A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.1355

c5.1355

PISĀCHAS (mas.), PISĀCHĪ (fem.). Fiends, evil spirits, placed by the Vedas as lower than Rākshasas. The vilest and most malignant order of malevolent beings. Accounts differ as to their origin. The Brāhmana and the Mahā-bhārata say that they were created by Brahmā, together with the Asuras and Rākshasas, from the stray drops of water which fell apart from the drops out of which gods, men, gandharvas, &c., had been produced. According to Manu they sprang from the Prajāpatis. In the Purānas they are represented as the offspring of Kasyapa by his wife Krodhavasā, or Pisāchā, or Kapisā.