Episode 13 - Rakshasa

Your village has stood for a long time. For many years, its hearths and lights have cast away the shadows and darkness of the dense forest around it.

When you, or another member of your village, must travel through the forest. You must leave very early in the morning.

If you leave too late, you would need to spend a night in the forest, and that is asking for the wrath of a creature that dwelled deep within.

The creature which you and your village have had to bribe with tribute of food to prevent him from attacking the town and consuming the people.

You were tired… Many among the town were tired, of offering so much of the little excess you produce to appease the appetites of a greedy monster.

And you all decided you were done. You would not make an offering this time. Instead you would try to stand up for yourselves.

To stand against a demigod, to stand against the rakshasa.

Rakshasas, sometimes included among the Asuras, are mythological figures in Hindu myth.

Eventually, as Hindu influenced other cultures, rakshasas began to appear in Buddhist and Jainist beliefs as well.

According to Vedic and Puranic lore, rakshasas were spawned from Brahma’s breath. Brahma is a creator god of Hindu myth, and while he slept, the Rakshasa were born. They were filled with blood-lust and immediately attempted to devour Brahma.

He called out for help, and Vishnu came to his aid. Vishnu cast all the Rakshasa to Earth.

Among the oldest references to rakshasa come from Vedic sources in the Rigveda, most likely written between 1500 and 1200 BC.

Those verses describe the rakshasa as creatures among the Yatudhanas, mythical creatures that consume raw human flesh.

Across the stories of Hindu myth, the Rakshasa feature as a terrible monster and powerful ally.

They are represented as warriors, magicians, illusionists, and shape-changers. They can be good, and they can be evil.

They had a tendency toward violence, discontent, and craving. In many ways, they represent the darker side of humanity.

The traits which we so often aim to overcome. They were powerful, but corruptible. Capable of creating powerful change for the side of good, but more often, fighting in the armies of evil.

Today we explore some of the stories of Hindu myth, and the stories they influenced throughout the world.

I am Andrew Eagle, and I invite you to join me and pass Through the Veil.

The creature’s wrath was swift. When the offering was late, the rakshasa attacked the town.

You had never seen the creature before, not really. Only heard stories you assumed were exaggeration.

Now you saw the truth. When the Rakshasa came to the town, it came out of the shadows in the form of a giant with curled, sharp fangs, and powerful claws.

It howled with anger, and began a rampage, knocking smaller buildings flat and throwing or clawing anyone who got close.

As you and several other townspeople tried to mount a defense, gathering weapons to face the creature, it shifted and changed.

It took the form of a massive tiger at first, pouncing atop one of your fellow defenders. In an instant, it was back in its giant form, throwing a spear at another.

Then it used its magic. The shadows leapt and danced in patterns that distracted your eye and…

They formed such amazing patterns. Beautiful designs drawn in darkness at the edge of the village. You step toward it, somewhere in those dancing shadows, unexpected light flickers.

Your spear falls from your grip, forgotten. The cause for such a weapon forgotten… When you awake from your trance, you are in the forest, the village nowhere in sight.

You remember everything from the night before, up until the magic of the rakshasa took hold and its illusions led you away.

Ashamed, you stand and begin to hurry your way through the forest, looking for your home and whatever waits for you there after the wrath of the creature passed.

Rakshasa appear in a number of Hindu myths. After their origin story in the Vedic stories, they appeared in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

They are described as ugly, gigantic creatures with fearsome fangs and claws. They are often mean, greedy, and aggressive with an insatiable appetite for human flesh.

Occasionally they were known to drink blood and were attributed with a number of magical powers beyond their immense physical strength.

They demonstrated the ability to fly, turn invisible, change size or form, and conjure illusions.

Even without their magic, they were potent warriors.

Although most rakshasa were evil, hungry creatures, they were a populous people. And some rakshasa were very virtuous and heroic figures. But the vast majority were man-eating monsters that arrived to battles gleeful for the upcoming slaughter.

In the Ramayana, Ravana the demon-king of Lanka led his army of rakshasas against the vanaras of Rama and Sugriva. Ravana kidnaps Rama’s wife and in response, Rama allied himself with King Sugriva and laid siege to Lanka to rescue her.

The battle described was fearsome and involved many powerful rakshasa and equally powerful heroes. Rakshasa infiltrated Rama’s camp, but were thwarted by the wisdom of Ravana’s younger brother, who chose to serve the side of virtue. Ravana’s other brother, a vicious and powerful warrior, awoke to the battle and nearly turned the tide in favor of the demon-king, but he was thwarted using a brahmastra, a powerful enchanted weapon that was represented as a gift from the god Brahma.

In the Mahabharata, the hero Bhima roamed throughout a forest and became well-known as a nemesis to the rakshasa that dwelt there.

The rakshasas in those stories often lorded over a town and forced them to pay tribute or offer sacrifices, and Bhima, along with his siblings, would face them, usually killing them. Occasionally, Bhima would not kill the rakshasa, and more than once some rakshasa would surrender and in exchange for mercy would leave their cannibalistic ways behind and would often serve later as allies to Bhima.

In fact, Bhima even fell in love with a rakshasa and had a son with her, who would later feature as a hero in other stories and as an ally to Bhima.

You find your home in ruins. And the homes of your neighbors. Nothing left but rubble and the hard work of the survivors trying to repair the damage done.

You arrive from your illusion-motivated wanderings at the same time as a group of newcomers. A small cluster of people coming in to the town, what was left of it.

At first, they seemed surprised. Then a resolute rage settled across their features.

One of them approached you, as you are the closest to them.

“What happened here?” they ask. The rest of their group hanging back and watching the work.

You explain what happened. You explain why the town stopped making the offering. You explain the attack. With each word, you see their rage grow stronger.

When you finished your story. The one you were speaking to nods quietly and returns to their fellows.

You turn to begin aiding your people, to help repair the town, when the leader of the newcomers calls out.

“Do you wish to aid us?” You turn and look, confused.

“My companions will remain here and help you to rebuild. I am going to go face the thing that did this. Will you accompany me?”

To your own surprise, despite the fear that still lingered there from witnessing the creature, you nod.

You head into the woods with your new companion, following the wreckage path of the creature.

Rakshasas began in Hindu myth, but they did not stay there. They also spread.

As Hindu itself spread and interacted with other beliefs, Rakshasa appeared in other myth.

In the literature of Theravada Buddhists, Mara is an antagonist to the Buddha. He is described as a corrupted Asura. He leads an army of Discontent, Hunger and Thirst, Craving, Sloth, Terror and many other conceptual forces in an attempt to bind the Devas. Not all Asuras are Rakshasas, but Mara could very well be one.

Another story tells of Buddha being harassed by a rakshasa. The creature would ask the Buddha to leave and return to a place over and over. Eventually the Buddha refused, and the rakshasa threatened to harm him if he could not answer the creature’s questions.

In the end of their dialog, the rakshasa is convinced of the Buddha’s holiness and becomes a devoted follower.

Another reference to rakshasa in Buddhist literature is one of the Buddha’s ten titles, which translates to “The teacher of gods, men, animals, and Rakshasas.”

Contrary to the stories in Hinduism and Buddhism, Jainism also references rakshasa. But rather than terrible beasts, or powerful magicians, in Jain literature, Rakshasa was a kingdom. And it was populated by civilized and vegetarian people with a supernatural origin.

You and your companion track the path through the forest.

For a while it is easy to follow, a clear path, but abruptly it changes.

No longer the carnage of the giant’s rampage, but instead the light tracks of a tiger, or something similar.

The tracking becomes more difficult. But not impossible, especially to the keen eyes of the stranger who sought to help you.

And you never lose it entirely.

Until eventually it ends at a wide clearing. And across the clearing is the yawning, dark mouth of a cave.

The creature’s lair.

The two of you stride across the clearing and your companion calls out, challenging the creature.

It emerges, angry at its disturbed nap.

In its giant form, it is a terrible visage, its rage apparent as it immediately weaves an illusion together.

The plants of the wood nearby slither and reach toward you quickly, wrapping themselves around you and holding you in place as the creature rushes toward you shifting into the form of a tiger as it comes.

Your companion yells to you, “Do not be ensnared. Your prison is your mind, not the plants.”

In a snap you see the truth. The plants had not moved. It was an illusion. But the creature was charging.

You roll to the side and avoid the creature, just in time.

Your companion throws a spear into the side of the rakshasa, and it screams in pain. Then, as the creature turns to charge again, your companion tosses you a spear.

You plant yourself in its path and its force drives it down onto the spear. It shudders once and then falls still, its massive weight carrying you to the ground under it.

Your companion grunts and lifts it clear from you. They help you to your feet and silently, your target vanquished, you head home.

Over time, rakshasas spread to the myth of other cultures, and alongside them, they made their way into art.

A depiction in Angkor shows the vast battle between the rakshasas under the command of Ravana and the Vanaras under the control of Rama and Sugriva.

Most depictions set in stone do not reflect rakshasas specifically, preferring instead to show only Ravana, the king of the rakshasa and one of the Asura.

But more than art, rakshasa influenced language.

In Indonesian and Malay, the word raksasa means giant or monster. And its influence shows up as well in Bengali where rakh-khosh means a glutton or a person who greedily eats.

The creatures are so insidious and influential that they even managed to infiltrate our languages.

Rakshasas are a strange and complicated creature. They are more dark than good, but they have will and are demonstrated as sometimes possessing great virtue.

In that way, perhaps they offer a mirror to us, to people.

They share many of the desires that people do. They represent the darkest impulses that people have. They are everything that we strive to avoid.

They are hungry and greedy and all devouring. But they can choose to rise above their impulses, strong as those impulses are, they can choose virtue.

I guess people, perhaps, see themselves in rakshasas, whether we want to or not.

Hopefully you have enjoyed this episode of Through the Veil. If you did, I encourage you to subscribe to receive new episodes weekly as we continue our exploration of folklore, myth, and monsters.

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And as always, thank you, for listening.