rakshasa
- Sanskrit:
- (male) rākṣasa or (female) rākṣasī
rakshasa, in Hindu mythology, a type of demon that figures prominently in Hindu epic and Puranic literature. Rakshasas have the power to change their shape at will and appear as animals, as monsters, or, in the case of the female demons, as beautiful women. The mythology of Hinduism includes a wide variety of demon and goblin figures, from the semidivine asuras—enemies of the gods with whom rakshasas often battle—to the flesh-eating pishacha ghouls and vampirelike vetalas. Rakshasas appear throughout Hindu mythology, and Ravana, the 10-headed antagonist of the Ramayana (“Rama’s Journey”), is perhaps the most famous example. Such demons are most powerful in the evening, particularly during the dark period of the new moon, but they are dispelled by the rising sun. They especially detest sacrifices and prayer and are known to disrupt ritual activities.
Origin stories
Hindu mythology recounts that rakshasas were created by Brahma, the creator deity. In the Markandeya Purana, Brahma first created gods, asuras, ancestors, and human beings. He became thirsty and hungry and created in the night a body of passion and darkness and then created hungry creatures that tried to eat that body. Some creatures said, “Rakṣāma” (“Let us protect”), and others said, “Yakṣāma” (“Let us eat”; a spelling mix-up with jakṣāma, which is the proper spelling for the term meaning “let us eat”), and they became the rakshasas and yakshas (a variety of usually benevolent demigod). A similar story of origin is told by the sage Agastya in the final book of the Ramayana, the Uttarakanda (“The Book of Further Events”). In that origin myth the creatures are said to have been created to protect the waters. Those who said, “Yakṣāmi” (“We will sacrifice”) became yakshas, and those who said “Rakṣāmi” (“We will protect”) became rakshasas.
Ravana, king of rakshasas
Most powerful among rakshasas, and most famous in the annals of the tradition, is their king, the 10-headed Ravana, the antagonist of the divine hero Rama in the Ramayana. Although a rakshasa, Ravana is depicted in Valmiki’s Ramayana—usually considered the oldest and most authoritative version—as a learned being with exceptional musical skill who is a great devotee of the god Shiva. Ravana is also said to be the great-grandson of Brahma through the lineage of Pulastya, one of the mind-born sons of Brahma, further blurring the distinction between demon and god. Ravana’s positive traits are especially emphasized in certain Tamil and Telugu versions of the epic. It is Shiva who gives Ravana the boon of invulnerability against all types of divine beings—importantly excluding human beings, whom the rakshasa king considers to be incapable of harming him.
The hero Rama, a human avatar of the god Vishnu, kills Ravana at the end of the Ramayana. His feat both fixes an imbalance between gods and rakshasas and, importantly, results in his rescue of his wife, Sita, whom Ravana had abducted. In celebration of Rama’s defeat of Ravana, the 10-headed rakshasa is burned in effigy as part of the holiday Dussehra. In contrast, in recent times Buddhists in Sri Lanka have revered Ravana as a historical king of the island and a cultural hero rather than a demon. Especially since the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009, Sinhala Buddhists have constructed an identity for themselves as descendants of Ravana.
Other examples of rakshasas
In addition to Ravana, other rakshasas in the Ramayana have important roles, particularly his sister Shurpanakha. In the Aranyakanda (“Book of the Forest”) the rakshasi (female demon) attempts unsuccessfully to seduce Rama. As she charges toward Sita in anger, Rama’s brother Lakshmana mutilates Shurpanakha by cutting off her ears and nose. She then complains to her brother Ravana, who lusts after Sita. Abetted by his brother Maricha, who shape-shifts into a deer to distract Rama and Lakshmana, Ravana abducts Sita. Ravana’s brothers Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana, his son Indrajit, and numerous other rakshasas, many of whom are killed by Rama, feature in the epic.
Putana is another well-known rakshasi in the tradition. As related in the Bhagavata Purana, she attempts to kill the god Krishna when he is an infant by offering him milk from her poisoned breast. Baby Krishna destroys her by sucking her breast until she dies.
Good demons?
Not all rakshasas are equally evil; indeed, some are capable of virtuous acts. As mentioned above, Ravana may be the antagonist in the Ramayana, but he is also depicted as a musician, scholar, and devotee of Shiva. His brother Vibhishana cannot abide Ravana’s abduction of Sita and hence becomes an ally of Rama. Rama appoints him ruler over Lanka after Ravana is defeated. When the monkey god Hanuman first visits Lanka in his search for Sita, he observes that some rakshasas perform Vedic rituals, a sign that they abide by orthodox norms of ritual activity within Hinduism. In Hinduism’s other major epic, the Mahabharata, there are also plenty of rakshasas. Bhima, one of the Pandava heroes of the story, kills the rakshasa Hidimba. He then weds the dead rakshasa’s wife, named Hidimbi. Together they have a demon-human son named Ghatotkacha, who is a staunch ally of the protagonist Pandavas.
In other media
In addition to appearing in mythological texts, rakshasas are represented in Hindu visual art and theater as well as popular culture. They are vigorously depicted in Rajasthani paintings illustrating the Ramayana. The canons of Indian sculpture instruct the artist to carve rakshasas with a terrifying appearance, complete with fearful side tusks, ugly eyes, curling awkward brows, and a variety of horrible weapons. In South Asian performing arts that tell the story of Rama, such as Ramlila and kutiyattam, actors portray Ravana in elaborate costumes, often in royal form wearing a crown or with 10 heads. The frightening demon rakshasas have also been adopted in modern Western gaming culture, where they appear as characters in Dungeons & Dragons. In that context rakshasas are imagined as shape-shifting, backward-handed, and tiger-headed demons.