eleventh century CE) identifies Manibhadra simply as Kubera’s brother and Shaktimati’s husband, and describes him as the resident of a shrine in the vicinity of Tamralipti who punished adulterers by the authority of the king (2.13.8b). Likewise, the Shiva-purana speaks of Manibhadra as Kubera’s brother and describes how the yaksha once kicked the seer Bhrigu on his chest and plucked off his moustache (2.2.37). The Devi-bhagavata-purana names Manibhadra as one amongst many others who joined Shiva before the war between the devas and the asura Shankhachuda (see 9.20.22-53).

Texts belonging to the Hindu fold from the same as also later periods stress in their turn upon Manibhadra’s allegiance to Kubera and of his inferior position vis-à-vis the dusky-eyed lord of the northern quarter. He is characterised insofar therein as either the dwarf lord’s kin, subject or junior. At times he figures as the son of some yaksha of renown (usually Rajatanabha, as with 3.7.120 of the Brahmanda-purana). At others, he appears as a progenitor of the yakshas alongside his consort Punyajani even as a subsidiary to Kubera (Vayu-purana 69.152, 69.157). In the Brahmanda-purana he is a commander of the yakshas of Chandraprabha (2.18.7-8). In the Vayu-purana he is the senapati of the entire host of yakshas (47.7). In the Brahmanda-purana again is he described much like his overlord as a devotee of the goddess Lalita (4.33.78).

Earning More Respect

Besides Hinduism, there is ample proof also of Manibhadra’s continued involvement with other religious traditions. In the kalasha puja – a lesser rite involved with more elaborate and grand ones – performed according to the custom of Tibetan Buddhism for example, Manibhadra is one of the deities offered veneration in modern times (Vam 2021, 101). In fact, the past few centuries have seen ritual texts by practitioners on the invocation and propitiation of the yaksha come into vogue, though the constant even with the instructions from these manuals on gaining Manibhadra’s favour, is his relegation as a servant either to Kubera or to Shiva, and of the yaksha’s possession of powers related to divination. A contemporary text which serves to illustrate the point is the Jaina preceptor Ashok Sahejananda’s famous Shri Manibhadra Sadhana.

It is, in fact, concerning the case of Jainism that we see the greatest reworking of Manibhadra’s identity. From about the time of the thirteenth century CE, there materialises evidence of temple-based worship centered exclusively around the figure of the yaksha in west India. It is surmised that this resurgence in the eminence of Manibhadra as a deity was coeval with the emergence of Jagatchandra Suri’s Tapa Gachha (“monastic order”) and the subsequent acceptance of idolatry by the Shvetambaras (Devluk 1997). Manibhadra has since at least then enjoyed considerable fame in and around the Gujarat and Maharashtra regions. In our times, within Jainism, Manibhadra figures primarily as a bringer of prosperity, a chastiser of evil, an oracle, and a worker of miracles. The yaksha’s most popular contemporary incarnation in the religion, in this regard, is his boar-headed form sitting astride a many-tusked airavata; although his image as a youthful man sat astride the tusker is a depiction which appears to predate by at least a few centuries the current fashion of representation. The temples dedicated to the yaksha in Aglod (Mehsana, Gujarat), Magarwada (Banaskantha, Gujarat) and Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh) bear witness to the matter. Of course, as with so many other autochthonous deities (like Puri’s Balabhadra, Odisha’s Sthambeshvari), whether in shrines or temples across the expanse of central and west India, Manibhadra is still worshipped at times as formless rock.

Mathura Beckons

The most striking instance of the living worship of the yaksha pertains however to the Mathura region itself. Every year in the month of Magh (January), hundreds of people from the nearby villages converge at Parkham to attend the Jakhaiya Mela (“yaksha fair”) that is held there in honour of the yaksha (Singh 2010, 396). The original image of Manibhadra was removed years ago and is currently housed in the Mathura Museum. So, on the occasion, a second image is brought out and placed in a makeshift enclosure by the tank to be offered the attendees’ custom. In the old representation, Manibhadra’s right hand was raised in what is likely the reassuring abhaya mudra (“protection-granting gesture”) whereas his expression is altogether impossible to ascertain because of a blurring of the facial features. In this current diminutive avatara (“incarnation”) Manibhadra’s left hand is raised in what appears to be a cheerful wave and his face is graced with the broadest of grins. The yaksha is presumably delighted that he is to once again enjoy for three consecutive Sundays the attention of his people on such old and familiar grounds.

There is this Parkham jakhaiya and then there is the modern-day rendition of the Parkham yaksha crafted by the celebrated sculptor Ramkinkar Baij for the RBI (Bandyopadhyay 2017). The latter on the other hand is robed after a tasteless but gaudy fashion; the girdle that encircles his waist is positively lurid, his armlets delicate and his neckwear etched with complex patterns. He bears in his right hand an industrial cog and a money bag in his left. The impression one gets is that despite being a doorman this squat, thickset and burly yaksha is obviously familiar with affluence and prosperity – an indication as to his actual identity. Reduced to being the gatekeeper of a statutory organisation, the yaksha glowers with great ferocity on Sansad Marg and occasionally at the random visitor seeking entry into the halls of the establishment. Standing outside the entrance to the RBI’s office, is it any wonder that Manibhadra’s scowl resembles Caliban in a rage?

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