THE LIVING ARCHIVE
About Sthunakarna
He lives in a mansion within a forest that people avoid because they fear him. The actual encounter presents him as compassionate: he finds the distressed visitor fasting, asks the reason and promises help. His frightening reputation does not describe how he treats the person who reaches his dwelling.
Shikhandini has been raised within Drupada’s plan for a son and married to the daughter of the Dasarna king. The disclosure of female sex has brought a threat against the whole household. This danger explains the request made to the Yaksha and the urgency of the proposed exchange.
AT A GLANCE
Identity & Context
- Identity
- Celestial Being
- Form
- Yaksha
- Tradition
- Mahabharata · Puranic
- Also Known As
- Sthunakarna (Yaksha)
- World & Associations
- Yaksha forest dwelling
Family Context
The available reference record does not establish a complete family genealogy. No parents, consorts, or descendants are inferred from the name alone.
THE STORY
Life & Stories
Story Connections
- Shikhandi's transformation
ROLE & ESSENCE
Attributes & Significance
The transformation prevents one crisis but creates a lasting cost for the helper. The story records both participants keeping their agreement as far as they can, while Kubera’s authority determines when Sthunakarna can recover the condition he lent.
Role
Yaksha who exchanges sex with Shikhandi in the Mahabharata narrative.
Attributes & Abilities
- Supernatural transformation
TRADITION & MEANING
Traditions & Interpretations
Shikhandini and Shikhandi are forms of the name used at different stages of this narrative. The exchange is the epic’s supernatural account; it does not require assigning a modern medical explanation or personal identity to either participant.
The return to the forest matters because the prince does not simply disappear with the borrowed gift. Sthunakarna recognizes that good faith even though the new curse prevents immediate fulfilment of the original arrangement.
From the Sacred Texts
Explore the sacred texts behind these stories in the Suvarnaveda library.
Artwork & Archive Notes
Objects & Emblems
No named weapon or artifact is specified in this profile’s reference record. This does not establish that the figure never used one.
Visual Identity
Where artwork is shown, it is a contemporary illustrative interpretation. This reference record does not establish a fixed portrait, colour scheme, or complete set of iconographic attributes for this figure.
Tradition Note
The accounts belong to Mahabharata / Puranic. Genealogy, theological interpretation, and portrayal can differ between texts and regional retellings.
FOLLOW THE THREADS
Connected Cards
4 connected profiles. Every path leads to an original record.
The Sacred Library2
Characters & Cosmic Entities2
Kubera prolongs Sthunakarna’s changed condition and later sets its limit.
The temporary exchange averts the threatened royal crisis.