Rāvaṇa at Kailāsa

During his campaign of conquest, Rāvaṇa came to Mount Kailāsa, the eternal home of Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Pārvatī. He tried to uproot the whole mountain to show his power. Bhagavān Śiva pressed it down with his toe and trapped Rāvaṇa’s arms. Rāvaṇa cried out for a thousand years, and from that cry he took his best known name. He then composed the Śiva-Tāṇḍava Stotra. Bhagavān Śiva was pleased, set him free and gave him the divine sword Candrahāsa.

The episode shows both Rāvaṇa’s pride and his deep devotion to Bhagavān Śiva.

The campaign reaches Kailāsa

Rāvaṇa had received Brahmā’s vara (a boon) of freedom from death at the hands of the devas and others. He had also taken Laṅkā from Kubera. He then began a great campaign and subdued the three worlds one by one.

On this campaign he came near Kailāsa, the eternal home of Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Pārvatī. Rāvaṇa was drunk with pride in his victories. He decided to show his power even at the mountain of the great Mahādeva.

This is in the Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 21.

Nandi’s warning and the śāpa

Nandikeśvara (Nandi) is the guardian of Kailāsa and Bhagavān Śiva’s foremost attendant. He blocked Rāvaṇa’s path. He told him that rākshasas could not enter Kailāsa. Bhagavān Śiva and Devī Pārvatī were at play (krīḍā) inside, and no one could go near.

Rāvaṇa laughed at Nandi and mocked his monkey-like face. Nandi was deeply offended and pronounced a śāpa (a curse) on Rāvaṇa:

“Monkeys like myself in form will become the instruments of your destruction.”

This śāpa of Nandikeśvara is a foundation of the Rāmāyaṇa. The vānara army that destroyed Rāvaṇa in the Laṅkā war fulfilled it.

This is in the Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 21.

Lifting Kailāsa

Nandi’s warning did not stop Rāvaṇa, and the rebuke only angered him more. He put his twenty arms under the roots of Mount Kailāsa and began to lift the whole mountain, with Bhagavān Śiva, Devī Pārvatī and all their attendant gaṇas on it.

The mountain shook and the trees swayed. The gandharvas and siddhas on the slopes were terrified. Devī Pārvatī was frightened and caught hold of Bhagavān Śiva’s arm.

Bhagavān Śiva stayed perfectly calm, with the shadow of a smile. He pressed his right toe down on the mountain. It settled with an immovable weight, and Rāvaṇa’s arms were pinned beneath it.

This is in the Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 21.

A thousand years of crying out

Rāvaṇa was trapped. His twenty arms were caught under the full divine weight of the mountain, and all his strength could not free them. He screamed and roared in pain. The mountains shook and the three worlds trembled. He cried out like this for a thousand years and could not move.

His cry is ravaṇa, a vast, thunderous howl of pain that shook the worlds. It gave him his name Rāvaṇa: he who made the worlds cry out, or he who cried out so that all the worlds heard. The Uttara Kāṇḍa itself gives this as the origin of his best known name.

This is in the Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 21.

The Śiva-Tāṇḍava Stotra

After a thousand years Rāvaṇa changed. He was still trapped and in pain. He understood that this was the grace of Maheśvara, a chance for a devotee to surrender fully.

With the freedom that was left to his tongue and mind, he composed the Śiva-Tāṇḍava Stotra. It is a stotra (hymn of praise) to Bhagavān Śiva’s cosmic dance, his terrifying beauty and his supreme power over all creation. Verse by verse, Rāvaṇa poured out true devotion in beautiful poetry.

Bhagavān Śiva listened. The stotra moved him deeply, because the proud rākshasa king was a true devotee, and when he was humbled he could praise with great beauty and sincerity. Bhagavān Śiva lifted his toe. Kailāsa settled, and Rāvaṇa’s arms were free.

This is in the Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 21.

The gift of Candrahāsa

Bhagavān Śiva was fully pleased with the stotra. He saw the true bhakti (devotion) under Rāvaṇa’s pride. He gave Rāvaṇa a divine gift, the sword Candrahāsa, “moon-laughing” or “the sword that laughs like the moon”. It was a sword of terrible power, and it became one of Rāvaṇa’s most prized weapons.

This is in the Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 21.

What the episode shows

• Rāvaṇa’s devotion to Bhagavān Śiva was real. When he was humbled, he produced some of the most beautiful praise in Sanskrit.
• His thousand-year cry beneath Kailāsa gave him the name Rāvaṇa.
• Nandikeśvara’s śāpa that monkeys would destroy Rāvaṇa was fulfilled in the Laṅkā war, when Rāma’s vānara army fought him.

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 21