Kumbhakarṇa
Kumbhakarṇa was the second of Rāvaṇa’s brothers and the strongest in body. He was a rākshasa (a being of the night) as huge as a mountain. Because of a vara (a boon) from Brahmā, he could sleep for six months at a time.
When Rāvaṇa’s other commanders had failed to hold back the army of the vānaras in the Laṅkā war, Kumbhakarṇa was woken from his sleep. He knew at once that Rāvaṇa’s cause was adharma (against dharma). Even so, he fought and fell, out of duty to his brother, at the hands of Śrī Rāma himself.
Birth and vara
Kumbhakarṇa was the son of the ṛshi Viśravā Muni and the rākshasī Kaikasī. He was the younger brother of Rāvaṇa and the elder brother of Vibhīshaṇa.
The Uttara Kāṇḍa tells that all three brothers performed tapas (austerity). Rāvaṇa did it for his vara of invulnerability, and Kumbhakarṇa did the same. Vibhīshaṇa performed tapas to Bhagavān Vishṇu for firmness in dharma (dharma-nishṭhā).
When Brahmā came to grant the vara, Kumbhakarṇa was about to ask for nidreśvara-padaṃ (lordship over sleep). The account gives a gloss on this phrase: to sleep as Devendra rested each six months. At the request of the devas, Devī Sarasvatī tied his tongue at that moment. So the word that came out was nidrāṃ (sleep itself).
Brahmā granted it. Kumbhakarṇa would sleep for six months and wake for one day, again and again. His one day awake was enough to destroy armies.
The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa tells this in the Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 13, and in the Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 60.
His words to Rāvaṇa before the battle
Rāvaṇa called him after the war had turned against the rākshasas. The rākshasas beat drums and made every kind of noise to wake him. Kumbhakarṇa rose, dazed. He was given a huge feast to ease his hunger on waking. Then he heard from Rāvaṇa how the war stood.
Kumbhakarṇa openly told his brother that he had done wrong:
What you have done was wrong. One should take counsel from ministers before acting, not after the disaster has come. A king who hears wisdom only when his throne is at stake has already lost. I told you this long ago. Vibhīshaṇa told you. Mālyavān told you. None of us was heard.
Yet he promised his brother full loyalty:
I know this is the path of adharma. But bhrātṛ-dharma (a brother’s duty) requires me to fight for you now. I will go and slay Rāma or fall myself. Either way, the honour of Laṅkā and my own honour will be kept.
This is from the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 61.
The battle
Kumbhakarṇa went onto the field like a mountain on the move. His roar alone scattered the vānara warriors. His mere sight made the vānara army flee in panic. He seized hundreds of vānaras in each fist and ate them. He fought with a great iron śūla (spear) of terrible power. This is from the Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapters 65–67.
The great vānara commanders fought him one by one. Dvivida, Mainda, Nīla and Aṅgada struck him with mountain peaks and great trees, but they could not bring him down. Sugrīva climbed onto the giant, bit his ear and tore his nose. For a moment Kumbhakarṇa was dazed. Then Kumbhakarṇa seized Sugrīva and carried him under his arm like a toy. Sugrīva got free only by biting and clawing. This is from the Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 67.
Śrī Rāma’s last blow
In the end Śrī Rāma himself fought Kumbhakarṇa. Rāma broke his śūla with arrows. He cut off both of Kumbhakarṇa’s arms with crescent-tipped arrows. The armless giant fought on and tried to crush Rāma with his body. Rāma then cut off both his legs.
The stumped body still came forward. Rāma fixed the brahmāstra to his bow and struck, and that ended Kumbhakarṇa. His huge body fell into the sea with a thunderous crash. This is from the Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 68.
In the Tulasī Rāmāyana: Sundara Kāṇḍa
In the Tulasī Rāmāyana, Kumbhakarṇa appears briefly in the council Rāvaṇa held after the burning of Laṅkā. Rāvaṇa asked the commanders whether to seek peace or war. Kumbhakarṇa stood up in the sabhā (assembly hall) and said, “Surāri! Why should you fear? There is no hero in the three worlds who can face me in battle.” Then he went back to his sleeping chamber.
A figure named Atikāyudu, and others, then made similar boasts.
In the Tulasī Rāmāyana: Laṅkā Kāṇḍa
Tulasīdāsa’s Rāmacaritamānas gives Kumbhakarṇa a larger part in the Laṅkā Kāṇḍa.
His counsel to Rāvaṇa. After he was woken and fed, Kumbhakarṇa spoke frankly. He said to Rāvaṇa:
Agrajā (elder brother)! How can I praise your wisdom? You abducted the divine Janakī. You took Nārāyaṇa for a mere man and the great hero Hanumān for an ordinary monkey. You have brought this ruin on the whole rākshasa line. You did not attack your enemies when they were weak in the forest. You made no alliance with Vāli when you could have. You built no sea-fortress to 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 remove the burden of the world. I had forgotten this in my sleep.
His love for his brother and his choice of battle. Having said all that his conscience required, Kumbhakarṇa put aside his doubts out of love for his brother (bhakti). He said:
Laṅkeśvara! Here is your command. Victory or vīra-svarga (the heaven of heroes): both are honourable in battle with Rāma. Embrace me once in farewell.
He embraced Rāvaṇa one last time as his brother and went to the battle.
Meeting Vibhīshaṇa. As Kumbhakarṇa marched to the field, Vibhīshaṇa came forward and bowed at his elder brother’s feet. Kumbhakarṇa lifted him up with affection and said:
Vibhīshaṇa! Our eldest brother, blinded by pride, has set you aside. You have wisely taken refuge with Rāghava. This is good for the rākshasa people. Serve Śrī Rāma without worry. I shall meet Sākētanātha (the ruler of Sāketa) on the battlefield.
He blessed Vibhīshaṇa and sent him on his way.
His place among Rāvaṇa’s side
Unlike Rāvaṇa, who was ruled by desire and pride, Kumbhakarṇa saw clearly that the abduction of Sītā was adharma, and he said so plainly. Vibhīshaṇa chose dharma over family. Kumbhakarṇa stood by his family and went into battle knowing the outcome.
The Govindarājīya commentary says that Kumbhakarṇa’s death at the hands of Rāma was a form of liberation (moksha). He was a great tāpasvin (one who practises austerity) in life, and he reached moksha by dying in battle against the Avatāra himself.
Sources
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapters 60–68
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapters 11–13
- Tulasī Rāmāyana, Sundara Kāṇḍa
- Tulasī Rāmāyana, Laṅkā Kāṇḍa
- Govindarājīya commentary (on the Rāmāyaṇa)