page_title: Yaksha
section_title: Yakshas in Buddhism
hierarchical_section_title: Yaksha / Yakshas in Buddhism
caption_attribution_description: English: Thotsakhirithon - one of twelve giant demons (Yaksha), characters from the Thai Ramakian (or Ramayana) epic, guarding the south-western gate of Wat Phra Kaeo to the Grand Palace. It has a green face with an elephant nose ไทย: ทศคีรีธร
context_page_description: The yakshas are a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist texts, as well as ancient and medieval era temples of South Asia and Southeast Asia as guardian deities. The feminine form of the word is yakṣī or yakshini.
  In Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist texts, the yakṣa has a dual personality. On the one hand, a yakṣa may be an inoffensive nature-fairy, associated with woods and mountains; but there is also a darker version of the yakṣa, which is a kind of ghost that haunts the wilderness and waylays and devours travellers, similar to the rakṣasas.
context_section_description: In Buddhist literature, the yakṣa are the attendants of Vaiśravaṇa, the guardian of the northern quarter, a beneficent god who protects the righteous. The term also refers to the Twelve Heavenly Generals who guard Bhaiṣajyaguru, the Medicine Buddha.
  The Mahāmāyūrīvidyārājñī Sūtra, a text that dates back to fourth century or earlier (translated from the Sanskrit by Kumarajiva), gives a large list of yakshas that reside in the classical cities of ancient India who are invoked to seek the protection of the BuddhaDharma:
  "The deity Krakucchanda resides in Pataliputra.
  
  Aparajita resides in Sthuno.
  
  The great yaksha Bhadra resides in Saila.
  
  The great deity Manava resides in Uttara.
  
  The great sage Vajrapani though lives in Rajagrha
  
  Often dwells in Mount Grdhrakuta.
  
  The deity Garuda resides in the Vipula mountain.
  
  Citragupta resides in Citemukha.
  
  The yaksha Vakula resides in Rajagrha.
  
  ...
  
  The yaksha king Mahagiri resides in Girinagara.
  
  The yaksha Vasava resides in Vaidisa.
  
  The yaksha Karttikeya resides in Rohitaka.
  
  This yaksha Kumara is renowned in the great city.
  
  ...
  
  Vaisravana who resides in the city Alakavati,
  
  Located along the jewelled stairway of the Buddha’s descent,
  
  Is surrounded by billions of gods and goddesses.
  
  Such yakshas command huge and powerful contingents of troops
  
  To subjugate adversaries and enemies,
  
  Conquering all.
  
  They are famous throughout all directions.
  
  Imbued with great dignity and virtue,
  
  They come to aid
  
  In the battles between the heavens and asuras.
  
  These deities of virtues and great yaksha generals are located everywhere in Jambudvipa. They uphold and protect the Buddhadharma, generating compassion."
caption: Face of the yakṣa Thotsakhirithon (ทศคีรีธร) at Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok
exif: {"Image Make": "PENTAX Corporation", "Image Model": "PENTAX Optio 330GS", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Optio 330GS Ver 1.10", "Image DateTime": "2004:05:26 08:02:25", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "490", "Image CustomRendered": "Normal", "Image ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "Image WhiteBalance": "Auto", "Image DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "Image FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "114", "Image SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "Image Contrast": "Normal", "Image Saturation": "Normal", "Image Sharpness": "Hard", "Image SubjectDistanceRange": "3", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 0, 12, 0, 1, 0, 20, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "41842", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7106", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/160", "EXIF FNumber": "9", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2004:05:26 08:02:25", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2004:05:26 08:02:25", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "22/5", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "14/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "87/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1536", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2048"}