རོ་ལངས། | Glossary of Terms

A class of powerful beings that typically haunt charnel grounds and are most often depicted entering into and animating corpses. Hence, the Tibetan translation means “risen corpse.”

A spirit that in particular haunts charnel grounds and can be used in sorcery to harm others. It can also possess and animate a corpse at will (which will then cease to deteriorate).

A harmful spirit who haunts charnel grounds and can take possession of corpses and reanimate them.

A spirit that can inhabit and animate dead bodies, a zombie spirit. Hence, the Tibetan means “risen corpse,” although in the context of the Kāraṇḍavyūha it refers to a disembodied spirit.

A kind of demon or evil spirit occupying a dead body; a zombie.

A class of spirits that haunt charnel grounds.

A harmful spirit that haunts charnel grounds and can take possession of corpses and reanimate them.

A class of spirit beings typically associated with violent sorcery rites, the vetāla is most often described as a reanimated corpse or zombie.

A class of spirit beings typically associated with violent sorcery rites, the vetāla is most often described as a reanimated corpse or zombie.

A class of spirits that frequent charnel grounds and sometimes take possession of dead bodies.

Zombie; a class of spirits who enter and revive corpses.

A class of beings that typically haunt charnel grounds and are most often depicted as entering into and animating corpses. A vetāla can be ritually induced to enter a corpse and then serve the ritualist in a variety of capacities.

A class of demons inhabiting charnel grounds.

The term vetāḍa is a variant of vetāla, or ro langs in Tibetan. A class of being that occupies and animates the body of a corpse (Monier-Williams).