There was a time when I really loved watching Naagin, not to lie. Watching Yakshini on Hotstar Originals brought back some of those memories, but unfortunately, this series has a bad screenplay and even worse acting. The story revolves around a Yakshini, a spiritual goddess named Maya. She was thrown out of Alkapuri, the home of the Yakshinis. To get back, she needs to kill 100 virgin men by making love to them. But it’s not an easy task because, according to mythology, the Nagas (snake world) and Yakshinis are rivals. Enter the Naag Raj, Mahakal, who is against Maya and won’t let her return to Alkapuri to gain power over the Yakshinis. But what’s his ulterior motive? Why does he hate Maya so much? Is there a past connection between the two? And will Maya manage to kill 100 virgin men to get back to Alkapuri? We’ll find out all about it in this explainer of Yakshini.
Spoilers Ahead
Why was Maya banished from Alkapuri?
Alkapuri was the homeland of the Yakshinis. Maya was one of the most beautiful and powerful celestial maidens among all the Yakshinis, and the patriarch of Alkapuri, Kuber, was proud of her power and beauty. But she lost it all due to a silly mistake—she fell in love with a human, none other than Mahakal, the patriarch of the snake world. There was an old saying that Nagas and Yakshinis had been rivals for many years. Kuber, who was actually the brother of Ravana, wasn’t a good brother. Ravana, with the help of demons and Nagas, defeated Kuber. But after Ravana’s death, Kuber took over Lanka, Ravana’s kingdom, by overpowering and enslaving all the Nagas, making himself the ultimate power holder. This made Mahakal’s spiritual leader very angry at Kuber and all the Yakshinis. He wanted to take over Alkapuri by killing all the Yakshinis. When he tried to do that, Maya killed him right in front of Mahakal. From that moment on, Mahakal dreamed of killing Maya and taking over the Yakshinis and Alkapuri. Being an illusionist, he knew how to use spells and charms. After his leader’s death, he became the king of the Naga world. He met Maya and seduced her, making her believe that he loved her. Even though Maya wasn’t so naive, she fell head over heels for him and made the mistake of falling in love with a human, which was a big no-no in the Yakshini world. As a consequence, Maya was thrown out of Alkapuri by Kuber and told she had to live as a human on Earth. She could only return to Alkapuri if she killed one hundred virgin men by transforming into her Yakshini self.
Why did Maya pretend to fall in love with Krishna?
Maya knew finding a hundred virgin men was a tough job, and it would take years to do, but she was willing to take the risk. She kept hunting for virgin men in the area and managed to kill ninety-nine of them. She was just one man away from returning to Alkapuri, but she knew it wouldn’t be easy. She tried to seduce a man who was rumored to be a popular virgin, but he wasn’t. When Maya was about to make love to him and then kill him, he confessed the truth about not being a virgin. Maya got angry and took on her Yakshini form. Seeing this, the man fainted and was admitted to the hospital. So naturally, Maya lost all hope and started thinking she would never be able to lure a virgin man, make him sleep with her, and then kill him. She thought she would be stuck on Earth forever. Then she saw a man about to commit suicide before her eyes and saw a letter he had written. In the letter, the man admitted he would never find true love and had remained a virgin because people always took advantage of his innocence and kindness. He was tired of not finding true love and planned to commit suicide. Maya realized he was the man she had been searching for. This man was Krishna, the hero of our story. Krishna was a 30-year-old man who dreamed of falling in love and losing his virginity only after marrying the right girl. He promised himself and his mother that he wouldn’t look at women any differently until then. But, as luck would have it, Krishna failed to find true love. Even when he was about to get engaged to a girl, he found out she was fooling him and had another lover. This made Krishna lose all hope. When Krishna saw Maya, it felt like love at first sight because he had seen her in his dreams. He thought maybe this time, life wouldn’t be so cruel to him. Maya hugged him and told him he felt like the kind of love she had been waiting to find for so long. In reality, we all knew her ulterior motive, but Krishna had no idea. He thought if he were ever to marry or find love again, it would be with Maya alone.
Why did Maya marry Krishna?
Maya knew that Mahakal wouldn’t let her succeed easily. He would find her and kill her before she could kill Krishna and return to Alkapuri. She learned this from Jwala, another Yakshini from Alkapuri, who came to Earth to warn her that Mahakal was tracking her. Mahakal was a renowned painter, and Krishna was a big fan of his work. Mahakal sent a painting infused with magical white lotus to the hotel where Krishna worked, so if Maya came close to it, the painting would change color, revealing her presence. Maya realized that time was running out. As I mentioned earlier, Krishna was not the type to lose his virginity before marriage. So Maya thought it was better to have a pretend wedding than not be able to sleep with him at all. She proposed to Krishna, and of course, he said yes! But the problem was that Krishna invited Mahakal to the wedding, and Maya couldn’t afford to fall into his trap. So, Maya ran off with Krishna and married him. On their wedding night, she planned to sleep with him and kill him to have her hundredth man, allowing her to return to Alkapuri.
What was Jwala’s motive?
Actually, Jwala was not the friend she pretended to be to Maya. She was also banished from Alkapuri and cursed by Kuber to remain on Earth forever. When she saw that Maya was about to marry Krishna and kill him to be set free and return to Alkapuri, Jwala couldn’t bear it. She was jealous. So, what did she do? She killed Krishna’s father on their wedding day, making sure that, for eleven days, Krishna and Maya wouldn’t be able to sleep together. In the meantime, Jwala planned to track down Mahakal and tell him Maya’s whereabouts so that he could kill Maya. If Jwala couldn’t return to Alkapuri, neither could Maya. She did exactly that and more. She revealed Maya’s real identity to Krishna during a face-off in the forest. She hoped Krishna would be scared and refuse to sleep with Maya. And at the end, Mahakal, with Jwala’s help, was successful in capturing Maya right in front of Krishna and his entire family.
In Yakshini‘s ending, Jwala finally realized her mistake. Because of her resentment, she was not only torturing Maya but also putting the whole of Alkapuri in danger. So, when Mahakal was performing a ritual with Maya’s blood in the secret temple to find the doorway to Alkapuri, Jwala sacrificed herself. Being the cursed one, her sacrifice closed the doorway to Alkapuri forever and destroyed Mahakal for daring to enter there. Finally, Maya was saved. And who came to save her at the end? Krishna. Despite knowing that Maya was a Yakshini, he couldn’t help but fall in love with her. And Maya fell in love with Krishna too, realizing he was the most selfless person she had ever met. Krishna loved her so much that he was ready to sacrifice himself and told Maya to kill him. The story doesn’t show us what Maya did in the end. But I don’t think she would be able to return to Alkapuri. Even if she killed Krishna, she’d made the same mistake again by falling in love with a human, which was the very reason she was banished from her homeland. I think she is bound to remain on Earth forever, and this time for the right reason: to be with the love of her life.
