NĀGAS AND YAKṢAS

NĀGAS AND YAKṢAS and their female counterparts, nāgī s and yakṣī s, 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 deva s (gods), or as a separate category of deities between deva s and demons and ghosts. In addition, nāgas and yakṣas, often likened to the guardian nat s 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 nāgas and yakṣas reside in caitya s, ancient places of worship marked by a tree, stone altar, pool, or stream, and a railing to designate sacred territory. From these sacred sites, nāgas and yakṣas 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 nāga or yakṣa 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, nāgas 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. Yakṣas, who are said to live in tree trunks, can also take human forms that may disguise a demonic side. The female yaksi s 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, nāgas and yakṣas 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 nāgas and yakṣas. This thesis is supported by Jātaka tales and many dynastic myths in which kings are granted rule over a region by forming an agreement with a nāgarāja (nāga king) or a liaison with a nāgī or yakṣī. 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 nāgas and yakṣas 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 nāgas and yakṣas 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 behavior of the deities. These myths, which parallel the Buddha's confrontation with the yaksa -like Māra, seem to emphasize the chaotic powers of nāgas and yakṣas in order to reveal the Buddha's virtues and assert his continuing rule over a region. It appears that very early in Buddhism worshipers honored the Buddha's relics placed in stupas and then went to nearby shrines of nāgas and yakṣas, 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 yakṣas 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 nāgarāja Mucilinda. In myth and art, after the Buddha attains nirvāṇa 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 nāgas and yakṣas 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 nāga 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 nāgī maiden. This association allows the fertility powers of the nāga 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 nāg 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 yakṣas is Ananda K. Coomaraswamy's Yakṣas, 2 pts. (Washington, D.C., 1928–1931). Jean P. Vogel's Indian Serpent-Lore, or the Nāgas in Hindu Legend and Art (London, 1926) gives a wealth of information on the nāga. My article "The Buddha and the Nāga: A Study in Buddhist Folk Religiosity," History of Religion 13 (August 1973): 36–53, surveys the symbolism of the naga and yakṣa in Buddhist literature. My article, "The Taming of Māra: Witnessing to the Buddha's Virtues," History of Religion 15 (November 1978), speaks of the monk Upagupta and his relationship with a nāgī, Māra, and the Buddha.