What is a Rakshasa???

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Dear Sara –

What is a Rakshasa? In the movie WORLD WAR Z, it is said this is an Indian word for “zombie.”

– Best wishes, Tom C.

Dear Tom –

No, Rakshasa is not the Indian word for “zombie.” (Where in the name of George Romero did they come up with that?) A Rakshasa is a creature from Hindu and Buddhist mythology. Originally, a Rakshasa (or a Rakshasi, if female) was depicted as enormous, ugly, violent and ready to eat anything, human or animal. They can fly, disappear and take on any form, human or animal. In the Hindu epic the Mahabharata, there are both good and evil Rakshasas. In the Hindu epic the Ramayana, an army of Rakshasas under the command of the ten-headed Ravana fought an army of monkeys led by Rama (either one of the avatars of the god Vishnu or a god himself, depending on the mythology) and the monkey king Sugriva. The monkeys won. There are images of Rakshasas in various places, including the Cambodian site Angkor Wat.