their brothers from misfortune—the
string tied around the wrist is believed
to ward off evil. The festival of Raksha
Bandhan is also performed by men and
womenwho are not related by blood but
who are close to one another. Tying on
the string “makes” them brother and sis-
ter, and thus rules out the potential for
any romantic involvement, which would
be seen as a form of incest.
Rakshasa
In Hindu mythology, a particular type of
asura (demon). Rakshasas are generally
considered to be extremely powerful—
not only in terms of their prodigious
physical strength but also in their con-
siderable skill in the magical arts. They
are also generally characterized as
malevolent toward human beings,
whom they not only kill but also eat.
According to one myth, rakshasas are
born from Brahma’s anger when he
becomes hungry while reciting the
Vedas. The capital of the rakshasas is in
Lanka, and their most celebrated leader
is Ravana, whose death at the hands of
Ramais the climax of the Ramayana,
the earlier of the two great Hindu epics.
Rakshasa Marriage
One of the eight ways to perform a mar-
riage recognized in the dharma litera-
ture, the treatises on religious duty. The
rakshasasare a class of demon, and the
rakshasa form of marriage took place
when a man had intercourse with a
woman after carrying her away by force.
Not surprisingly, this was one of the four
reprehensible (aprashasta) forms of
marriage and was forbidden because of
the woman’s lack of consent, even
though it was deemed a valid marriage.
(Here the writers’ concern seems to have
been to give the “bride” legal status as a
wife rather than to legitimate the actions
of the “groom.”) Theoretically valid, this
form of marriage has been forbidden
since the dharma literature was first
codified in the centuries before the
common era. Although the rakshasa
marriage has never been one of the
accepted forms of marriage, there are
groups in which a ritualized battle and
capture of the bride is part of the wed-
ding ceremony. One could even inter-
pret the barat, the procession of the
groom and his family to the wedding
location, as a ritualized triumphal entry
following conquest. See also marriage,
eight classical forms, marriage cere-
monies, and marriage prohibitions.Rakshasi
A female form of the type of demon
known as a Rakshasa.Raktabija
In the Devimahatmya, the earliest and
most important textual source for the
worshipof the Goddess, Raktabija is the
name of one of the demonsvanquished
by the goddess Kali. Raktabija has
received the boon that any drop of his
blood falling to the earth will instantly
turn into another version of himself,
rendering him practically unconquer-
able. Kali defeats this demon by drink-
ing his blood as it is shed, until finally it
is completely gone, and so is he.Raktadantika
(“bloody teeth”) Powerful and protective
form of the Goddess, particularly noted
for killing demonsand drinking their
blood. During the fall festival of
Navaratri, in which the Goddess is wor-
shiped in a different form on nine suc-
cessive nights, Raktadantika is her
manifestation revered on the fifth night.Rama (Rama Avatar)
The seventh avataror incarnation of the
god Vishnu, the crown prince of the
Solar Lineand the protagonist of the
Ramayana, one of the two great Indian
epics. As with all of Vishnu’s avatars,
Rama is born to destroy a being power-
ful enough to throw the cosmos out of
balance, in this case Ravana, the
demon-king of Lanka. The focal conflictRakshasa