Maṇibhadra or Manigriva is one of the major yakshas. He was a popular deity in ancient India. Manibhadra is also a god of sea-farers especially merchants venturing out in the sea for business in faraway lands.
Manibhadra is a son of Kubera and his wife, Bhadra. His brother is Nalakubera or Nalakuvara. His consorts are Gandhravkumari and Punyajani.
His weapon is a spear and his mount is a mongoose.
Ramayana:
In the Ramayana, Manibhadra fought with Ravana to defend Lanka but failed.
Mahabharata:
In the Mahabharata, Manibhadra is mentioned along with Kubera as a chief of the yakshas. Arjuna is stated to have worshipped him.
Bhagavata Purana:
The Bhagavata Purana narrates a story about the brothers. Once, Manibhadra and Nalakuvara were playing with their respective wives or apsaras in the river Ganges. They were drunk and nude. When the divine sage, Narada, passed by to visit Vishnu, the women covered themselves, but the naked brothers were too intoxicated to see the sage and started to boast about themselves. Narada wanted to teach the brothers a lesson and cursed them to be turned into trees, only to be liberated by Vishnu’s avatar.
During the Dvapara Yuga, an infant Krishna was tied to a mortar by his mother, Yashoda, as a punishment for eating dirt. Krishna crawled with the mortar, which became stuck between two trees. Using his divine powers, Krishna uprooted the trees, liberating Nalakuvara and Manigriva from their curse.
