Interesting Story of Yaksha in Kenopanishad

Did you know that the very first Avatara much before the famous Dasavataras was that of a Yaksha? I did not know this until I studied Kenopanishad. Here’s the story of this avatara from the Upanishad itself:
There was once a fierce fight between the devas and the asuras in which the asuras were thrashed. Having won decisively, the Devas had a great celebration. Devas congratulated and praised their leaders Indra, Vayu and Agni who stood out as the main architects and heroes of the victory.This victory had gone into their head as they seemed to believe that it was all their glory.They forgot that there was an invisible hand of Eswara behind and  the victory in fact belonged to Him. So, Eswara decided to show them their place. He took the form of a Yaksha(a celestial being)and appeared before them. Indra, Agni and Vayu saw the Yaksha and were captivated by the beautiful form. They could not take their eyes off the beautiful Yaksha. Before they could approach him to find out who he was, the Yaksha vanished.

Indra, intrigued by what happened, became curious to know who the Yaksha was. He asked Agni to go and find out. Agni went in the direction in which the Yaksha went, found him and asked: Who are you? The Yaksha just smiled and without bothering to answer asked Agni:”Who are you?”. This was the first slap on Agni’s face since he is famous all over the world. He replied: I’m Agni. Yaksha asked: What do you do? This was the second slap on his face. He replied: I’m capable of burning the whole world. Then as if to supplement this information, Agni added: I’m also known as Jataveda – I’m responsible for blessing people with wealth and knowledge.( As Jataveda, Agni is privileged to  receive oblations from devotees and pass it on to the respective Devatas. The devotees, in turn, are blessed with the benefits of the rituals). Clearly, this was an attempt, on the part of Agni to display his pride and salvage his ego.

Unimpressed, the Yaksha placed a kucha (a dried piece of grass) in front of Agni and said casually: Oh, you can burn anything and everything! Great. Then, Please burn this kucha (a dried piece of grass).

This is like adding insult to injury. It’s like asking Mohammad Ali, the great boxer to fight with a street urchin. Unperturbed by insults, Agni tried to burn the grass. However, he could not burn it even when he sat on it.  Humiliated thus, Agni retreated and reported to Indra that he could not figure out who it was.

Indra then sent Vayu on the same mission. He was also asked similar questions by Yaksha. Vayu also tried to impress him with his impressive biodata consisting of his alternative names, his capabilities and achievements.  As it turned out, Vayu also faced the same ‘Kucha’ challenge. That is, he was asked by the Yaksha to blow away a dried piece of grass. Expectedly, Vayu also failed the test and it was now the turn of Indra himself to find out who this stranger was.

As Indra went near the Yaksha, he simply vanished. Agni and Vayu could at least see him and even had a chat with him, although they could not make out who it was. Indra was intrigued by the turn of events. Undeterred and not accepting defeat, he just sat there meditating and praying. His prayers were answered soon as Uma appeared before him at the same place where the Yaksha stood before. She explained to Indra that the Yaksha was none other than Brahman itself. Enlightened thus, Indra went back and taught this knowledge to Agni, Vayu and all the other Devatas.

The story is symbolic. It encapsulates the teachings of Keenopanishad beautifully. The story starts with a statement that Brahman won the war for the Devas in their fight against the Asuras. However, in the moment of victory,  Indra, Agni and Vayu felt the victory was theirs. This is typical of all human beings. When we succeed, we forget the invisible hand behind. On the other hand when we lose, we blame Him(Eswara). The Devas are no different. Therefore, a lesson had to be taught to them. Brahman manifested in the form of a Yaksha. The fact that Agni and Vayu could see him but could not recognize who he was is also symbolic. Agni is the Devata (presiding deity) for speech whereas Vayu is the Devata for  the sense of touch. There is no way anyone can recognize Him(Brahman) through one’s speech or sense of touch. Taitriya Upanishad declares unequivocally that speech (words) cannot comprehend Him.

Then how come Indra could not even see Him. Indra is the presiding deity for the Mind and it’s impossible for one’s mind to enclose Him in thoughts. Taitriya Upanishad says: Even Mind retreats having attempted to enclose him in thoughts. How can anyone enclose infinity in one’s mind?

What, then, is the significance of the Yaksha appearing one moment and vanishing the very next moment when Indra tried to approach Him? Adi Shankara likens this act of Yaksha to lightning. The analogy is very apt. One cannot miss a lightning and at the same time one cannot see it too. Likewise, we might, at times, feel his presence under certain circumstances, albeit, fleetingly, only to lose the experience instantly. Intuitively, one might realize there is some force over and beyond what is visible to our senses. But that intuition will instantly yield place to our sense of ego.

Finally, Uma, in the story, represents Brahma Vidya or Sruti. Study of Sruti alone is capable of removing our ignorance. Uma appeared before Indra only when the latter sat there in meditation with a passion to know. Thus knowledge is given only to passionate seekers.

Thus the Avatara of Yaksha conveys the main theme of Kenopanishad which declares that there is an invariable presence of Brahman in every experience and cognition. Nothing ever is accomplished without His presence.