rakshasa

English

a sculpture of Ravana the rakshasa, 18th century

Etymology

From Sanskrit राक्षस (rākṣasa).

Noun

rakshasa (plural rakshasas)

1. (Hinduism) A member of a race of mythical fanged demons that eat human flesh and blood, somewhat like vampires.
   • 2006, Mastodon (lyrics and music), “Circle of Cysquatch”:

     A race of one-eyed beings / All feared and shunned / Rakshasa demon

Translations

(Indian religions) a type of demon

• Assamese: ৰাক্ষস (rakhox)
• Bengali: রাক্ষস (bn) m (rakkhoś)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 羅剎／罗刹 (zh) (luóchà)

• Hindi: राक्षस (hi) m (rākṣas)
• Japanese: 羅刹天 (ja) (らせつてん, rasetsuten), 羅刹 (ja) (らせつ, rasetsu)
• Khmer: រក្សសៈ (rĕəʼksaʼsaʼ), រាក្ស័ស (km) (riəksah)
• Korean: 나찰 (nachal), 라찰 (rachal) (North Korea)
• Malay: raksasa (ms)
• Manchu: ᡵᠠᡴᡧᠠ (rakša)
• Marathi: राक्षस m (rākṣas)
• Russian: ракша́са m (rakšása)
• Sanskrit: राक्षस (sa) m (rākṣasa)
• Thai: รากษส (râak-sòt)
• Urdu: راکھشس m (rākṣas)
• Vietnamese: La Sát

See also

• asura
• yaksha