Piśācas
Piśāca
The piśācas are a class of beings, one of the twelve yonis (kinds of birth) whose dharmas Brahmā laid down. The Vāmana Purāṇa gives their marks as lack of discrimination, ignorance, impurity, untruth and the constant eating of flesh. They gather wherever blood is spilled: on the battlefield of the devas and asuras they leapt for joy, and when the Sarasvatī flowed with blood they drank from it and laughed. Yet they too have their place in the order of the worlds. Bhagavān Vishṇu named them among the beings he asked to help Skanda’s rise, and when Bhagavān Vāmana showed his cosmic form, his toes were the piśācas. The divine gadā (mace) of Bhagavān Vishṇu destroys their power.
Their marks
Sukeśī, the rākshasa king, asked the ṛshis of Magadha what dharma is and how it is practised. The ṛshis told him the dharmas of the twelve kinds of beings: the devas, the daityas and dānavas, the siddhas, the gandharvas, the vidyādharas, the kiṃpurushas, the pitṛ-devatās, the ṛshis, humans, the yakshas, the rākshasas and, last, the piśācas. The marks of the piśācas are:
- aviveka, lack of discrimination;
- ajñāna, ignorance;
- aśauca, impurity;
- asatya, untruth;
- always eating flesh.
“These are the marks laid down by Brahmā for these twelve yonis,” the ṛshis said, “and for each of them they give sadgati (a good destination).”
The ṛshis also told Sukeśī that the dwellers of the fearsome Pushkara dvīpa follow piśāca-dharma (the way of the piśācas) and perish when their karma is exhausted, for that dvīpa is the dwelling of the narakas beginning with Raurava.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 11
On the field of battle
In the war that Andhaka waged against Indra and the devas near Meru, a fearsome river of blood flowed across the battlefield. Hawks, kaṅkas and vultures stood on it in place of cakravāka and sārasa birds, forest crows in place of kādamba birds and jackals in place of frogs, and the gathered piśācas and ḍākinīs stood on its bank like munis performing tapas. That battle was dreadful to cowards and delightful to yakshas and rākshasas. The hosts of piśācas leapt for joy; crows drank the blood of the slain and ate their flesh, and the battlefield became a fearsome śmaśāna (cremation ground). The river of blood that the warriors set flowing was a feast for rakshas and piśācas.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 9
In the blessing of Skanda
When Skanda set out to slay Mahisha, he bowed to Bhagavān Vishṇu, and Bhagavān Vishṇu performed the svastivācana (the recitation of blessings for well-being) for his victory. Among those he called on to help Skanda’s rise were the Viśvedevas, the Aśvins, the Rudras with śūla in hand, the Sādhyas, the Maruts, the Agnis, the Yakshas, the Piśācas, the Vasus and the Kinnaras.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 32
The gadā that destroys them
In the Vishṇu-pañjara, the protecting stotra of a tapasvin devoted to Bhagavān Vāsudeva, the divine gadā of Bhagavān Vishṇu, pouring forth the light of a thousand rays like fire, destroys the powers of rakshas, bhūtas, piśācas and ḍākinīs.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 59
In the cosmic form of Bhagavān Vāmana
When Bali poured the water of the gift into the hand of Bhagavān Vāmana, he who had been short until then grew mighty and showed his virāṭ form, made of all the devas. Of that form, his eyes were the moon and the sun, his head the dyuloka (the shining world above), his legs the earth, and his toes the piśācas.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 10
At the Sarasvatī of blood
Viśvāmitra pronounced a śāpa (curse) on the river Sarasvatī that she would flow with blood and be the dwelling of rākshasas, and for one year she flowed with blood. Round that river gathered bhūtas, piśācas and rākshasas. They drank the blood with great joy, sated and free of every care, laughing hideous loud laughs and rejoicing as if they had conquered svarga. Later the ṛshis mixed into her the holy waters of the Aruṇā and made her pure, and at the confluence of the Aruṇā and the Sarasvatī the rākshasas were freed of pāpa and reached svarga.
Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapter 19
Sources
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 9, 11, 32, 59
- Vāmana Purāṇa, Saro Māhātmya, Chapters 10, 19