Dzikininki
Regions of expansion
Description
Dzikininki – (literally, "goblin eating people") – in Japanese Buddhism, an evil spirit that eats people's corpses.
In Japanese mythology, if a person thought only about profit during his lifetime, after death he can be reborn as a creepy creature of indeterminate appearance, devouring corpses. At the same time, he experiences incredible torment from his food, which is disgusting to him and feels a strong sense of guilt from being engaged in cannibalism.
This spirit feeds on carrion at night, and during the day it can turn into a person. He can be freed from such an existence by the prayer of a truly righteous monk.
In one of the legends, the narrator uses the term "rakshasa" in addition to "dzikininka". Probably, dzikininki is included in the twenty-sixth class of "hungry" spirits, which were described in ancient Buddhist books.
