ཤ་ཟ། | Glossary of Terms

A class of semidivine beings traditionally associated with the wild, remote places of the earth. They are considered particularly violent and known to devour flesh.

A class of flesh-eating demons.

A flesh-eating demon, or a demon who can possess the body of a human and cause various illnesses or insanity. They are often depicted as red-eyed, dark-skinned, bulging-eyed creatures, although they seem to be able to assume many shapes.

A spirit that haunts the night, feeds on corpses, and is fatal to see. The Tibetan means “flesh eater.” The Sanskrit does not have “eat” as part of the name, but piśa means “flesh.” An alternative etymology is that they are called piśāca because they are yellow in color, from the Sanskrit piśita, meaning “yellow.”

A spirit that haunts the night, feeds on corpses, and is fatal to see.

A flesh-eating demon, or a demon who can possess the body of a human and cause various illnesses or insanity. They are often depicted as red-eyed, dark-skinned, bug-eyed creatures, although they seem to be able to assume many shapes.

A class of flesh-eating spirits.

A flesh-eating demon, or a demon who can possess the body of a human and cause various illnesses or insanity. They are often depicted as red-eyed, dark-skinned, bulging-eyed creatures, although they seem to be able to assume many shapes.

A class of demons. Literally “flesh eaters.”

A type of malevolent ghost, considered to belong to the preta realm. Tibetan translates the term as “flesh-eaters.”

A class of flesh-eating spirits.

A class of nonhumans said to dwell in impure and perilous places, where they feed on impure things, including flesh.

Class of demons; literally “flesh eater.”

A class of flesh-eating demons.

A class of nonhuman beings traditionally associated with the wild, remote places of the earth. They are considered particularly violent and known to devour flesh. Thus the term was translated into Tibetan as “flesh eater.”

A type of demonic being.

A class of spirits.

A spirit that haunts the night, feeds on corpses, and is fatal to see. The Tibetan means “flesh eater.” The Sanskrit does not have “eat” as part of the name, but piśa means “flesh.” An alternative etymology is that they are called piśāca because they are yellow in color, from the Sanskrit piśita, meaning “yellow.”

A class of demonic spirit beings.

A class of nonhuman beings traditionally associated with the wild, remote places of the earth. They are known to devour flesh, thus, the term was also translated into Tibetan as “flesh eater” (sha za).

A class of flesh-eating demons.

A class of spirits.

A class of semidivine beings traditionally associated with wild, remote places of the earth. They are considered particularly violent and known to devour flesh.

A class of spirits traditionally associated with the wild, remote places of the earth. They are considered particularly violent and known to devour flesh.

A class of flesh-eating demons

A class of nonhuman beings traditionally associated with the consumption of meat and flesh, alcohol, and other impure or taboo substances, especially when those substances are in the form of refuse, human waste, and carrion. They are said to live in forests, mountains, and other wild places, or near charnel grounds and sites where refuse is deposited, sites that are typically on the margins of society. Piśācas are generally considered threatening, and are closely associated with the transmission of disease. 

A class of flesh-eating and shape-shifting demons.

A class of flesh-eating spirits.