Rakshasa

“ Resist in battle, with care, and in view of all the bowmen, that Rakshasa of cruel deeds, like Indra in days of old resisting Taraka. Thy weapons are celestial. Thy prowess also is great, O chastiser of foes. In days of old many have been the encounters that thou hadst with Asura, O tiger among kings, thou art that Rakshasa’s match in great battle. Strongly supported by thy own troops, slay, O king, that bull among Rakshasas’. Hearing these words of Bhishma the generalissimo (of the Kaurava army) , Bhagadatta specially set out with a leonine roar facing the ranks of the foe. ”

“ And eulogized with sacred hymns, the sovereign of the Rākshasa rulers then set out to the sounds of conchs and trumpets and panavas; and in the midst of those produced by persons striking at their arms, with their hands, and of the sounds defiance, and leonine roars. And like that lord of the immortals—Rudra—surrounded by ghosts, the foremost of the Rākshsa monarchs was surrounded by bands of flesh-feeding (Rakshas) resembling cliffs and clouds,—with eyes glowing like fire. ”

“ The beautiful Pulomā entertained the Rakshasa thus arrived, with roots and fruits of the forest. And the Rakshasa burning with desire upon having seen her, became very much delighted and resolved, O good sage, to bear her away who was so blameless in every respect. ”

“ O, give me leave to sacrifice myself, and cherish thou my children. Those that are conversant with the morals have, in their treatises, said, that women should never be slaughtered and that Rakshasas are not ignorant of the rules of morality. Therefore, while it is certain that the Rakshasa will kill a man, it is doubtful whether he will kill a woman. It behoveth thee, therefore, being conversant with the rules of morality, to place me before the Rakshasa. I have enjoyed much happiness, have obtained much that is agreeable to me, and have also acquired great religious merit. ”

“ These were all leaders and great warriors of the Vanar host.
The army landed in Lanka unopposed, and encamped on a plain fronting the capital of the Rakshasa king.
The Rakshasas issued forth speedily to attack the apes, and the blowing of horns and beating of drums sounded like to the mighty thunder peals at a Yuga end. Indrajit was the Rakshasa leader. His followers rode on [Pg 419] elephants and lions, on camels and asses, on hogs and hyenas, and on wolves; they were armed with bows and arrows, maces, spears, tridents, swords, and beams, but some had also magic weapons. ”

“ The gods, Gandharvas and Siddhas, propitiated by the offerings profusely made to them, assembled, each one for his share, [16] and Dasahratha was promised four sons. [17] While these events were transpiring, a ten-headed Rakshasa named Ravana was making himself the terror of gods and men, under the protection of a boon bestowed upon him by the Creator (Brahma) , that neither god nor demon should be able to deprive him of his life. This boon had been obtained by the Rakshasa as the reward of long and painful austerities. ”

“ But Rakshas, which may have been "for a long time the name of the Nicobar Islands, probably on account of the wildness and bad reputation of their inhabitants," is merely Rakshasa, a term applied by the Hindu colonists in Java and the Malay Peninsula to any wild people, so that the statement that to the east of Poli is situated the land of the Rakshas is hardly sufficient support for even "all Chinese geographers." ”

“ Listen to me. 'The Mlecchas are the dirt of mankind: the oilmen are the dirt of the Mlecchas; eunuchs are the dirt of oilmen; they who avail of the priestly ministrations of Kshatriyas, in their sacrifices, are the dirt of eunuchs. The sin of those again that have the last-named persons for their priests, of also of the Madrakas, shall be thine if thou do not abandon me.' Even this was declared by the Rakshasa to be the formula that should be used for curing a person possessed by a Rakshasa or one killed by the energy of a poison. ”

“ And so the Rákshasa arrived as before, and asked his daughter, who was disguised as a man— " Did you see a man and a woman on the road?" Then she, disguised as a man, answered him with a sigh,— " I beheld no such person, for my mind was absorbed with my haste, for Agniśikha, who was to-day mortally wounded in battle, and has only a little breath left in his body, and is in his capital desiring to make over his kingdom, has despatched me as a messenger to summon to his presence his brother Dhúmaśikha, who is living an independent life." ”

“ And when the Rákshasa had disappeared, Śakatála again asked me— " How did the Rákshasa become your friend?" Then I said " Long ago the heads of the police as they went through the city night after night on inspecting duty, perished one by one. On hearing that, Yogananda made me head of the police, and as I was on my rounds at night, I saw a Rákshasa roaming about, and he said to me, "Tell me, who is considered the best-looking woman in this city?" When I heard that, I burst out laughing and said— " You fool, any woman is good-looking to the man who admires her." ”

“ When some days had passed there, he said in secret to the Rákshasa’s daughter, “Come, my beloved, let us return to the city of Vardhamána. For that is my capital city, and I cannot endure to be banished from my capital city by my enemies, for people like myself hold honour dear as life. So leave for my sake the land of your birth, though it is hard to leave; inform your father, and bring that golden arrow in your hand.” When Śṛingabhuja said this to Rúpaśikhá, she answered—“I must immediately obey your command. ”

“ The Rakshasa's daughter, who is the Indian analogue of Medeia, does not throw out obstacles to her father's pursuit, but transforms herself and misleads him as to the path taken by the lovers; she even induces her father to believe he is dead, so that he has to go home to inquire whether this is a fact. ”

“ And finding the Rakshasa exhausted, the son of Pandu without loss of time took him up in his arms, and slew him like a beast. And placing his knee on the waist of that wretch of Rakshasa, Vrikodara began to press the neck of the foe with his hands. Then Bhima, dragging along the earth the bruised body of the Rakshasa with the eye-lids about to close, said, "O sinful wretch, thou wilt no more have to wipe away the [Pg 27] tears of Hidimva or Vaka, for thou too art about to go to the mansions of Yama!" ”

“ She then told him that it would be difficult for him to get the flower, as it was guarded by seven hundred Rakshasas; however, he might make the attempt, but in the first instance he must go to his uncle on the north side of that forest. While the youth was going to his uncle of the north, on the way he killed some deer and rhinoceroses, and seeing a gigantic Rakshasa at some distance, cried out, “Uncle dear, uncle dear, your nephew is here. Auntie has sent me to you.” The Rakshasa came near and said, “You are the youth with the moon on your forehead and stars on the palms of your hands ”

“ That turn, destructive of one's family, hath now devolved upon me. I shall have to give unto the Rakshasa as his fee the food of the aforesaid description and one human being to boot. I have no wealth to buy a man with. I cannot by any means consent to part with any one of my family, nor do I see any way of escape from (the clutches of) that Rakshasa. ”

“ When the Rákshasa heard that, he looked at the grant, and bowing before him, said, " You are king here, and I am your warder; for the decrees of king Vikramáditya are binding everywhere." When the Rákshasa had said this, he summoned all the subjects, and the ministers and the king's retinue presented themselves there; and that city was filled with an army of four kinds of troops. And every one paid his respects to the kárpațika; and he was delighted, and performed his bathing and his other ceremonies with royal luxury.
Then, having become a king, he said to himself with amazement; " ”

“ Then after a space of time, was born a Yakshini capable of assuming forms at will, and endowed with the strength of a thousand elephants. Her name, good betide thee! was Tārakā, and she was the spouse of the intelligent Sunda—she whose son is the Rākshasa, Māricha possessed of the prowess of Sacra; having round arms, with a huge head, a capacious mouth and a cyclopean body. And that Rakshasa of dreadful form daily frightens people. And, O descendant of Raghu, Tārakā of wicked deeds, daily commits havoc upon these countries, Malada and Karusha . ”

“ Râkshasas are developed even in these prosaic days of ours. In the folk-tales many human beings lie under the well-founded suspicion of being Asuras or Râkshasas.53 The ghost of some Musalmâns is believed by some Hindus to become a most malignant Râkshasa. ”

“ She too endured patiently to be placed on the shoulder of a very loathsome Rákshasa; what will not women do when mastered by affection? So Vidúshaka, mounted on the Rákshasa, set out with his beloved, and again reached the city of Kárkoṭaka; and there men beheld him with fear inspired by the sight of the Rákshasa; and when he saw king Áryavarman, he demanded from him his daughter ”

“ Then by prowess Rama slew those Rakshasas in battle, and also Ravana, the oppressor of the worlds together with his Rakshasa followers. And having slain the king of the Rakshasas, with his brother, and sons and kindred, he installed in the kingdom in Lanka the Rakshasa chief, Vibhishana, pious, and reverent, and kind to devoted dependants. Then Rama recovered his wife even like the lost Vaidic revelation. Then Raghu's son, Rama, with his devoted wife, returned to his own city, Ayodhya, inaccessible to enemies; and that lord of men began to dwell there. ”

“ The Râkshasa is the great Deus ex machinâ of folk-lore. He can change into almost any form he pleases, his breath is a roaring wind; he can lengthen his arms to eighty miles; he can smell out human beings like Giant Blunderbore. He can carry a man leagues through the air; if his head be cut off, it grows again. He is the Eastern type of the monster dragon which is subdued by St. ”

“ Therefore, great is the fear that afflicteth us, coming from that Rākshasa of dreadful appearance. And O lord, it behoves thee to devise some means for destroying him." Thus addressed by the deities in a body, he said,—"Alas! I have, however, decided on the means of destroying that wicked-souled one. He had asked,—'May I be incapable of being slain by Gandharbas, and Yakshas, and gods, and Rākshasas!'—whereat I said,— 'Be it so!' Through disdain, the Rākshasa did not at that time mention men. ”

“ This king was eminently pious, and, notwithstanding his confinement, continued daily to make clay lingams, and to worship Shiva with all the prescribed rites and ceremonies. Meanwhile the Rakshasa continued his conquests, and everywhere abolished the religious observances and worship enjoined by the Vedas; and the immortals also, were reduced by his power to great distress. At length the gods hastened to implore the protection of Shiva, and to obtain his favour by the worship of clay lingams ”

“ One Rākshasa having handed over the man to the other Rākshasa, says to the other Rākshasa, “You take charge of this man. Stay in this jungle; I am going to another jungle.” After he said it the Rākshasa goes away.
When going, he met with yet [another] man. Seizing the man he says, “What is in your box?” [167]
“In my box, cakes,” he said.
Then the Rākshasa says, “I don’t want cakes; I must eat you.”
The man says, “It is I alone you eat now. [Spare me, and] I will give you cakes to eat,” he said. ”

“ And Hanumana, the son of Pavana, taking up a mountain peak, rushed towards one of the brothers, and with that weapon took the life of the Rakshasa Vajravega. And that mighty monkey, Nala, also, with a large mass of rock, crushed Promathin, that other younger brother of Dushana. The deadly struggle, however, between the soldiers of Rama and Ravana, rushing against one another, instead of coming to an end even after this, raged on as before. And hundreds of Rakshasas were slain by the denizens of the forest, while many of the latter were slain by the former. ”

“ They mislead night travellers like Will-o’-the-Wisp, and they are always greedy and in quest of food. So, if a man is eating by lamp-light and the light goes out, he will cover the dish with his hands, which are, as we have already seen, scarers of demons, to preserve the food from the Râkshasa, and Bengal women go at night with a lamp into every room to expel the evil spirits.37
The Râkshasas are said to be always fighting with the gods and their blood remains on many of these ghostly battlefields. ”

“ Thou knowest Janasthāna, where lives my brother Khara, and the mighty-armed Dushana, and my sister, Surpanakhā; as also that Rākshasa subsisting on (human) flesh, the long armed Triçira, and many other heroic night-rangers besides, of high enthusiasm in battles—Rlkshasas, who had been living there at my command, troubling in the mighty forest the ascetics carrying on their pious offices. And fourteen thousands of Rākshasas of dreadful deeds, heroic, high-spirited,— Rākshasas possessed of exceeding prowess ”

“ The mighty hero soon acquired high proficiency in the use of all weapons. The Rakshasa women bring forth the very day they conceive, and capable of assuming any forms at will, they always change their forms. ”

“ I do not know how to advise you; if the Rakshasas see you, you are a dead man.” Then they both talked to each other in a very affectionate manner, and laid their heads together to devise if possible some means of escape from the hands of the Rakshasas. The hour of the return of the seven hundred raw-eaters was fast approaching; and Keshavati—for that was the name of the princess, so called from the abundance of her hair—told Champa to hide himself in the heaps of the sacred trefoil which were lying in the temple of Siva in the central [79] part of the palace. ”