Rākṣasas
By Swami Harshananda
Rākṣasas literally means ‘beings from whom one seeks to protect oneself,’ ‘demons’.
Synonyms of the Word[edit]
The purāṇas and the epics mention various kinds of living beings in creation of which the rākṣasas are also the one. The words oftenly applied to them are:
- Asuras - antigods
- Daityas - sons of Diti, a wife of the sage Kaśyapa
- Dānavas - sons of Danu, another wife of Kaśyapa
Classification of Rākṣasas[edit]
Though the general belief is that the rākṣasas are extremely evil, wicked or malevolent spirits. They represent more a race or species of beings which can be broadly divided into three groups:
- The yātudhānas and yakṣas who are good-natured, benevolent and skillful. They are semi-divine and possess magical powers.
- The titans, who are huge in size and mighty in strength. They are evil by nature. Viṣṇu, Śiva or Devī appear in various forms to kill them.
- The naktañcaras are the demons and fiends who wander about during nights, devouring human beings and disturbing the penances of ascetics and the sacrifices of the sages.
Picturesque of Rākṣasas[edit]
The rākṣasas are generally described as ugly, ugly-shaped creatures with terrible tusks. They wear blue garments and live upon human flesh. They become very powerful during nights. They live below the solar regions.
Iconography of Rākṣasas[edit]
In iconography, their images are shown in twelve tālas or nine tālas. Though eternally at loggerheads, the devas[1] and the dānavas or rākṣasas[2] were cousins, born of the same father, the sage Kaśyapa. Quite a few among the dānavas distinguished themselves as great devotees of Viṣṇu or Śiva. A few are:
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore