Vedic Mythology c8.s3.11

c8.s3.11

B. Piśācas. A third and important class of goblins are the Piśācas. The name occurs only once in the RV. as a singular in the form of *piśāci* (1, 133⁵). Indra is here invoked to crush the yellow-peaked (*piśaṅgabhṛṣṭim*) watery (*ambhṛṇam*) Piśāci and to strike down every Rakṣas. In the TS. (2, 4, 1¹) the three hostile groups of Asuras, Rakṣases, and Piśācas are opposed to the three classes of gods, men, and Pitṛs. The Piśācas would therefore seem to have been specially connected with the dead. They are frequently spoken of as *kravyād*, eaters of raw flesh or corpses (AV. 5, 29⁹ &c.), a term which may be regarded as a synonym of Piśāca¹⁰. Agni is besought to restore to the sick man the flesh which the Piśācas have eaten away (AV. 5, 29⁵). They were thus apparently a kind of ghoul. Piśācas are also spoken of as shining in water (AV. 4, 20⁹. 37¹⁰)¹¹, or infesting human dwellings and villages (AV. 4, 36⁸).