Origin of Rākshasas and Yakshas

In the Uttara Kāṇḍa of the Rāmāyaṇa, the ṛshi Agastya tells Rāma, in Ayodhyā after the war, where the Rākshasas and Yakshas came from. He gives this account so that Rāma can understand who Rāvaṇa really was. It begins at the start of creation, with beings made by Brahmā, and follows the line of the Rākshasa kings until it reaches Rāvaṇa.

Brahmā creates the first beings

At the beginning of this kalpa (a day of Brahmā), Brahmā made the first waters and the world. He also made beings to guard and tend what he had made. He spoke to these newly born beings and gave some of them the duty of rakshaṇa (protection).

The beings who answered “rakshāmaḥ” (we shall protect) became the Rākshasas. Those who said “yakshāmaḥ” (we shall honour, revere, worship) became the Yakshas.

Over the generations the Rākshasas turned far away from their first dharmic purpose.

The first Rākshasas, Heti and Praheti

The first Rākshasas to come from this creation were two brothers, Heti and Praheti. Praheti loved dharma and lived in austerity. Heti chose the road of power. He married Bhayā (Fear), the daughter of Kāla. From this marriage began a line of ever more powerful Rākshasas.

The line from Heti to Sukeśa

Heti and Bhayā had a son, Vidyutkeśa, a mighty Rākshasa. His wife was Sālakaṭaṅkā, the daughter of Sandhyā (the twilight) and of Vāyu, the deva of the wind. Their son was Sukeśa, a Rākshasa of rare beauty and strength, and he had divine favour.

Sukeśa grew to great majesty. He was so splendid that Śiva and Pārvatī blessed him themselves while they were wandering. Śiva gave Sukeśa a celestial vimāna (flying chariot) that could travel anywhere in the three worlds. With this vehicle and his great power, Sukeśa became the greatest Rākshasa of his age.

Sukeśa married Devavāti. They had three sons who changed the whole Rākshasa world: Mālyavān, Sumāli and Māli.

The three sons of Sukeśa

Mālyavān, Sumāli and Māli were equal in strength and stood together as one. They did tapas (austerity) together and received varas (boons) that made them unbeatable among their own kind. With their strength joined, they became the chief power among all the Rākshasas.

Mālyavān was the eldest and the most skilled in rule. His wife was Sundarī. They had seven sons: Vajramushṭi, Virūpāksha, Durmukha, Suptaghna, Yajñakopa, Matta and Unmatta. Their daughter was Analā. Mālyavān would live until the war between Rāma and Rāvaṇa, and would be one of the oldest and wisest voices in the council of Laṅkā.

Sumāli was the planner and schemer of the three. His wife was Ketumati. His sons included Prahasta, Vikaṭa, Kālīmukha, Muka and others. His daughters included Rākā, Pushpotkaṭā, Kaikasī, who would be the mother of Rāvaṇa, and Kumbhīnasī, who would be the mother of Lavaṇāsura. Sumāli had a far-seeing plan. He would send Kaikasī to Viśravas to bear children more powerful than Kubera. This was the act that brought Rāvaṇa into being.

Māli was the most warlike of the three. His wife was Vasudhā. His sons were Anala, Anila, Hara and Sampāti. Māli would be the first to fall, killed by Bhagavān Vishṇu himself in the war of the devas against the Rākshasas.

The Rākshasas take Laṅkā

With their joint strength and their varas, the three brothers looked at the splendid city of Laṅkā and wanted it. Viśvakarma had built it on the top of Mount Trikūṭa. At that time it belonged to their half-cousin Kubera, who ruled it as a gift from his father Viśravas.

The three brothers marched on Laṅkā with their great army of Rākshasas and drove Kubera out. Kubera did not wish to fight his own kin. He left and took shelter near Kailāsa, under the protection of Śiva.

The three brothers made their home in Laṅkā and ruled the three worlds from there with great power and pride.

Bhagavān Vishṇu steps in

The devas were alarmed at the Rākshasas’ hold over the three worlds, and they turned to Bhagavān Vishṇu. Bhagavān Vishṇu came down with his Sudarśana cakra and his divine weapons.

In the great battle that followed, Māli, the fiercest of the brothers, fought with great fury. He rushed straight at Bhagavān Vishṇu, and Bhagavān Vishṇu killed him with the Sudarśana cakra.

Māli’s death broke the union of the three brothers. Mālyavān and Sumāli knew that they could not live through the anger of Bhagavān Vishṇu in open battle. They gathered their forces and withdrew deep into pātāla (the world below). They lived hidden there for many generations and waited for their time.

Kubera came back to Laṅkā and took the city again under the protection of Bhagavān Vishṇu.

Sumāli’s return and the plan for Rāvaṇa

Many generations later, Sumāli came out of pātāla. He saw that Viśravas, the great brahmarshi and son of Pulastya, had a son in Kubera, the righteous and powerful king who now ruled Laṅkā. Sumāli made a bold plan. If his own daughter Kaikasī bore children to Viśravas, those children would have both the power of a brahmarshi and the fierceness of a Rākshasa. They could rise above even Kubera.

He sent Kaikasī to Viśravas. From their union came Rāvaṇa. This began the chain of events that led to the great war of the Rāmāyaṇa, and to Bhagavān Vishṇu’s own coming down as Rāma to finish what the devas alone could not.

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 2 (the first beings made by Brahmā)
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapters 3–4 (Heti and Praheti, the line to Sukeśa and his three sons)
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 5 (Mālyavān, Sumāli and Māli and their families)
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 6 (the taking of Laṅkā)
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 7 (Bhagavān Vishṇu and the fall of Māli)
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapters 9–10 (Sumāli’s plan and the birth of Rāvaṇa)