Raksha (The Jungle Book) Raksha (The Jungle Book) Raksha ( / "Rakšā" or Mother Wolf as initially named) is a fictional character featured in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories, collected in "The Jungle Book" and "The Second Jungle Book". She is a female Indian wolf, member of the Seeonee pack, who while suckling her own cubs decides also to adopt a human "cub" that her mate Father Wolf has found wandering in the jungle, naming him "Mowgli" (which means "frog" in the Speech of the Jungle) because of his hairlessness. Defying the tiger Shere Khan, who is determined to eat the man-cub, she reveals that
Rudyard Kipling poem was originally published at the head of a story about the Battle of Jutland and appears to refer to a death at sea; the 'Jack' referred to is probably a generic 'Jack Tar'. In the Kipling family, Jack was the name of the family dog while John Kipling was always John, making the identification of the protagonist of "My Boy Jack" with John Kipling somewhat questionable. However, it is true that Kipling was emotionally devastated by the death of his son. It is said that Kipling helped assuage his grief over his son's death by reading the novels of