yakshini

The tradition & historical record

Yakshinis or Yakshis (Sanskrit: यक्षिणी, IAST: Yakṣiṇī or Yakṣī, IPA: [jɐkʂiɳiː, jɐkʂiː]; Prakrit: Yakkhiṇī or Yakkhī, IPA: [jɐkːʰiɳiː, jɐkːʰiː]) are a class of female nature spirits in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious mythologies. Yakshinis and their male counterparts, the Yakshas, are among the many divine or semi-divine beings traditionally associated with the sacred groves of India. Yakshis appear in the traditional legends of Northeastern Indian tribes, ancient legends of Kerala, and in the folktales of Kashmiris. Sikhism also mentions yakshas in its sacred texts. Yakshinis are different from Devas, Asuras, Gandharvas and Apsaras. Well-behaved and benign yakshinis are worshipped as tutelaries, as they are attendees of Kubera, the treasurer of the gods, and the Hindu god of wealth who rules the kingdom of Alaka. There are also malign and mischievous yakshinis with poltergeist-like behaviours that can haunt and curse humans, according to Indian folklore. Yakshinis are beings of a non-human species. The number of Yakshinis is innumerable. They are believed to possess various kinds of powers. Different Yakshinis are considered to fulfill different tasks and desires, hence Yakshinis are also immortal. ¹

Below is a nonexhaustive list of yakshinis found in Buddhist literature: ¹

In the Uddamareshvara Tantra, thirty-six yakshinis are described, including their mantras and ritual prescriptions. A similar list of yakshas and yakshinis are given in the Tantraraja Tantra, where it says that these beings are givers of whatever is desired. They are the guardians of the treasure hidden in the earth.They can be Sattvik, Rajas or Tamas in nature. ¹

The sadhak can take yakshini as mother, sister or wife before commencing it. Proper mantra dikshaa from guru can speed up the mantra siddhi. They can be invoked with mantra "Om hreem shreem nityadravae mada (yakshini name) shreem hreem". The list of thirty six yakshinis given in the Uddamareshvara Tantra is as follows, along with some of the associated legends: ¹

In Jainism, there are twenty-five yakshis, including Panchanguli, Chakreshvari, Ambika, and Padmavati, who are frequently represented in Jain temples. Each is regarded as the guardian goddess of one of the present tirthankar Shri Simandhar Swami and twenty-four Jain tirthankara. The names according to Tiloyapannatti (or Pratishthasarasangraha) and Abhidhanachintamani are: ¹

Panchanguli Chakreshvari Rohini, Ajitbala Prajnapti, Duritari Vajrashrankhala, Kali Vajrankusha, Mahakali Manovega, Shyama Kali, Shanta Jwalamalini, Mahajwala Mahakali, Sutaraka Manavi, Ashoka Gauri, Manavi Gandhari, Chanda Vairoti, Vidita Anantamati, Ankusha Manasi, Kandarpa Mahamansi, Nirvani Jaya, Bala Taradevi, Dharini Vijaya, Dharanpriya Aparajita, Nardatta Bahurupini, Gandhari Ambika or Kushmandini Padmavati Siddhayika ¹

In the literature and folktales of Kerala, yakshis are generally not considered benevolent. Many folk stories feature murdered women reborn as vengeful yakshis, some of which are listed below. Aside from those mentioned below, yakshis are also featured in Malayatoor Ramakrishnan's 1967 novel Yakshi, which describes their world as having a blue sun, carpets of crimson grass, streams of molten silver, and flowers made of sapphires, emeralds, garnets, and topaz. In the novel, young yakshis fly around on the backs of giant dragonflies. According to Ramakrishnan's novel, adult yakshis are required to enter the land of the living once a year to feed on the blood of human men. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Yakshini”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

yakshini is mythical beings of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain mythology; female counterpart of the yaksha, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 3 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²