Encyclopedia of Buddhism

YAKS
A

Yaks
a (Pali, yakkha) are indigenous Indian tree spirits
that are included in the list of the occupants of the low-
est of the HELLS, where they torture beings, sometimes
quite graphically. Either male or female, most yaks
as
are wild, demonic, sexually prolific beings who live in
solitary places and are hostile toward people, particu-
larly monks and nuns, whose meditation they disturb
by making loud noises. Yaks
as are associated variously
with fertility, the earth, water, and trees, as well as with
lust and delusion (maya). Frequently, however, they
are converted to Buddhism and “tamed,” becoming
active, positive forces in the world. Yaks
as appear in
various JATAKAtales. In the Devadhamma-jataka,for
instance, the Buddha-to-be explains to a vicious
yakkhathat he has attained his lowly state due to his
past KARMA(ACTION), and the yakkhaconverts to Bud-
dhism and becomes a protector of the king. Vajrapan
i,
who becomes a particularly prominent divinity in the
MAHAYANA, is in early texts a yaks
a who protects Bud-
dhism and serves as the Buddha’s bodyguard. In other
texts, though, yaks
as are considerably more fierce. In
the Valahassana-jataka,for instance, there is a yaks
a
city on an island (Sri Lanka) inhabited by female
yaks
inlswho lure sailors with their apparent beauty,
only to enslave, torture, and devour the sailors before
they are rescued by the bodhisattva. In other early texts,
such as the Al
avaka-suttaof the Sutta-nipata,the yaks
a
frequently plays the role of the skeptic or reluctant con-
vert, and thus serves as both a foil for the Buddha to
preach the dharma and a metaphor for the power of
the dharma to reform even the most wicked. Yaks
as
are represented in Buddhist sculpture as early as the
Mathura period (fourth through second centuries

B.C.E.), frequently as caurl-holding attendants and ser-

vants of the Buddha. They are especially prominent at

SAN



CIand Bharhut.

See also:Divinities; Ghosts and Spirits

Bibliography

Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. Yaks
as.New Delhi: Munshiram

Manoharlal, 1931.

Sutherland, Gail Hinich. The Disguises of the Demon: The De-

velopment of the Yaks
a in Hinduism and Buddhism.Albany:

State University of New York Press, 1991.

JACOBN. KINNARD

YANSHOU

Yongming Yanshou (Zhijue, 904–975) was a major fig-

ure in the development of Chinese Buddhism after the

Tang dynasty (618–907). Yanshou is particularly es-

teemed in the CHAN SCHOOLand PURELAND SCHOOLS,

where his memory is frequently invoked as an initia-

tor of the Chan–Pure Land synthesis that dominated

Chinese Buddhism after the Song dynasty (960–1279).

Yanshou lived during a period of upheaval between

the Tang and Song, when China was divided into a

number of de facto independent principalities, or king-

doms. In many respects, Yanshou represents a culmi-

nation of the scholastic style of Tang Buddhism. In

other respects, Yanshou epitomized the syncretic style

of Buddhism that became dominant during the Song.

While Yanshou identified himself and was regarded as

a Chan master, his scholastic style is more reminiscent

of the major Tang Buddhist schools, Huayan and

911

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