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Re: Diff between Raksas and Yaksas
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To: soc-religion-hindu@uunet.uu.net
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Subject: Re: Diff between Raksas and Yaksas
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From: nnyxsi@ny.ubs.com (Kunal Singh)
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Date: 16 Apr 1996 15:35:50 GMT
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In-Reply-To: asharma@io.org's message of 8 Apr 1996 18:45:43 GMT
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Newsgroups: soc.religion.hindu
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Organization: Union Bank of Switzerland, New York site
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References: <4kbmsn$oqj@babbage.ece.uc.edu>
In article <4kbmsn$oqj@babbage.ece.uc.edu> asharma@io.org (AS) writes:
Could someone please tell me the difference between a Raksas and a
Yaksas.
Also when is one a Raksas ? For example Ravan was a great Brahmin. So
what made him a Raksas as well ?
The term raksas seemed to denote someone who ruled or lived on the
boundaries of Bharat Varsha and the term seems to have originated from
the world "raksha" or protection. Thus Ravana who lived in Sri Lanka
was considered a Raksasa king.
I am not sure what Yaksas means. But in the Ramayana there seem to be
plenty of these Yaksas in the forests fighting with Rama, Lakshamana
and Viswamitra. They seem to have "created trouble" during
sacrificial rites, perhaps they were just philosophical dissidents
from societies other than "arya."
