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What the book is about
Did you know that you need a Hayagriva to slay a Hayagriva? Or that living beings can be created from something as gross as ear-wax or sweat? Or that the way you pronounce a Sanskrit word can change your destiny, turning you into a buffalo instead of a queen?
Demons & Demonesses of Hindu Mythology takes you millions of years back in time when beings as tall as mountains walked the ground, their every stride causing earthquakes and tsunamis; when they stayed in their mother’s wombs for thousands of years before being born; when they transformed into lions or buffaloes or elephants within the blink of one’s eyes and when encountering beings with five heads, three legs, twenty arms or indeed torsos without heads was not an exception, but the norm.
Come, plunge into the Garbhodaka Ocean where it all started and immerse yourself in the stories of some of the most exotic, magical and powerful asuras and rakshasas in Hindu mythology.
Demons & Demonesses of Hindu Mythology takes you millions of years back in time when beings as tall as mountains walked the ground, their every stride causing earthquakes and tsunamis; when they stayed in their mother’s wombs for thousands of years before being born; when they transformed into lions or buffaloes or elephants within the blink of one’s eyes and when encountering beings with five heads, three legs, twenty arms or indeed torsos without heads was not an exception, but the norm.
Come, plunge into the Garbhodaka Ocean where it all started and immerse yourself in the stories of some of the most exotic, magical and powerful asuras and rakshasas in Hindu mythology.
Interesting Aspects Covered
While the book is obviously about the asuras and rakshasas an their stories, it also gives a peek into many other related aspects such as:
1. The vedic version of the birth of the universe and all its inhabitants
2. The structure of the vedic universe & where exactly the Demons dwell
3. Space and Time in the world of the Gods and Demons
2. The difference between asuras and rakshasas
If you are the math-loving kind, you might like some mind-boggling calculations in the Author's Note and if you aren't, you might just enjoy it for the absurdity of it all!!
Read an Excerpt
From the Introduction
According to another account, rakshasas are said to be the progeny of Rishi Pulastya, another of Brahma’s Manasaputras. The story goes that Pulastya, who is also considered the forefather of yakshas, vanaras and kinnaras (beings with human-like bodies and horse-like heads), had two sons— Agastya and Visravas. When he came of age, Visravas married Rishi Bharadwaj’s daughter Idvidaa and sired Kubera, the king of yakshas and God of Wealth. In the meantime, the daitya king Sumali was in search of a powerful being to marry his daughter Kaikeshi so that their descendants could become the undisputable rulers of the world. With Sumali already being the most powerful asura king, it was obvious that another asura would not qualify for the purpose, so he had to look elsewhere for his ideal son-in-law. But where could that be?
Even as Sumali was starting to get frustrated with his search, word reached him of Visravas’s superior intellectual and yogic powers. Sumali immediately arranged for a chance encounter between his beautiful daughter and the sage, hoping they would fall in love. His ploy paid off. Soon, Kaikeshi and Visravas were married and they gave birth to three sons— Dashagriva (or Ravana), Kumbhkarna and Vibheeshana—and a daughter Meenakshi (or Shurpanakha), who became the progenitors of all rakshasas to follow. Thus, akshasas were the descendants of a mixed race of daityas and rishis. The greatest of them all, Ravana, was a daitya brahmana.
Phew! Did I just hear you heave a sigh of relief assuming that the mystery of the origin of rakshasas has been solved? Then you might want to take that breath back, my friend, for there’s more to come.
Buy the Book
'Demons and Demonesses of Hindu Mythology' is now available in stores. Click on the link below to buy/ gift a copy to your loved ones.
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