Rakshasa

 

Sham S.Misri

Rakshasa were said to live in a beautiful city in the sky, where they behaved with great dignity and courtesy towards one another. The name of this horrible creature , which was known to Hindu people of India , means “the injurer or destroyer”. When these Rakshasa came into contact with human beings , they hated them. The Rakshasa now started acting differently with the human beings. They would descend upon the earth at night, wearing hideous shapes and desiring only to cause grief, trouble, and death!  

Some Rakshasas appeared as horrible gorilla like creatures with potbellies, matted hair, and slit like eyes. Their fingers were on their hands backwards, and their fingernails were so poisonous they could cause death to any person they touched. Some Rakshasas had the heads of snakes, some had several heads, and some had only one eye, or one leg, or many legs.

There were several different kinds of these creatures, known by different  names and with different ways of troubling people. Pisachas  were bloodthirsty horrors who lurked in cemeteries and ate the bodies of the dead. Bhuts ate dead bodies too, but they could also enter dead bodies and make them stalk into villages, causing terror, destroying things, and murdering the inhabitants. Grahas could take over the bodies of living people, bringing dreadful diseases to them or driving them mad. All the Rakshasas could also take the forms of ordinary men and women and use these disguises for making mischief.

But, despite their powers, Rakshasas were quite stupid and could often be easily tricked. If a man found himself  confronted by a threatening Rakshasa, he had only to call it “Uncle” and act as if they were related. Confused and puzzled, the Rakshasa would let him go, unharmed.