I have compiled these profiles on different races of beings for the general knowledge of peopleI didnt use Wiki as its writen by atheist I just read and know Mahabharata Ramayana and puranasI figure due to the ignorance on the topic of the various celstial beings I should write on itthis is about as bonified information as you will come across. I have drawn my sources from the works of Madhvacacarya and many other great teachers of our linneageBelow I have Yakshas Racksasas Ghandarvas and Nagas and will include Kinnaras Kimpurushas Siddhas and Charanas in later worksYaksha(pl Yaksas) A race of otherworldy beings who according to most sources inhabit the upper Himalayan regions. They have been known to travel in other locations as well and I feel that they are connected to both Jin as in Islam and various fairy creatures mentioned in European mythology. They are cousins to Racksasas(see Bellow)and share some physical characteristics with them. They are the main servants of Kubera the wealth God. They are extremely tall being on the average twice the height of a man. Reddish in color and have long arms and short legs. They have pointed ears which are shaped like arrow heads. Small stumps or horns which come out of the top of their heads are also seen in Artwork but not mentioned in any shastra I know of. They have thick bushy long black hair on their heads. They are not furry like Racksasas. They have many mystic powers and they are described as being able to fly in the air. As servants of Kubera they are known to grant wishes of mortals who do them favors or who they desire to help. When Dhruva fought against them they created many optical illusions by their mystic powers which are similar to the ones which are used by Racksasas.The Yaksa race usually takes the back drop as far as epic narratives only being mentioned with any regularity in lists of beings in attentence at famous events.There are only 3 incidents which involve Yaksas that are of major importance, 2 of them being in Mahabharata and 1 from Bhagavat Purana.In Mahabharata there is Maniman the Yaksha general who was the top commander of Kubera. The pandavas are in exhile and Bhima climbs a mountain top in order to see the palace of Kubera. When he arrives he announces his presence by blowing on a conch shell. The Yaksha commander Maniman leads a large army of Yakshas out of the gate. Bhima slays all the Yakshas including Maniman with his club. Kubera Exits the palace angry but then remembers how Maniman had offended the sage Agastya who cursed him and his army to be slain. Kubera bows to Bhima and thanks him for ridding him of that Karma. I will mention that the Tatvavadis say Shankaracarya was none other than the Yaksha general Maniman and that Madhvacarya their preceptor was none other than Bhimsena and he defeated him once again but this time with philosophy.The next incident which involves Yaksas is the Story of Shikundi. Their was a king of Kashi who had 3 Daughters Amba Ambika and Ambalika. As warrior custom they held a Swayambara ceremony in which the women get to choose who they want to marry and if anyone objects they fight over the woman. It's a way for only the strongest and bravest to get married and therefore get the right to produce children. Bhisma a powerful warrior had a younger brother Vichitraveria who was destined to be king of the world and who he wanted to marry the 3 princess. Bhisma arrived and stole the 3 girls defeating all the warriors including Shalva who Amba wanted to marry. Amba told Bhisma who she realy loved and so he let her return but Shalva would have nothing to do with her. Amba wanted revenge and after a few failed attempts she did Tapasya (severe austerity) in order to please Lord Shiva. When Shiva was pleased he granted her the boon by saying in her next birth she would be the cause of the death of Bhisma. At this time she entered the fire so she could take her next birth. At the same time Drupada the king of Panchala wanted a son so he did severe austerity to lord Shiva. Lord Shiva appeared before him and said that soon he would have a daughter who would become a brave and powerful son. Drupada had a daughter named her Shikundi and raised her as a son. She kept her hair short and looked and acted just like a man. She would dress in armor and train in weapons. Because Shiva had said Shikundi would become a man Drupada agreed to marry her to the daughter of another king. The king hearing of it was so excited because of the power and affluence of Drupada he sent his daughter there immediately. The daughter reported to her father that the supposed son of Drupada was in fact a girl. The king sent an army on the way to fight Drupada. Shikandi felt ashamed and ran to a cave and wanted to commit suicide however a Yaksha entered the cave and saw the crying Shikandi. When he discovered the situation he agreed to change genders with Shikandi and so he became a woman and she became a man.The Next Incident involves Dhruva maharaj who was a powerful king and ruler of the earth. His younger cousin was killed by some Yakshas. So Dhruva attacked them and killed several thousand before they surrenderedThe Yaksha Race have never in known memory had the ambition to rule the world and have never amassed any army to fight against the gods. It has never been seen that they have joined in any Asura campaign nor do they fight for the Gods. They serve kubera and act as his guards but do not get involved in any battles between the gods and demonsYakshas get along good with Racksasas Ghandarvas and Nagas and have neutral reactions towards humans some times being friendly and some times being hostile depending on the situation. They are respectful towards DevasRacksashaThe word Racksasa(s)((plural)) has its root in the word Racksha which means protect. Many times the word Racksasa is translated to mean no quarter. In battle people used to beg for there life and it is said that Racksasas never give quarter to anyone even if they beg for their life. This is where it is said the name comes from.Racksasas are evil spirits who are quite dirty nasty and selfish. They are also very large and strong and have a particular skill with black arts. I feel they have a cultural connection to Ogres or any other large man eating monster in western and Chinese Mythology, perhaps a slight cultural tie to Vampires as well. Racksasas favorite food is human flesh and blood. They used to have a kingdom on a island in the southern sea called Lanka. They used to be more civilized also, more refined one can say, but there leader Ravana got too strong and too ruthless and he offended the Gods and Vishnu in the form of Sri Ramachandra and the Racksasa kingdom was crushed. Since then they have kind of become savage living in forests and the dark places of the universe. A few who have some brains have managed to try and take control over planets by subversive means and infiltrate positions of authority. As a race they have the keenest interest on dark rituals the drinking of blood and eating of human flesh.They are some what neutral in the battle between the Gods and the demons. This neutrality is based on there own selfishness, since they think they are the most important things in the universe they don't meddle in the affairs of either side, unless they are extremely ambitious like Ravana. The Historys are full of Racksasas and they often times play the key role in many narrativesRavana, Kumbakarna , Indrajita, Bakasura, Hidimva, Hidimvi and Ghatotkacha are amongst some of the most famous of them.We find in the Treta yuga the Racksasas were of a more civilized mentality and lived and owned great citys which were full of technological wonders and which rivaled swarga in majesty. But after the death of Ravana and the apparent loss of there universal kingdom they lost there civilized mentality and in later works we see them roaming the forest hunting down humans and doing various other things. They seem to have degenerated into a tribal culture. In Mahabharata war we find Racksasa generals like Ghatotkacha and Alumvusha who were rivals and brought there personal armys. This seems to be the last great mustering of the Racksasas and was more of a civil war between clans than a unified dynasty.Racksasas are experts in black magic and tantra and can conjure very powerful illusions. On average they are at least twice the height of a human and have black skin with thick rust colored fur.Racksasas grow to full maturity within a few days from birth. The reason for this is that in ancient days the Racksasa women would often times cast their children aside because of their lusty nature and a lack of wanting to take care of them. So Uma granted a benediction that the Racksasa race would grow to full maturity in a short amount of time.They get along with Yakshas are Neutral towards Ghandarvas and Nagas Have almost no respect for humans considering them as food and are envious of DevasGhandarvaGhandarvas are a race of celestial beings who are expert singers and musicians. They have their own planet called Ghandarvaloka which can be called their homeworld.They are also famous for flying horses which are often times employed by the gods.The Ghandarvas are seen in courts of any interplanetary leader such both gods and demons and are also very fond of the court of Kubera and of the Himalayan mountains.There are also deva Ghandarvas who live primarily in the kingdom of Indra and serve him. There are several Ghandarva kings Chitraratha Chitrangada Purnavasu Haha Huhu and others They are called Paramaupadevas or in other words foremost of the near gods they are said in Hari Katha Amrita Sar by Jaganantha Dasa (no conection to me) that they have golden wings which shine like the sun and that they have and who have thousand servants. Along with singing Ghandarvas are known to fight and do the orders of the gods.It however has never been seen that Ghandarvas will fight for the Asuras and I think that they only sing for them on contract.Some Ghandarvas have wings and some don't. but all of them fly or use flying horses to get places. They love speed and the air most of allGhandarvas are masters of mystic powers and also have a lot of Deva weapons and have developed 3 astras of there own. They favor the bow for battle and use it while flying in the sky which can have some deadly effect.The Ghandarvas occur a lot in Shastra and are always singing or praising some event. I can be deduced that even when they are not used to fight Ghandarvas are taken to battles by the gods so that they can make songs or ballads about the heroic deeds of the combatantsGhandarvas are very handsome and on average slightly taller than humans being 7-9 feet tall perhaps (counting people as 6 feet average) Their eyes glow they have very long arms and typically have long flowing hair. They like to wear flower garlands and flowers in their hair which is typically braided. They love jewelry also. They are not particulary beefy as far as muscles go but are very toned and strong in that sense.Ghandarvas are friends with Yakshas and Neutral towards Nagas and Rackshasas they have a bit of a arrogant attitude with Humans and will usually try and prove they are more powerful in some way or the other, they are the most prone to getting cursed by Risis for this reason. They have a great deal of respect for Devas.NagasNagas (Naga singular) is a race of celestial serpents who inhabit the lower regions of the world. They are the sons of Kadru one of the wives of Kashyap. I believe they have a cultural conection to what the Chineese call Dragons. They have a planet called Naga loka in the lower realms. The Nagas are massive serpents whicih resemble Cobras. They have celestial jewels placed in there heads which give a red effulgence and which is also enhanced in luminance by the fire which they breath. As a Result there planet glows a deep red which illuminates the whole of the neither reigions which they live including the planets of the Assuras. The reigion where they live has no sunlight as the gods and the sun god are at war with the demons and don't let them experience any of the light. As a result the planet of the Nagas serves as a kind of sun for the lower reigionsNagas are very envious of others and if they see some one is more powerful than them they will try to destroy them by either subtle or open means. They have never fought openly in any war but it is known that they stole the nectar of the gods in a attempt to be equal to them.Nagas have 3 forms which they exhibit at will. They have a natural serpent form which typically has a number of heads based on there power or age. The great kings of Nagas have thousands of heads while Iravan one of Arjunas' sons who was half naga had 10 heads. The other form which they have been known to take is one which is half serpent and half human the tail part being the bottom half and the upper part being human and then the third and final form which they take is fully human looking. In Mahabharata it seems that while in Human form they were either slightly smaller or the same or slightly taller than humans and had very sharp eyes, chins, and noses and other features.They are very strong in body and it is described in battle the son of Arjuna, Iravan would get hacked and pierced by many weapons and only laugh and pull them out and throw them back at the enemy. In battle they have there own race of horse which changes colors all the time and also which can leap into the air and gallop a few paces and then land on the ground. They love scimitars as weapons and their primary military unit is Cavalry. This being said based on all evidence it is rare to hear of Nagas engaging in warfare and they typically use political means or get others to fight for them while pulling the strings from behind the scenes. They have no allegiance to anyone save themselves and worship no god or being save themselves only.They have never been seen to have any real respect for the law but they will use it in there favor if it has an application.Nagas live in the realm of the Asuras but are neutral to all beings mostly because they think so much of themselves. They have no special hate or love for any race of celestial but at one point they did send Garuda to steal the nectar of the gods. As a result they cannot die or get sick of any natural causes. As far as dealings with humans they have been known to intermarry with human dynasties and will react with people based on how much of a help it will be to them in the future.They are known to make a special drink known as Nagarasa which makes people extremely strongWithin there society the naga woman are kept within palaces and are discouraged to leave or do anything and are all spoiled and pampered.
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