demons
priest, which is based on the teachings contained in the Bardo Thödol
(Tibetan Book of the Dead), in order for it to find the other world.
Further reading: Ariès (1981); Bloch and Parry (1982); Obayashi (1992); Parry
(1994); Reynolds and Waugh (1977)
DEMONS
These are malevolent spiritual figures, found in many religions, that
afflict people with illness and insanity, especially when they possess
them. In some religious traditions, they remain ambiguous evil figures,
while in other traditions they are personified; for instance, as the Devil in
Christianity, Iblīs in Islam, or Māra in Buddhism. Demons often function
as counter forces to creator deities by attempting to undo or disrupt what
has been created, attempting to corrupt, punish, and afflict humans.
In ancient Hindu religious history, a broad category of demons are
called asuras. These demons are continuously at odds with the gods of
the Hindu pantheon. An ancient identifiable asura is Vritra, who encom-
passes the cosmos and returns it to chaos. Vritra is eventually defeated
by Indra, a deity chosen by the gods for this task. In later sectarian
Hinduism, Krishna is recorded defeating many demons in the spirit of
play. Vishnu becomes incarnate to defeat various demonic beings, often
by tricking them as when he appears as a dwarf and defeats the demon
Bali by taking three strides, with the last step crushing the demon. The
goddess Durgā is renowned for defeating the buffalo demon while Kālī
expands her mouth to drink the blood of Raktabīja, a demon who could
replicate himself when a drop of his blood fell to the earth.
Demonic figures also play an important role in Chinese culture where
it is believed that the kuei soul of a person can become an evil demon after
a person’s death and torment the living. An infamous Chinese demon is
Chiyou, an antagonist of the Yellow Emperor, who is described as a mon-
ster with teeth two inches long, the body of a man, hooves of a bull, four
eyes, and six hands. He could eat iron and stones without breaking his
teeth. He is associated in Chinese culture with the forge in which weapons
are created. Another bizarre figure is Gonggong who is described as a
serpent with a human head and red hair. A vassal of Gonggong is Xiangliu
who is described as having nine heads and the body of a serpent.
Further reading: Ogden (2002); Russell (1977, 1981, 1984, 1986)