In the Mahabharata, when the Pandavas were living incognito in the forests, they were attacked by the rakshasa, Hidimb.
Just as asuras are the enemies of devas, rakshasas are the enemies of humans. Unlike the devas and asuras who live, respectively, above and below the ground, the humans and the rakshasas live on the ground. The humans live mostly in villages and towns while the rakshasas live mainly in the forests. Of course, there are exceptions like the king of rakshasas, Ravana, who lived in Lanka and was made of gold.
Rakshasas are popularly portrayed as being dark in complexion with long sharp teeth and horns on the head. The rakshasas were greatly despised by men because they were said to be man-eaters. They wander about at night when their power is greater than it was during the day. It is said that their power is the strongest between midnight and dawn. The epics describe both good and bad rakshasas.
The most famous among them was Ravana. He had 10 heads. Unlike most other rakshasas, Ravana was said to be very good-looking. His acts are described in the Ramayana—abducting Sita, stopping the Sun, defeating the devas, stealing soma (drink of immortality) and defeating Jatayu. Ravana’s son Indrajit got the name because he defeated Indra. It is said he used to ride tigers.
Ravana’s younger brother Kumbhakarna was famous for sleeping continuously for six months. During the Rama-Ravana war, when Ravana tried to wake him up, Kumbhakarna woke up only after 1,000 elephants had walked over him. Despite his size and great appetite, Kumbhakarna was a great warrior and a virtuous rakshasa. He advised Ravana not to fight with Rama and release Sita, but when Ravana did not relent, he bravely fought Rama’s army out of a sense of duty towards his brother.
In the Mahabharata, when the Pandavas were living incognitoly in the forests, they were attacked by the rakshasa, Hidimb. Bhima killed him and then married his sister Hidimba. Their son, Ghatotkacha, was very pious and devoted to his father. During their exile to the forest after the dice match, the Pandavas were once too tired to walk. Bhima remembered Ghatotkacha who immediately appeared before them and carried them. Ghatotkacha played an important role in the Mahabharata War.
All rakshasas are experts in using the power of illusion and Ghatotkacha used it to great effect in the war and harassed great warriors like Drona, Duryodhana, Karna and Dushasana. Ghatotkacha had an intense battle with Asvatthama. Ghatotkacha terrified and shattered the Kaurava army so greatly that Karna was forced to use the divine weapon ‘Vasava Shakti’ on him. This weapon was given by Indra and could be used only once. Karna had been saving it for Arjuna. Ghatotkacha, thus, saved Arjuna’s life.
For all the latest Life Style News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! NewsBit.us is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
