Bloss, Lowell W.
“Nagas and Yakshas.” The Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Lindsay Jones. 15 vols. Detroit:
Macmillan Reference USA, 2005, pp. 6394 - 6395
NAGAS AND YAKSAS and
their female counterparts, nagıs and yaksıs,
are pre-Aryan fertility deities of the Indian subcontinent whose fundamental
relationship with agricultural pursuits has led to their incorporation into the
Hindu and Buddhist pantheons as low-level devas
(gods), or as a separate category of deities between devas
and demons and ghosts. In addition, nagas and
yaksas, often likened to the guardian nats
of Thailand and phi of Burma, are
intimately related with kingship symbolism and play a significant role in the
myths and rituals of the Buddhists of South and Southeast Asia.
Early Hindu and Buddhist texts state that nagas
and yaksas reside in caityas,
ancient places of worship marked by a tree, stone altar, pool, or stream, and a
railing to designate sacred territory. From these sacred sites, nagas
and yaksas are
believed to determine the fertility and wealth of a bounded territory as small
as a paddy field or as large as a state. If properly worshiped, these deities
can guarantee abundance and health to a region through their control over water
and its essences, such as semen and sap. They can also bestow gems and the
wealth of the underworld, which they are believed to protect. If, however,
these territorial fertility deities are slighted, they can withdraw their
gifts, bringing famine and spreading disease. This ambivalent power over life
and death is revealed in many sculptures in which a naga
or yaksa in human form wields
in the right hand a sword to protect or chastise and in the left a jar of
fertilizing liquids.
In
myths and art, nagas are represented as
living among the roots of trees or on anthills—entrances to the underworld. They
appear as cobras with one or many hoods or can metamorphose into humanlike
creatures with dilated cobra hoods springing from the neck and spreading over
the head.
Yaksas,
who are said to live in tree trunks, can also take human forms that may
disguise a demonic side. The female yaksis
are often portrayed as voluptuous maidens, with large breasts and hips,
clinging to trees in full bloom—an important fertility motif in India.
As
guardians of a region’s abundance, nagas and
yaks:as
have come to be intimately associated with kingship in South
Asia. In ancient India the caitya altar
was used as a place of coronation, a practice suggesting that the king’s authority
was guaranteed or enhanced by deities such as nagas and yaksas.
This thesis is supported by Jataka tales
and many dynastic myths in which kings are granted rule over a region by
forming an agreement with a nagaraja (naga
king) or a liaison with a nagı or
yaksı. If the king fails in his duties, these
deities withdraw their fertilizing powers and bring an end to the king’s reign.
The
portrayal of nagas and
yaksas in the Theravada canon and in the
Buddhist myths and rituals of Southeast Asia suggests the incorporation of the
symbolism of kingship into the figure of the Buddha and the taming of the
powers of nature through the Buddha’s dharma. These
themes reveal an interesting relationship between the otherworldly thrust of
Buddhism and the importance of Buddhism for this worldly existence. In
widespread myths the Buddha confronts evil nagas and
yaksas who are ravishing a region, reveals his
greater command of the forces of nature in combat with these deities, converts
the deities with the force of his virtues, and
leaves behind a relic as a symbol of the contract that guarantees the good behaviour
of the deities. These myths, which parallel the Buddha’s confrontation with the
yaksa like Mara, seem to emphasize the
chaotic powers of nagas and yaksas
in order to reveal the Buddha’s virtues and assert his
continuing rule over a region. It appears that very early in Buddhism
worshipers honoured the Buddha’s relics placed in
stupas and then went to nearby shrines of nagas and
yaks:as,
to remind these deities of their obligations. Such contracts are recalled in
Sri Lankan exorcism rituals in the early twenty-first century, to assure that yaksas
leave the person they are possessing. In this manner the
Buddha, while withdrawn, remains a lord or ruler of this existence through the
power of his dharma.
The
incorporation of kingship symbolism by the figure of the Buddha can also be
seen in his association with the nagaraja Mucilinda.
In myth and art, after the Buddha attains nirvana he
is protected from the weather by the coils and hoods of Mucilinda. Such
protection designates kingship in South Asia. These myths help to explain why nagas
and yaksas become
guardians of the Buddha’s relics. They are offering not only their protection
but their powers over nature to the Buddha and his followers.
The
relationship of the this-worldly powers of the naga
and the world-denying view of Buddhism is also revealed in the
fascinating figure of Upagupta and in the ordination ceremony.
In
Burma and Thailand, the monk Upagupta is said to have been born of a nagı
maiden. This association allows the fertility powers of the naga
to be controlled by the rigorous meditative discipline of
the monk, and Upagupta is called upon in rituals to tame the forces of nature.
It also can be speculated that the reason a candidate for ordination into the
monkhood is called a nag is that he is about
to tame his physical desires for the good of society and for the higher goal of
Buddhism.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The
best single work on yaksas is
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy’s Yaks:as, 2 pts. (Washington,
D.C., 1928–1931). Jean P. Vogel’s Indian Serpent-Lore, or
the Nagas in Hindu Legend and Art (London, 1926) gives
a wealth of information on the naga. My
article “The Buddha and the Naga: A Study in Buddhist Folk Religiosity,” History
of Religion 13 (August 1973): 36–53, surveys the
symbolism of the naga and yaksa
in Buddhist literature. My article, “The Taming of Mara: Witnessing
to the Buddha’s Virtues,” History of Religion 15
(November 1978), speaks of the monk Upagupta and his relationship with a nagı,
Mara, and the Buddha.
LOWELL W. BLOSS
(1987 AND 2005)