Kumbhakarṇa Vadha (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa)

Kumbhakarṇa was the huge younger brother of Rāvaṇa. After Prahastha fell and Rāvaṇa suffered his first defeats at the hands of Śrī Rāma, Rāvaṇa woke his sleeping brother. Kumbhakarṇa knew that Rāvaṇa was in the wrong, yet out of love for his brother he went out to fight. He spread terror among the vānara armies, and in the end he fell to the divine astras of Śrī Rāma. The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa tells this in the Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapters 60 to 68. Tulasīdāsa’s Rāmacaritamānas tells it in its Laṅkā Kāṇḍa.

Why Kumbhakarṇa sleeps: Brahmā’s śāpa

Long before the war, Kumbhakarṇa ate flesh without limit and preyed on creatures and humans. This alarmed the devas. Indra and the devas went to Brahmā. Out of compassion for the three worlds, Brahmā laid a śāpa (a curse) on the giant: he would sleep like the dead, six months of sleep and then one day awake.

Rāvaṇa begged Brahmā to ease it, and Brahmā agreed. Kumbhakarṇa would sleep for six, seven, eight or nine months and wake for one day of feasting and battle, then go back to sleep. On that one day he would rampage through all creation and eat without choosing. The Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 60, tells this.

Rāvaṇa wakes his brother

Śrī Rāma had beaten Rāvaṇa. His chariot was broken, his crown was split by Rāma’s crescent-headed arrow, and his pride was shattered. Rāvaṇa went back into Laṅkā, shaking at the memory of Rāma’s arrows. Prahastha had already fallen, and the great rākshasas were dying in large numbers.

Rāvaṇa called his council and ordered that Kumbhakarṇa be woken from his nine-month sleep. This is in the Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 60.

Hundreds of rākshasas went into Kumbhakarṇa’s huge chamber, which was a yojana wide. They carried flesh, wine, blood and garlands. His breath alone blew them backwards. They beat great drums, blew thousands of conches, struck him with weapons, had elephants trample him and poured streams of water over him. Only after a huge effort did the great sleeper stir.

He staggered, dazed and in the fog of broken sleep. He ate mountains of food and drank jars of blood, then stumbled to Rāvaṇa’s hall. This is in the Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapters 60 and 61.

Kumbhakarṇa’s counsel

Rāvaṇa explained the crisis. Kumbhakarṇa laughed and rebuked him sharply: “We told you this before. You carried off Sītā in the folly of lust and pride of power, and you ignored wise counsel. The fruits of adharma are now ripening on your head.”

He spoke at length about rāja-dharma (the duty of a king), the three means (sāma, dāna and daṇḍa), the five principles of strategy, and the right order of the purushārthas (the aims of human life). He plainly urged Rāvaṇa to return Sītā and make peace.

Rāvaṇa sharply turned the counsel aside: “What is past is past. Do not speak of old mistakes. If you love me, take up your weapons and save Laṅkā.”

Kumbhakarṇa was bound by bhrātṛ-prema, the love of a brother, and he changed his stand. He said: “Very well. While I live, you need not grieve. Today I will kill Rāma and bring you his head.” This is in the Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 63.

The march to the battlefield

Kumbhakarṇa came out of Laṅkā like a mountain on the move. The earth shook under his steps. People scattered showers of flowers from the rooftops as he walked down the royal roads.

The vānara armies saw him come, tall as the Himālaya. At first they ran in all directions. They thought he was some huge war machine and not a living body. Word went through Vibhīshaṇa to the vānaras that Kumbhakarṇa was a natural being and not a supernatural armour, so that their courage would return. This is in the Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 62.

Once they were calm, the vānaras fought back with crags, uprooted trees and rocks the size of peaks. Kumbhakarṇa took no notice. He ate them by the handful: seven, eight, twenty, thirty, a hundred at a time. He crammed vānaras, bears and piśācas (flesh-eating beings) into his mouth without choosing. Drunk on the blood he was drinking, he no longer knew ally from enemy and ate rākshasas along with vānaras. This is in the Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 65.

Sugrīva is taken and escapes

Kumbhakarṇa saw Sugrīva, the vānara king, on the field. He struck him down with a mountain peak and lifted his senseless body. He meant to carry him into Laṅkā as a prize. The rākshasa women showered flowers from the walls in joy.

As Kumbhakarṇa entered the streets of the city, the cool scents and the rain of flowers brought Sugrīva back to his senses. He found himself in the giant’s grip. Sugrīva bit off Kumbhakarṇa’s nose and ear with his teeth and tore his sides with his nails, sharp as razors. Kumbhakarṇa hurled Sugrīva to the ground in rage, and Sugrīva leapt back to Rāma’s side. This is in the Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 67.

Kumbhakarṇa bled from his torn face. He took up a gadā (mace) and went back to the field. It was lust for battle, not pain, that drove him on. Lakshmaṇa shot seven arrows into his chest, but the giant walked past him, taking no notice, set only on Śrī Rāma.

The death of Kumbhakarṇa

Śrī Rāma stepped forward to meet his huge enemy. Kumbhakarṇa called out: “I am not Virādha, nor Khara, nor Mārīca. I am Kumbhakarṇa! Look at my gadā.”

Rāma’s arrows struck the giant but sank into his flesh like streams of water and seemed to do no harm. Kumbhakarṇa hurled the gadā, and Rāma broke it with seven golden-shafted arrows. This is in the Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 67.

Then Śrī Rāma called up the Vāyavyāstra, the weapon of the wind, and cut off the giant’s right arm, which still held a śāla tree. The arm fell like a cliff on the vānara host and crushed hundreds. Kumbhakarṇa took a second śāla tree in his other arm and charged. Rāma called up the Indrāstra, the weapon of Indra, and cut off that arm too. Both arms crashed to the earth like falling ridges.

The giant, now without arms, still charged, holding his huge mouth open and roaring. Rāma filled that great mouth with golden arrows. Then Rāma took the weapon given by Indra himself, made like the thunderbolt, and cut off Kumbhakarṇa’s head with one blazing arrow. This is in the Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 68.

The severed head, still wearing its crown and still huge as a boulder, crashed through the gate of Laṅkā and fell into the sea. The body fell across the battlefield like a falling mountain and crushed rākshasas under it. The devas, siddhas and ṛshis in svarga cried out in joy. Rāvaṇa watched from his palace and fell down in grief. This is in the Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 68.

Tulasīdāsa’s account

In Tulasīdāsa’s Rāmacaritamānas, the death of Kumbhakarṇa has more to say about Bhagavān Rāma’s nature and about the brothers.

Kumbhakarṇa’s counsel to Rāvaṇa

After he was woken and fed, Kumbhakarṇa spoke very plainly to Rāvaṇa. He did not spare his brother:

“Elder brother! How can I praise your wisdom? You carried off the divine Jānakī. You took Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa for a mere mortal and Mahāvīra Hanumān for an ordinary monkey. You have brought this ruin on the whole rākshasa line. You did not strike your enemies when they were weak in the forest. You made no alliance with Vāli when you could have. You built no sea-fortress in the north to guard Laṅkā. Instead you took another man’s wife, and you have brought the fruit of adharma on us all. Nārada himself told me that Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa had come down as Rāma to take away the burden of the world. I had forgotten this in my sleep.”

Having spoken his mind in full, Kumbhakarṇa put aside all his doubts out of a brother’s bhakti (devotion). He said: “Laṅkeśvara (lord of Laṅkā)! Give me your command. Victory or vīra-svarga (the heaven of heroes), both are honourable in battle with Rāma. Embrace me once more in farewell.”

He embraced Rāvaṇa as his brother for the last time and went to the battle.

Meeting Vibhīshaṇa before the battle

As Kumbhakarṇa marched to the field, Vibhīshaṇa came forward and bowed at his elder brother’s feet. Kumbhakarṇa lifted him up with love and said: “Vibhīshaṇa! Our eldest brother is blinded by pride and has pushed you aside. You have wisely taken refuge with Rāghava. This is good for the rākshasa race. Serve Śrī Rāma without fear. I shall meet the lord of Sāketa on the battlefield.”

He blessed Vibhīshaṇa and sent him on his way.

Sugrīva carried off

In the battle Kumbhakarṇa seized Sugrīva and carried him off in his arms. The vānaras lost hope. But Sugrīva came to his senses and wounded Kumbhakarṇa badly with his nails and teeth. At last he broke free and went back to Rāma.

The Govindarājīya commentary

The Govindarājīya commentary on the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa says that Kumbhakarṇa chose with full knowledge to die at the hands of Rāma, as a form of moksha (liberation) given by the one who slays him.

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapters 60 to 68 (Chapter 60 the śāpa of Brahmā and the waking; Chapters 60 and 61 the waking and the hall; Chapter 62 the march; Chapter 63 the counsel; Chapter 65 the battle with the vānaras; Chapter 67 Sugrīva and the first fight with Rāma; Chapter 68 the death)
• Tulasīdāsa, Rāmacaritamānas (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa), Laṅkā Kāṇḍa, Kumbhakarṇa section
• Govindarājīya, the commentary on the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa