Hindi

Noun

राक्षस • ‎(rākṣas) m

1. (Hinduism) a demon, a malignant diety at war with the gods in Hindu mythology; a rakshasa

Declension

Sanskrit

Noun

राक्षस • ‎(rākṣasa) m

1. a demon in general, an evil or malignant demon (the राक्षसs are sometimes regarded as produced from ब्रह्मा's foot, sometimes with रावण as descendants of पुलस्त्य, elsewhere they are styled children of खसा or सु-रस ; according to some they are distinguishable into 3 classes, one being of a semi-divine benevolent nature and ranking with यक्षs &c. ; another corresponding to Titans or relentless enemies of the gods ; and a third answering more to nocturnal demons, imps, fiends, goblins, going about at night, haunting cemeteries, disturbing sacrifices and even devouring human beings ; this last class is the one most commonly mentioned ; their chief place of abode was लङ्का in Ceylon ; in R. v, 10, 17 &c. they are fully described ; cf. also IW. 310 RTL. 237) Kauṡ. Up. &c.
2. a king of the रक्षस् g. पर्श्व्-आदि
3. (with जैनs) one of the 8 classes of व्यन्तरs L.
4. N. of the 30th मुहूर्त L.
5. N. of one of the astronomical Yogas. Col.
6. N. of a minister of नन्द Mudr.
7. N. of a poet Cat. (cf. below)
8. N. the 49th year in the Jupiter cycle of 6o years VarBṛS.
9. the island of the राक्षसs i.e. लङ्का or Ceylon Buddh.
10. N. of a malignant spirit supposed to haunt the four corners of a house VarBṛS.
11. N. of a योगिनी Hcat.
12. night L.
13. a kind of plant (= चण्डा) L.
14. a large tooth, tusk L.

Derived terms

• राक्षसत्व ‎(rākṣasatva)
• राक्षसी ‎(rākṣasī)

Descendants

• Telugu: రాక్షసుడు ‎(rākṣasuḍu)

References

• Sir Monier Monier-Williams (1898) A Sanskrit-English dictionary etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to cognate Indo-European languages, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 0871