Rākṣasas
group · 5 works · 53 mentions · 128 anchored passages
rākṣasas · night-wanderers · demons · night-rangers · night-roamers · night-roaming demons · Rakṣasas · Rākṣasa · night-rovers · rākṣasa army
spoken of as
3 expressionsRākṣasa2 mentions
Rigveda (Sanskrit) · San Hyan Tattvajnana (Kawi)
May Agni and Soma put those below us in the firmament and on the earth — protect us from the Rākṣasa.
Sorcerers and demons“Rakṣasas”1 mention
Rigveda (Sanskrit)
let the pair of kimīdins, those who belong to the sorcerers, drive us away.
The rākṣasas“Rāvaṇa's army and people”1 mention
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa (Sanskrit)
Thereupon the hosts of rākṣasas suddenly roared with delight seeing him afflicted;
in the texts
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa
The demon race of Laṅkā and Janasthāna, chief antagonists of Rāma's forest exile and the war.
Rāma slew them all in battle, along with their followers — fourteen thousand Rākṣasas were destroyed.
While Rāma was dwelling in the forest among the forest-dwellers, all the sages came to him seeking the destruction of the Asuras and Rākṣasas.
Then, at the instigation of Śūrpaṇakhā, all the Rākṣasas rose up — Khara, Triśiras, and the Rākṣasa Dūṣaṇa,
Rigveda
Demonic beings repeatedly targeted for destruction by Agni and the Maruts in petitions for protection.
O king of the night, and by yourself, O Agni, of the morning and of the dawn — you of sharp fangs, burn the rākṣasas back in return.
The thousand-eyed, all-perceiving Agni drives away the rākṣasas;
Burn away all the rākṣasas thoroughly, O Agni;
Atharvaveda (Paippalāda)
Demonic beings whom the directional gods are called to slay.
Those gods who are seated in the east, who have Agni as their leader, who are slayers of rākṣasas — may they protect us, may they shelter us.
Those gods who are seated in the south, who have Yama as their leader, who are slayers of rākṣasas — may they protect us, may they shelter us.
Those gods who are seated in the north, who have Soma as their leader, who are slayers of rākṣasas — may they protect us, may they shelter us.
Manusmṛti
Demonic beings invoked both as mythic descendants of certain ancestors and as consumers of impure offerings.
What is eaten by twice-born who have broken their vows, by a `parivettṛ` and others, and by other `apāṅkteya`, that the Rākṣasas indeed devour.
The Barhishads, born of Atri, are remembered as the ancestors of the Daityas, Danavas, Yakshas, Gandharvas, Uragas, Rākṣasas, Suparnas, and Kinnaras.
279[269M] // One should not perform a *śrāddha* at night, for the night is declared to be of the nature of Rākṣasas;
San Hyan Tattvajnana
A class of beings associated with violent, reckless rage, patron of the king's weapons, positioned in the rebirth hierarchy.
Now, the reality of this is that the *Rākṣasa* is the patron divinity of the blades that are the weapons of a king.
But if the *Bhūta Kāla* meets with the *Rākṣasa* and *Gandharvva*, and they are luminous and great in the *buddhi*, that is the cause of the *ātmā* becoming human.
But if the *Bhūta Piśāca* meets with the *Rākṣasa*, and they are luminous and great in the *buddhi*, that is the cause of the *ātmā* falling into hell.