Upanishads · Rāma-tāpanī Uttara 5.12
॥
Devanāgarī
भूतप्रेतपिशाचाद्याः कूष्माण्डब्रह्मराक्षसाः । दूरादेव प्रधावन्ति राममन्त्रप्रभावतः
Transliteration (IAST)
bhūtapretapiśācādyāḥ kūṣmāṇḍabrahmarākṣasāḥ | dūrādeva pradhāvanti rāmamantraprabhāvataḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
भूतप्रेतपिशाचाद्याःbhūtapretapiśācādyāḥbhūtas, pretas, piśācas and the rest; ghosts, spectres, ghouls and others
कूष्माण्डब्रह्मराक्षसाःkūṣmāṇḍabrahmarākṣasāḥkūṣmāṇḍas and brahma-rākṣasas; the kūṣmāṇḍas and brahma-rākṣasas
दूरात् एव प्रधावन्तिdūrāt eva pradhāvantithey run away from afar; they flee while still far off
राममन्त्रप्रभावतःrāmamantraprabhāvataḥfrom the power of the Rāma-mantra; from the might of the rāma-mantra
Translation
“Bhūtas, pretas, piśācas and the rest, kūṣmāṇḍas and brahma-rākṣasas — all of them run away from afar before the power of the mantra of Rāma.”
Version
9a787556aed4 · published Jul 29, 2026, 5:15:19 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The list of the unclean, and all its names denote different kinds of the unquiet dead.
Bhūta — “the has-been”, a dead man's spirit; preta — “the departed”, one who received no rites; piśāca — a ghoul feeding on flesh; kūṣmāṇḍa — a special class of imps from Śiva's retinue; brahma-rākṣasa — a brāhmaṇa turned demon for the abuse of knowledge.
The last name is the most remarkable. A scholar who has turned learning to evil is more fearsome than the other fiends; the tradition returns to this constantly.
It is said that they “run away while still far off”, dūrād eva.
The turn deserves notice: they are not exorcised, not defeated in struggle — they flee of themselves, from afar, without approaching.
This continues what the book has said from the start. The second verse of the first Upaniṣad said: the demons perish “from their own exaltation”; here they do not even enter the contest.
To evil these books ascribe no power equal to His. It departs when it becomes clear in whose presence it stands.