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Early Jainism and Yaksa Worship
The early Vedic texts show some acquaintance with supernatural 'beings' or 'spirits' called Yakṣas. But compared with Rakṣas they are mentioned less frequently. Unlike Rakṣas and Pisacas, the Yakṣas are depicted in the early and later Vedic literature as less dangerous and malignant, although they too, sometimes are conceived as pure evil spirits. It is of great interest to note that Kubera, the leader of the Yaksas of later literature, is delineated as the king (rajan) of Rakṣas and other evil-doers in such an old text as the Satapatha Brahmana. He is fur
तुलसी प्रज्ञा-3
Jain Education International
Dr. Asim Kumar Chatterjee
ther called by his other name Vaisravana in that text. A still earlier reference to him will be found in the Atharvaveda,2 but there he is not connected with either the Yaksas or Raksas. There are separate references to the Yaksas and Kubera in later Vedic literature, but Kubera as the king of the Yakṣas appears only in the post-Vedic literature. The term 'Yakşa' also appears in the Jaininiya Brahmana as the name of an unexplained being. But exactly at what time Kubera lost his position as the king of Rakṣas, it is not possible to say in the present
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