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Yaksha (Sanskrit , Pali ''yakkha'')〔For yakkha as a "rare use in Pali" see Franklin Edgerton, ''Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary'', vol. 2., Motilal Banarsidass, First Edition, 1953, p. 442.)〕 is the name of a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, who are caretakers of the natural treasures hidden in the earth and tree roots.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=yaksha )〕 They appear in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist texts.〔 The feminine form of the word is )〔For as the feminine of see V. S. Apte, ''The Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary'', p. 776.〕 or Yakshini (').〔For yakṣiṇī () as a regular Sanskrit term for a female yakṣa, and yakṣaṇī as a Buddhist variant, see Franklin Edgerton, ''Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary'', vol. 2., Motilal Banarsidass, First Edition, 1953, p. 442.〕 In Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist texts, the has a dual personality. On the one hand, a may be an inoffensive nature-fairy, associated with woods and mountains; but there is also a darker version of the , which is a kind of ghost (bhuta) that haunts the wilderness and waylays and devours travelers, similar to the . In Kālidāsa's poem Meghadūta, for instance, the narrator is a romantic figure, pining with love for his missing beloved. By contrast, in the didactic Hindu dialogue of the ' "Questions of the ", it is a tutelary spirit of a lake that challenges . The may have originally been the tutelary gods of forests and villages, and were later viewed as the steward deities of the earth and the wealth buried beneath. In Indian art, male are portrayed either as fearsome warriors or as portly, stout and dwarf-like. Female , known as , are portrayed as beautiful young women with happy round faces and full breasts and hips. == in Buddhism== In Buddhist literature, the are the attendants of Vaiśravaṇa, the guardian of the northern quarter, a beneficent god who protects the righteous. The term also refers to the Twelve Heavenly Generals who guard , the Medicine Buddha. According to the ''Mahavamsa'', Prince Vijaya encountered the royalty of the yakkhas' queen, Kuveni, in her capital of Lankapura, and conquered them. The Yakkhas served as loyal subjects with the House of Vijaya and the yakkha chieftain sat on equal height to the Sri Lankan leaders on festival days. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Yaksha」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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