The Pali Text Society's Pali-English Dictionary

incorporated and as they represent creatures of the wilds and forests, some of them based on ethnological
features. See on term e. g. Dial. iii.188; on their history and identity Stede, Gespenstergeschichten des Peta
Vatthu chap. v.; pp. 39 -- 44. -- They are sometimes called devat!: S i.205; or devaputt!: PvA 113, 139. A
female Yakkha is called yakkhin" (q. v.). 2. Their usual capacity is one of kindness to men (cp. Ger.
R(bezahl). They are also interested in the spiritual welfare of those humans with whom they come into
contact, and are something like "tutelary genii" or even "angels" (i. e. messengers from another world) who
will save prospective sinners from doing evil (cp. Pv iv.1). They also act as guides in the "inferno": Pv
iv.11, cp. iv.3. A somewhat dangerous "Mentor" is represented at D i.95, where the y. Vajirap!*" threatens
to slay Amba&&ha with an iron hammer, if he does not answer the Bhagav!. He is represented as hovering in
the air; Bdhgh. (DA i.264) says on this: na yo v! so v! yakkho, Sakko devar!j! ti veditabbo: it is to be
understood not as this or that y., but as Sakka the king of devas. -- Whole cities stand under the protection
of, or are inhabited by yakkhas; D ii.147 (!ki**a -- yakkha full of y.; thus 4)akamand! may here mean all
kinds of supra -- mundane beings), cp. Lank! (Ceylon) as inhabited by y.: Mhvs 7, 33. -- Often, however,
they are cruel and dangerous. The female yakkhas seem on the whole more fearful and evil-natured than
the male (see under yakkhin"). They eat flesh and blood: J iv.549; devour even men: D ii.346; J ii.15 -- 17,
or corpses: J i.265; mentioned under the 5 !d"nav! (dangers) at A iii.256. A yakkha wants to kill S!riputta:
Ud 4. 3. Var. classes of y. are enumd at D ii.256, 257; in a progressive order they rank between manussa
and gandhabba at A ii.38; they are mentioned with devas, rakkhasas, d!navas, gandhabbas, kinnaras and
mah'oragas at J v.420. According to VvA 333 Sakka, the 4 great kings (lokap!l!), the followers of
Vessava*a (alias Yama, the yakkhas proper) and men (see below 7) go by the name of yakkha. -- Sakka,
the king of the devas, is often named yakkha: J iv.4; DA i.264. Some are spirits of trees (rukkha -- devat!):
J iii.309 345; Pv i.9; ii.9; PvA 5; are also called bhumma -- dev! (earthly deities) PvA 45, 55. Their cult
seems to originate primarily from the woods (thus in trees: Pv ii.9; iv.3), and secondarily from the legends
of sea -- faring merchants (cp. the story of the flyingDutchman). To the latter origin point the original
descriptions of a Vim!na or fairy -- palace, which is due to a sort of mirage. These are usually found in or
at the sea, or in the neighbourhood of silent lakes, where the sense of hauntedness has given rise to the fear
of demons or supernatural witchcraft. Cp. the entrances to a Vim!na by means of a dried -- up river bed (Pv
i.9; ii.12) and the many descriptions of the Vim!nas in the Lake -- districts of the Himavant in Vv. (See
Stede, Peta Vatthu trsln p. 104 sq.) 4. Their names too give us a clue as to their origin and function. These
are taken from (a) their bodily appearance, which possesses many of the attributes of Petas, e. g. Khara
"Rough -- skin" or "Shaggy" Sn p. 48 (=khara -- samphassa' camma' SnA 302), also as Khara -- loma
"Rough -- hair" Vism 208; Khara -- d!&hika "Rough -- tooth" J i.31. Citta "Speckled" Mhvs 9, 22; 10, 4;
also as Citta -- r!j! J ii.372; Mhvs 10, 84. Silesa -- loma "Sticky -- hair" J i.273. S(ci -- loma "Needlehair"
Sn p. 47, 48; S i.207; Vism 208; SnA 302. -- (b) places of inhabitance, attributes of their realm, animals and
plants, e. g. Ajakal!paka "Goat -- bundle" Ud 1. 4)avaka "Forest -- dweller" J iv.180; vi.329; Mhvs 30, 84:
Vism 208. Uppala "Lotus" DhA iv.209. Kakudha "K. -- tree" (Terminalia arjuna) S i.54. Kumbh"ra
"Crocodile" J vi.272. Gumbiya either "One of a troop" (soldier of Yama) or "Thicket -- er" (fr. gumba
thicket) J iii.200, 201. Dis!mukha "Sky-facer" DhA iv.209. Yamamoli "Yamachignon" DhA iv.208. Vajira
"Thunderbolt" DhA iv.209; alias Vajira -- p!*" D i.95, or Vajira -- b!hu DhA iv.209. S!t!gira "Pleasant --
mount" D ii.256; Sn 153; J iv.314;
-- 546 --
vi.440. Ser"saka "Acacia -- dweller" VvA 341 (the messenger of Vessava*a). -- (c) qualities of character, e.
g. Adhamma "Unrighteous" Miln 202 (formerly Devadatta). Katattha "Well -- wisher" DhA iv.209.
Dhamma "Righteous" Miln 202 (=Bodhisatta). Pu**aka "Full( -- moon?)" J vi.255 sq. (a leader of soldiers,
nephew of Vessava*a). M!ra the "Tempter" Sn 449; S i.122; M i.338. Sakata "Waggon -- load" (of riches)
DhA iv.209 -- (d) embodiments of former persons, e. g. Janavasabha "Lord of men" D ii.205. D"gha M
i.210. Naradeva J vi.383, 387. Pa*.aka "Eunuch" Mhvs 12, 21. S"vaka S i.241=Vin ii.156. Ser" "Self --
willed" S i.57. -- Cp. the similar names of yakkhin"s. 5. They stand in a close relationship to and under the
authority of Vessava*a (Kuvera), one of the 4 lokap!las. They are often the direct servants (messengers) of
Yama himself, the Lord of the Underworld (and the Peta -- realm especially). Cp. D ii.257; iii.194 sq.; J
iv.492 (yakkhin" fetches water for Vessava*a); vi.255 sq. (Pu**aka, the nephew of V.); VvA 341 (Ser"saka,
his messenger). In relation to Yama: dve yakkh! Yamassa d(t! Vv 522; cp. Np. Yamamol" DhA iv.208. --
In harmony with tradition they share the rôle of their master Kuvera as lord of riches (cp. Pv ii.922) and are