Viśravas

Viśravas was a great brahmarṣi (a brāhmaṇa ṛṣi of the highest rank) of the line of Pulastya. Pulastya was one of Brahmā’s mind-born sons. Viśravas was the father of both Kubera and Rāvaṇa.

He had two wives. The first was Iḍaviḍā, the daughter of Bharadvāja. The second was Kaikasī, the rākṣasa daughter of Sumāli. Their children were very different. Kubera was a righteous lord of wealth. Rāvaṇa was a mighty rākṣasa king of Laṅkā. Viśravas was a man of great learning and tapas (austerity).

Lineage

Viśravas was the son of Pulastya. Pulastya was one of the Saptarṣis (the seven great ṛṣis) and one of Brahmā’s own mind-born sons. He was a prajāpati (a father of beings) and a founder of one of the great Vedic lineages. The line of Pulastya was among the most honoured of the brahmarṣi lines. Viśravas received from it deep tapas, knowledge of the Veda and the power of a brahmarṣi.

This is told in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 9.

First marriage: Iḍaviḍā and Kubera

Viśravas married Iḍaviḍā, who is also called Devavarṇinī. She was the daughter of the ṛṣi Bharadvāja. Both families were brahmarṣi families, so this was a fitting and dharmic marriage.

Their son was Kubera, also called Vaiśravaṇa. Kubera is the lord of the yakṣas, the keeper of the treasury of the devas, the guardian of the north and the first king of Laṅkā. He took his father’s dharmic nature fully. This is in the Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 9.

Second marriage: Kaikasī

The rākṣasa chief Sumāli was the grandfather of the rākṣasa line that had once held Laṅkā. He sent his daughter Kaikasī to Viśravas. He told her to draw the great ṛṣi to her and have children by him.

Kaikasī came to Viśravas’s āśrama at sandhyā-kāla. This is the time between day and night. It is an inauspicious hour, linked with fierce and rākṣasa powers.

Viśravas saw both her purpose and the bad hour. He warned her: “You come to me at a terrible hour. The children born of this union will be rākṣasas of fierce nature.” He did not send her away, but he told her plainly what would follow.

Four children were born from this union: Daśagrīva (Rāvaṇa), Kumbhakarṇa, Śūrpaṇakhā and Vibhīṣaṇa. The first three had the rākṣasa nature. Vibhīṣaṇa was different. He was born through Kaikasī’s last prayer for a good child.

This is told in the Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapters 10–11.

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapters 9–11