अहो मे यक्षरक्षांसि प्रजा यूयं बभूविथ ॥२१॥
devas tÄn Äha saá¹vigno
mÄ mÄá¹ jaká¹£ata raká¹£ata
aho me yaká¹£a-raká¹£Äá¹si
prajÄ yÅ«yaá¹ babhÅ«vitha
devaḥ - Lord BrahmÄ; tÄn - to them; Äha - said; saá¹vignaḥ - being anxious; mÄ - do not; mÄm - me; jaká¹£ata - eat; raká¹£ata - protect; aho - oh; me - my; yaká¹£a-raká¹£Äá¹si - O Yaká¹£as and RÄká¹£asas; prajÄḥ - sons; yÅ«yam - you; babhÅ«vitha - were born.
BrahmÄ, the head of the demigods, full of anxiety, asked them, “Do not eat me, but protect me. You are born from me and have become my sons. Therefore you are Yaká¹£as and RÄká¹£asas.â€
The demons who were born from the body of BrahmÄ were called Yaká¹£as and RÄká¹£asas because some of them cried that BrahmÄ should be eaten and the others cried that he should not be protected. The ones who said that he should be eaten were called Yaká¹£as, and the ones who said that he should not be protected became RÄká¹£asas, man-eaters. The two, Yaká¹£as and RÄká¹£asas, are the original creation by BrahmÄ and are represented even until today in the uncivilized men who are scattered all over the universe. They are born of the mode of ignorance, and therefore, because of their behavior, they are called RÄká¹£asas, or man-eaters.
