Pañcika () is a

yaksha The Yakshas (, , ) in Mythology are a broad class of nature spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Bud ...

and consort of Hārītī, with whom he is said to have fathered 500 children. According to the '' Mahavamsa'', Pañcika was the commander-in-chief of the yakṣa army of

Vaiśravaṇa (Sanskrit: वैश्रवण) or (Pali; , zh, s=多闻天王, t=多聞天王, p=Duōwén Tiānwáng, ) is one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and is considered an important figure in Buddhism. He is the god of warfare and usually portrayed as ...

and had another 27 yakṣa generals under his orders. Pañcika was often represented holding a lance and a bag of jewels or money together with Hariti in the

Greco-Buddhist art The Greco-Buddhist art or Gandhara art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between Ancient Greek art and Buddhism. It had mainly evolved in the ancient region of Gandhara, located in the northwestern fringe of t ...

Gandhara Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...

, where they illustrated marital love following the intervention of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

. The two figures "were very popular in Gandhara in the latter part of the second century, and their statues are many." When depicted holding a spear, he also signals his role as the chief of the Yakṣas. The iconography of Pancika was eventually merged with that of Vaiśravaṇa..

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pancika Yakshas Buddhist gods Twenty-Four Protective Deities

See also

References