MAṆIBHADRA I A Yakṣa. He who worships this Yakṣa would get his desire fulfilled. This Yakṣa is installed in a temple near the city of Tāmralipti. If anybody commits adultery in that place Maṇibhadra would take him to the temple and keep him there for the night. Next morning he would take the couple before the King and exposing the sin would get them killed by the King. Once a Vaiśya named Samudradatta committed adultery and another house-holder found it out and took them to the temple of Maṇibhadra and kept them there Śaktimatī, the virtuous wife of Samudradatta came to know of the mishap to her husband and the intelligent woman went to the temple with materials for worship and under the pretext of worshipping made the priest of the temple open the doors. When she entered Samudradatta felt ashamed and sat with his head bent down. Śaktimatī gave the other woman her own dress taking hers in return and sent her out as Śaktimatī without raising the least suspicion in the priest. Then she remained with Samudradatta, and when in the morning officers of the King came to take them they were surprised to find that the culprits were really husband and wife. The house-holder was punished for giving wrong information and Samudradatta was set free with his wife.
[Kathāmukhalambaka, Kathāsaritsāgara] .
MAṆIBHADRA II A King of the Lunar dynasty. This King had many children of his wife Kavikā. Of these seven sons learned magic from Maya. The seven palm trees which Śri Rāma broke by an arrow while on his search for Sītā were but the cursed forms of these seven sons. The Purāṇic story relating to Śrī Rāma giving them relief from the curse is narrated in the Kiṣkindhā Kāṇḍa of Kamba Rāmāyaṇa. The seven sons of Maṇibhadra after learning magic from Maya created a huge cobra and travelled all over the world on it. One day they reached a mountain near Ṛṣyamūkācala. They saw the sage Agastya coming that way and just to tease him they coiled that cobra and hid it beneath the ground in the form of a circle and they themselves stood on it as seven palm trees in a circle and caused obstruction to the sage in his path. The sage as he came near the trees knew by his spiritual powers what trick had been played on him and said cursing, “May you stand like this for ever”. The princes knew the hideousness of the curse and pleaded for redress and the sage said, “After centuries the incarnation of Viṣṇu as Śrī Rāma would come and give you salvation”. The princes stood there as trees grown to unusual heights with round black trunks casting shades all around. Underneath grew a shrubbage deep and thick and the seven trees stood there presenting to the onlookers a sight of wonder. Śrī Rāma and party reached the place of the seven trees. Suddenly Rāma took his bow and arrows and pressing his foot on a stone beneath sent an arrow and to the wonder of all, the seven trees standing in a circle fell all together and the arrow returned to his quiver. When Rāma pressed the stone on the ground with his foot he was pressing on a vital point on the head of the cobra lying coiled in a circle under the ground bearing the seven trees. The cobra got a shock and instantly straightened itself for a second and the trees thus came in a row straight on the path of the arrow of Śrī Rāma. They were all cut at once and before they had time to fall down the serpent coiled itself again and regained his original position and so the trees fell down in the circle in which they stood. All these happened so quickly that nobody was able to see what happened and so every body was surprised to see all the seven trees in a circle falling down by a single arrow. The princes were thus relieved from the curse.
MAṆIBHADRA III 1)
General information. A Yakṣa. He was a deity of merchants and travellers.
[Śloka 130, Chapter 64, Vana Parva] .
2)
Other details.(i) He stays in the court of Kubera.
[Śloka 15, Chapter 10, Sabhā Parva] .
(ii) Once this Yakṣa on the request of a cloud named Kuṇḍadhāra gave a boon to a brahmin.
[Śloka 21, Chapter 171, Śanti Parva] .
(iii) The sage Aṣṭāvakra once welcomed this Yakṣa.
[Śloka 33, Chapter 19, Anuśāsana Parva] .
(iv) When Arjuna went to Marutta to bring his wealth Arjuna worshipped this Yakṣa and the Yakṣa blessed him.
[Śloka 7, Chapter 65, Aśvamedha Parva] .