Rāvaṇa

Rāvaṇa was the ten-headed, twenty-armed king of Laṅkā, and the most powerful asura of his age. His father was the ṛshi (seer) Viśravas and his mother was Kaikasī, so he carried both brāhmaṇa and rākshasa blood. The Agni Purāṇa calls Kaikasī a dānavī. The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa calls her the daughter of the rākshasa chief Sumāli.

Through long tapas (austerity) Rāvaṇa won a vara (a boon) from Brahmā. With it he conquered the three worlds, drove out his half-brother Kubera and took the Pushpaka vimāna. Then he carried off Sītā, the consort of Bhagavān Rāma. In the great battle of Laṅkā, Bhagavān Rāma slew him with the Brahmāstra.

Birth and lineage

The Agni Purāṇa account

When Rāma held court after the war, the ṛshi Agastya arrived and told Rāvaṇa’s origin for the good of later generations. Brahmā begot Pulastya, and Pulastya’s son was Viśravas. Viśravas had two wives:

• The ṛshi’s daughter Ilavilā, also called Pushpodbhavā. From her was born Kubera, king of the yakshas and giver of wealth.
• The dānavī Kaikasī. From her were born Rāvaṇa (with twenty arms and ten faces), the sleeping Kumbhakarṇa, the righteous Vibhīshaṇa, and the rākshasī Śūrpaṇakhā.

So Rāvaṇa descended from Brahmā through Pulastya and Viśravas. By his father’s line he was a brāhmaṇa. By his mother he was the son of a dānavī. This gave him great learning and spiritual power, and also the basic nature of a rākshasa. Rāvaṇa’s own son Meghanāda, also called Indrajit, was born even mightier than his father. He defeated Indra in battle and so earned the name Indrajit.

The Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa account

The Madhyama Bhāga of the Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa (Chapter 8) gives the most detailed lineage. It records the four wives of Viśravas and their children:

This shows that the generals and commanders of Rāvaṇa’s armies (Prahasta, Mahāpārśva, Khara, Triśira and Dūshaṇa) were his half-brothers. They had different mothers but the same father, Viśravas.

The Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa also records seven types of rākshasas who descend from the line of Pulastya. It names Poulastya, Nairṛta, Āgastya and Kauśika, and speaks of three further types, including the day-wandering rākshasas (divā-caras).

The Uttara Kāṇḍa account

The Uttara Kāṇḍa of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa (Chapters 9–11) tells the full story of Rāvaṇa’s birth. His father Viśravas was a son of the brahmarshi Pulastya, who was one of Brahmā’s mind-born sons. Viśravas had two wives. Iḍaviḍā, daughter of Bharadvāja, bore him Kubera. Kaikasī, daughter of the rākshasa chief Sumāli, bore him Rāvaṇa and his brothers and sister.

Sumāli had hidden in Pātāla after Bhagavān Vishṇu slew his brother Māli. He came out and made a plan. He sent his daughter Kaikasī to Viśravas, so that she would bear children who joined the power of a brahmarshi to the nature of a rākshasa. Kaikasī came to Viśravas at the inauspicious hour of twilight (sandhyā-kāla). Viśravas warned her that children born at this hour would be fierce rākshasas. The union went ahead all the same. From it were born Daśagrīva (Rāvaṇa), Kumbhakarṇa, Śūrpaṇakhā and Vibhīshaṇa. Vibhīshaṇa was born with a noble nature because of Kaikasī’s last prayer.

The Āraṇya Kāṇḍa (Chapter 33) says the same about his parents: Viśravas was a great brahmarshi of the line of Pulastya, and Kaikasī was a rākshasa woman. A ṛshi father gave Rāvaṇa great learning and spiritual power. A rākshasa mother gave him the nature of a rākshasa.

Birth at the fierce twilight

The Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa (Poorvārdha, Chapter 220) tells the story in this way. Sumāli took his daughter Kaikasī and travelled all over the earth looking for a worthy husband. He saw the supremely radiant king (Kubera) on the Pushpaka vimāna. He urged Kaikasī to seek Viśravas as her husband, because the man who ruled such wealth could father a son of equal greatness.

Kaikasī came to Viśravas in the evening, in the raudra sandhyā, the fierce twilight hour that is not good for union. Viśravas saw the hour and said to her, “Because you have come at this fierce time, a son of fierce nature will be born.” Kaikasī stayed, and in time she gave birth to Rāvaṇa. He had ten faces and twenty arms, and great strength. His learned father named him Daśagrīva (ten-necked). Kumbhakarṇa was born next, and then Śūrpaṇakhā.

Kaikasī showed the young Daśagrīva the wealth of his elder half-brother Kubera. She said, “Look at your brother’s greatness. Go and earn something equal.” Daśagrīva set out for Gokarṇa and did the mighty tapas that won him Brahmā’s vara.

Past life as Hiraṇyakaśipu

The Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa names Rāvaṇa as the same ātmā (soul) who was Hiraṇyakaśipu in an earlier birth. Hiraṇyakaśipu was the great daitya king slain by Bhagavān Narasiṃha. After this liberation at Bhagavān Narasiṃha’s hands, the ātmā took one more birth, as Rāvaṇa, in the Tretā Yuga of the twenty-fourth caturyuga. There Bhagavān Rāma was to free it finally. The text says the same ātmā met Bhagavān Vishṇu twice through enmity and was freed twice. It says the avatāra (a descent of Bhagavān Vishṇu) comes even to free those who spent their whole life against dharma. It also records that Rāvaṇa ruled for thirteen caturyugas and was destroyed by Rāma in the twenty-fourth Tretā.

Tapas and the vara

Rāvaṇa’s power was earned by tapas. The texts tell it in several ways.

Agni Purāṇa (Chapter 11). Rāvaṇa performed fierce tapas for Brahmā. Each year he cut off one of his ten heads and threw it into the sacred fire as an offering. After nine years, as he was about to cut the tenth head, Brahmā appeared and gave him a vara. Rāvaṇa asked to be safe from devas, asuras, yakshas, nāgas and all beings above the human level. He left out humans and animals on purpose, because he looked down on them as unworthy enemies. This contempt was the weak point through which Bhagavān Vishṇu could come down as a human, Rāma, and slay him. With Brahmā’s vara in hand, Rāvaṇa also won the Candrahāsa sword from Śiva.

Uttara Kāṇḍa (Chapter 12). At Gokarṇa, Rāvaṇa did hard tapas for ten thousand years. Every thousand years he cut off one of his ten heads and offered it as havis (an offering) in the yajña fire. As he was about to cut the tenth and last head, which would have meant his death, Brahmā appeared and gave him a vara. Rāvaṇa asked to be safe from devas, asuras, gandharvas, yakshas, rākshasas and nāgas. In his pride he did not ask for protection from humans, thinking them too small to matter. The Āraṇya Kāṇḍa (Chapter 33) says the same, and adds that his vara kept him safe from devas, asuras, gandharvas, yakshas, birds and serpents.

Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa (Chapter 220). After his tapas, Rāvaṇa received the vara that no deva, gandharva, daitya, nāga or rākshasa could slay him. Only humans and animals were left out. He then sent Prahasta to Kubera with a message demanding Laṅkā. Kubera saw that Brahmā’s vara now protected Rāvaṇa, so he gave up Laṅkā freely. He went to Kailāsa and built the city of Alakā there.

Kedāra Khaṇḍa (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 8). Rāvaṇa did great tapas on Gokarṇa mountain for over a thousand years. He cut off his ten heads one by one and offered them to the Śivaliṅga. As each head was offered, another grew back, and his body stayed in perfect yoga-samādhi. This total self-offering won the direct blessing of Bhagavān Śiva. Rāvaṇa received these gifts:

• Victory in battle that nothing could stop.
• Rule over Laṅkā.
• Ten heads, matching the five faces (pañcamukha) of Bhagavān Śiva, doubled.
• Vijñāna (higher knowledge) from Bhagavān Śiva himself.

By Śiva’s grace Rāvaṇa’s tapas-power grew so great that even Brahmā and Indra fell before him.

Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa (Bāla Kāṇḍa, Rāvaṇa Vṛttānta). All three brothers, Rāvaṇa, Kumbhakarṇa and Vibhīshaṇa, did ghora tapas (fierce austerity) in the forest for thousands of years. Brahmā and the devas were pleased and came to give them varas. Rāvaṇa asked to be safe from all beings except nara (men) and vānara (monkeys), whom he scorned as too small to fear. Sarasvatī turned Kumbhakarṇa’s tongue at the key moment, and instead of a great vara he asked for dīrgha-nidrā (long sleep). Vibhīshaṇa asked for friendship with those who do tapas, bhakti (devotion) to Śrī Hari, and a heart that would never leave dharma. Bhagavān Śiva and Brahmā together gave each brother his wish.

Conquest and rule

The Agni Purāṇa account

With his varas secured, Rāvaṇa became a conqueror nobody could stop. He drove his half-brother Kubera from the great city of Laṅkā. Viśvakarmā had built that city, and it had been the home of Brahmā and then of the yakshas under Kubera. Rāvaṇa took both the city and the Pushpaka vimāna, the divine flying vehicle. He then marched on Svarga and defeated Indra and the devas. All three worlds came under his rule. He even conquered the realm of Yama. No being in creation could stand against him.

The Uttara Kāṇḍa account

In the Uttara Kāṇḍa (Chapters 14–35) the campaign of conquest includes these episodes:

• He took Laṅkā from his half-brother Kubera and also took the Pushpaka vimāna.
• He defeated the armies of Yama and the realm of Varuṇa. He made pacts with the Nivātakavacas in Pātāla.
• At Kailāsa he tried to uproot the mountain. Śiva pressed it down with his toe and trapped Rāvaṇa’s arms for a thousand years. Rāvaṇa’s cries (ravaṇa) gave him his name. He composed the Śiva-Tāṇḍava Stotra. Then Śiva freed him and gave him the Candrahāsa sword.
• He defeated King Anaraṇya of the Ikshvāku line. With his dying breath Anaraṇya gave a śāpa (a curse) that an Ikshvāku would destroy Rāvaṇa’s clan.
• He met Vedavatī in the forest. She burned herself rather than give in to him. She said she would be reborn as his destroyer, and she became Sītā.
• He violated Rambhā, the wife of Nalakūbara. Nalakūbara gave him a śāpa that any woman he touched against her will would cause his death at once. This śāpa ruled how he acted toward Sītā through all her time in captivity.
• Against Vālī of Kishkindhā he did not win. Vālī held Rāvaṇa under his arm and flew with him across the four oceans. Then the two made a pact of friendship.

The Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa account

The Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa (Poorvārdha, Chapters 220–223 and 238–239) gives a continuous account of Rāvaṇa’s conquests and of his last meeting with Bhagavān Vishṇu in Pātāla.

Conquest of the earth, Anaraṇya and Vedavatī (Chapter 221). Rāvaṇa plundered the treasures of the world. He troubled kings who followed dharma, and brāhmaṇas. He slew Anaraṇya, the hero of Ayodhyā’s royal line. As he died, Anaraṇya foretold, “A hero from our line will arise and take your life.”

At Maruta’s yajña, Rāvaṇa drove away the gathered devas by terror.

• Indra fled in the form of a peacock. He was given the vara that his feathers would carry a thousand eye-patterns.
• Kubera fled in the form of a mongoose and gained a golden colour.
• Varuṇa fled as a swan and gained rule over water.
• Yama fled as a crow. He gained the vara of immortality unless killed, and the right to receive the rice offerings given to crows.

On this march Rāvaṇa met Vedavatī, the daughter of Kuśadhvaja, who was a son of Bṛhaspati. She was doing fierce tapas to win Bhagavān Vishṇu as her husband. The daitya Śambhu had slain her father at night because he refused to give her to him. Her mother had entered the fire in grief (agni-praveśa). Vedavatī went on with her tapas alone.

Rāvaṇa came to her, mocked Vishṇu and pressed her to accept him instead. She refused with dignity: “The virtues of Vishṇu light the worlds like the rays of the sun. To you they look like faults, because you are like an owl that cannot bear the light.” In anger Rāvaṇa seized her by her braided hair. Vedavatī said, “Because you have dishonoured me, I will be born again and become the cause of your death.” She built a pyre and entered the sacred fire, Agni, the source of all the Vedas.

She was reborn as Sītā. She appeared from the earth without a womb (ayonijā) when Janaka ploughed the yajña field. By tapas she gained Rāma, Bhagavān Vishṇu himself in human form, as her husband. Rāvaṇa was in the end slain by Rāma for her sake.

Conquest of svarga, Indrajit and the name Rāvaṇa (Chapter 222). After conquering the earth, Rāvaṇa took Kubera’s Pushpaka vimāna by force and went to Kailāsa. There Nandī blocked him and his chariot could not move. Rāvaṇa laughed at Nandī’s monkey-like face. Nandī gave him a śāpa that monkey-faced beings would be the means of his destruction. Rāvaṇa then tried to lift Kailāsa itself. Pārvatī, afraid, clung to Śiva. Bhagavān Śiva pressed down with his big toe and trapped Rāvaṇa’s arms under the mountain. In pain, Rāvaṇa let out a great roar from all ten heads. It shook the three worlds, and Indra and all the devas rose from their seats in alarm. Bhagavān Śiva, pleased with his courage, gave him the name Rāvaṇa, “he who makes the three worlds cry out”. From then on, wherever he went, Rāvaṇa offered pūjā every day to Śiva’s golden liṅga with great devotion.

Rāvaṇa then marched on the realm of Yama. He fought the Kālapāśa warriors, freed those who were in naraka (hell), and fought Yama himself. Brahmā stepped in. He warned Yama that his rod of punishment never fails, and that using it on Rāvaṇa would make Brahmā a liar, since Brahmā had given Rāvaṇa his vara. Yama withdrew.

Rāvaṇa then attacked the devas at Kailāsa. His son Meghanāda captured Indra in battle and brought him to Laṅkā. Brahmā went to Laṅkā and got Indra set free. He gave Meghanāda the name Indrajit and weapons of great power.

Conquest of Pātāla, Vālī and Sugrīva (Chapter 223). Rāvaṇa went down to Pātāla and fought the Kāla-khaṇḍas, the Kāla-keyas and the mighty Nīvātakavacas. In this campaign he slew Vidyujjihva, the goat-faced husband of his own sister Śūrpaṇakhā. In the end Brahmā made peace between Rāvaṇa and the Nīvātakavacas. Rāvaṇa then conquered the realm of Varuṇa. Varuṇa withdrew to Brahmaloka, and his brave son Pushkara stood against Rāvaṇa before he accepted peace. At Kishkindhā, Rāvaṇa asked for Vālī by name. The text then gives the quarrel of Vālī and Sugrīva and Sugrīva’s exile, and goes on to the birth of Hanumān.

Laṅkā in the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa

The Bāla Kāṇḍa of the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa (Rāvaṇa Vṛttānta) tells that Rāvaṇa took the very beautiful city of Laṅkā from Kubera’s yakshas and made it his capital. He married Mandodarī, daughter of the great master of illusion (māyāvī) Maya. His son Meghanāda led a campaign against the realms of the devas, captured Devarāja Indra himself and brought him to Laṅkā. Brahmā stepped in, pleased Meghanāda with varas and got Indra freed. From that day Meghanāda was famous in the three worlds as Indrajit.

The rākshasas laid waste svarga, earth and the lower worlds. Yajñas were broken, study of the Veda was silenced, japa (repeating mantras) and tapas were destroyed, and dharma was overwhelmed. The earth shook under Rāvaṇa’s steps, and at his roar unborn children slipped from their mothers’ wombs. No being in creation could stand against him until Bhūdevī herself went to Brahmā for help.

Śiva devotion

Prāṇaliṅga at Gokarṇa

The Koti Rudra Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa (Chapters 8–10) says Rāvaṇa did tapas at Gokarṇa on the Sahyādri coast. He wanted the Prāṇaliṅga, a liṅga of Bhagavān Śiva’s living vital energy, to set up at Laṅkā. Bhagavān Śiva gave him the liṅga on one condition: it must not be set on the ground before he reached Laṅkā. When Rāvaṇa had to do his evening sandhyā-vandana prayers, Gaṇeśa came in the form of a brāhmaṇa boy. He persuaded Rāvaṇa to hand him the liṅga for a short time, and then set it on the ground before Rāvaṇa came back. The liṅga became the immovable Mahābalīśvara at Gokarṇa.

Vaidyanātha Jyotirliṅga

The Koti Rudra Saṃhitā (Chapter 28) also tells how the Vaidyanātha Jyotirliṅga at Deoghar began. Rāvaṇa did tapas on Kailāsa and offered his ten heads one by one into the sacred fire. As he was about to cut off the tenth, Bhagavān Śiva appeared and made all ten heads whole again. For this he earned the name Vaidyanātha (divine physician). Bhagavān Śiva gave Rāvaṇa the ātmaliṅga to carry to Laṅkā. The same thing happened again: Rāvaṇa handed the liṅga to a stranger during his prayers, and the ātmaliṅga was set down at Deoghar. There it became the lasting Vaidyanātha Jyotirliṅga.

The Kedāra Khaṇḍa and Nandī

The Kedāra Khaṇḍa (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 8) also tells of Rāvaṇa at the gate of Kailāsa. He mocked Nandī’s monkey-like face, and Nandī pronounced the śāpa that monkeys would be the means of his destruction.

The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa: the śāpa on Pratāpabhānu

In the Bāla Kāṇḍa of Gosvāmī Tulasīdāsa’s Rāmāyaṇa, Rāvaṇa, Kumbhakarṇa and Vibhīshaṇa are born as the result of a śāpa (a curse) from brāhmaṇas on the Kekaya king Pratāpabhānu.

Pratāpabhānu was a great king who followed dharma. His chief enemy was a defeated king who had disguised himself, first as a rākshasa and then as a ṛshi. This enemy tricked Pratāpabhānu, without his knowing it, into feeding a great gathering of brāhmaṇas food that had human flesh in it. A voice from the sky warned the brāhmaṇas in time. They refused the food in fury and together gave a śāpa that Pratāpabhānu and all his family would be born again as rākshasas. The kingdom was destroyed on the spot.

In the next birth Pratāpabhānu was born as Rāvaṇa, his brother Arimardana as Kumbhakarṇa, and his minister Dharmaruci as Vibhīshaṇa. All three were born in the famous line of Pulastya Brahmā.

The abduction of Sītā

The Agni Purāṇa account

The Agni Purāṇa (Chapter 7) tells how Rāvaṇa’s sister Śūrpaṇakhā met Rāma in the Daṇḍakāraṇya forest, and this set off Rāvaṇa’s ruin. At Rāma’s order Lakshmaṇa disfigured Śūrpaṇakhā. She flew to Laṅkā, fell at Rāvaṇa’s feet and urged him to carry off Sītā.

Rāvaṇa went to the rākshasa Mārīca and ordered him to take the form of a golden deer, to lure Rāma and Lakshmaṇa away from the āśrama (hermitage). Mārīca knew what would follow. He thought that death at Rāma’s hands was better than death at Rāvaṇa’s, and he did as he was told.

After both Rāma and then Lakshmaṇa had been drawn away, Rāvaṇa came to the āśrama dressed as a wandering sannyāsī (renunciant). He crossed the protective line (the Lakshmaṇa-rekhā) and seized Sītā, who cried out for help. He forced her into his flying chariot. The great vulture-king Jaṭāyu heard her cries and attacked Rāvaṇa in the sky. Rāvaṇa cut off both of Jaṭāyu’s wings with his sword and flew on. He brought Sītā to Laṅkā and kept her in the Aśokavana. He ordered his rākshasīs to guard her and try to persuade her to become his queen. Sītā refused absolutely.

The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Āraṇya Kāṇḍa

Learning of the disaster at Janasthāna (Chapters 31–32). Akampana was the only survivor of the great battle at Janasthāna. He fled to Laṅkā, and there Rāvaṇa heard for the first time of Rāma. Rāma was a human exile who had alone killed fourteen thousand rākshasas, Dūshaṇa, Triśiras and at last Khara himself, in the space of one afternoon. Akampana described Rāma’s skill and power, and compared his arrows to the thunderbolt of Indra. He warned Rāvaṇa that Rāma could not be beaten by force. He advised another way: take Sītā from him, for if Sītā were taken, Rāma would die of grief.

Śūrpaṇakhā’s words (Chapters 32–33). Soon after, Śūrpaṇakhā came to Laṅkā herself. Her nose and ears had been cut off by Lakshmaṇa. She faced Rāvaṇa in his court and blamed him for his neglect. She described Sītā’s matchless beauty at length: her golden skin, her lotus eyes, her divine form and her perfect shape. She argued that a king like Rāvaṇa deserved such a woman, and that the destruction of his forces at Janasthāna called for an answer. Rāvaṇa decided at once to take Sītā.

Mārīca as the golden deer (Chapters 34–37). Rāvaṇa travelled to the āśrama of Mārīca on the seashore. Mārīca was a powerful rākshasa magician who had once been Rāma’s enemy. Rāvaṇa commanded him to take the form of a golden deer and lure Rāma away from Pañcavaṭī. Mārīca had met Rāma before and knew his power. He warned Rāvaṇa strongly that the plan was suicidal madness. He told how Rāma’s arrow had once struck him and nearly ended his life, and he urged Rāvaṇa to give up the plan. Rāvaṇa refused and threatened Mārīca with death if he disobeyed. Mārīca chose the death that came from serving his king over the worse dishonour of refusing, and agreed.

The abduction (Chapters 43–48). Mārīca drew Rāma, and then Lakshmaṇa, far from the āśrama. Rāvaṇa came to Pañcavaṭī dressed as a bhikshu (a wandering beggar) in saffron robes, with a staff and a begging bowl. His ten heads and twenty arms were fully hidden. He first praised Sītā’s beauty at length. Then he told her who he was and asked her to become his chief queen in Laṅkā. Sītā refused with complete firmness. She spoke of Rāma’s matchless virtues and of her own firm loyalty to him.

Her words only made Rāvaṇa more determined. He dropped the disguise and showed his terrible true form: ten heads, twenty arms, a dark body with gold ornaments, and the face of a conqueror. He seized Sītā. His left hand took her by the hair and his right hand held her by the feet. He rose into the sky with her in the Pushpaka vimāna, the great flying chariot. Sītā screamed the names of Rāma and Lakshmaṇa in agony. She called out to the trees and to the Godāvarī. She threw her ornaments down as signs.

The fight with Jaṭāyu (Chapters 45–47). Jaṭāyu, the aged eagle and friend of Daśaratha, rose to stop Rāvaṇa in the air. The fight was fierce and desperate. Jaṭāyu destroyed Rāvaṇa’s horses, chariot, charioteer, bow and umbrella, and cut off his ten left arms. Rāvaṇa, disarmed and brought to the ground for a short time, recovered and drew his sword. He cut off Jaṭāyu’s great wings and hacked at his legs. Jaṭāyu fell to the earth, mortally wounded. His last service was to keep himself alive until Rāma came to hear his account. Rāvaṇa flew on south to Laṅkā.

Sītā in Laṅkā (Chapters 49–51). Rāvaṇa brought Sītā to Laṅkā and put her in the Aśoka Vana, the aśoka garden, under the guard of rākshasīs. He came to her again and again. He urged her to accept him, and he described the splendour of Laṅkā and his own matchless power. Each time Sītā refused. She stayed steady in her devotion to Rāma. She placed a blade of grass between herself and Rāvaṇa as a symbolic barrier. She would not speak to him directly or greet him with respect.

In the Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Rāvaṇa shows courage, learning, power and even a certain majesty. Desire and pride rule him completely.

The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa

Śūrpaṇakhā’s complaint and Rāvaṇa’s thinking. The news of Khara’s destruction at Janasthāna came first through Śūrpaṇakhā herself. She arrived at Rāvaṇa’s court mutilated. The Tulasī account stresses how grave the insult was to the rākshasa line. Fourteen thousand warriors had fallen in one afternoon, and Rāvaṇa’s own sister had been disfigured by a human exile. Śūrpaṇakhā spoke of Rāma with both fear and reverence. His form was matchless and his arrows could not be stopped. Beside him stood Sītā, a woman of such divine beauty that nothing in the three worlds could be compared with her. She urged Rāvaṇa strongly to take Sītā for himself. She warned that to leave such a woman with such a powerful man was to leave a fire untended.

The night of reflection. In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, after Śūrpaṇakhā’s visit Rāvaṇa spent the night alone, thinking. The destruction of his forces at Janasthāna by one human exile left him with a question he could not silence: was this man truly human, or something more? His mind moved between two views. If Rāma were only a human prince, however gifted, then carrying off his wife was an act of war he could manage. But if Rāma were Bhagavān Vishṇu himself come down in human form, as certain signs seemed to show, then taking his consort would invite complete destruction. Yet the greatness of that destruction drew him as well. He reasoned that if Rāma were Bhagavān Rāma, then death at his hands would itself be a kind of moksha (liberation). His pride, his desire and this half-formed thought together made up his mind to go on. The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa shows Rāvaṇa as one with enough insight to see that Rāma might be divine, but unable to let that insight guide his act.

The approach to Mārīca. Rāvaṇa went to Mārīca’s āśrama on the shore of the ocean. In the Tulasī account Mārīca’s warning is very strong. He had met Rāma’s arrow at Viśvāmitra’s yajña and knew from his own experience that this was no ordinary warrior. He told Rāvaṇa plainly that bad advisers, who flatter kings with false news of their enemies’ weakness, could be of no help to him here. But Rāvaṇa’s mind was fixed by desire and pride, and he overrode all advice. Mārīca saw that death was the only outcome either way. He chose the death from Rāma’s arrow over the death from Rāvaṇa’s anger, because the first at least brought the grace of Bhagavān Rāma’s touch. He took the form of the golden deer and ran toward Pañcavaṭī.

Bali and Bhagavān Vishṇu in Pātāla

The Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa (Poorvārdha, Chapters 238–239) tells of two meetings in Pātāla.

Rāvaṇa visits Bali (Chapter 238)

In Pātāla, Rāvaṇa came to a magnificent palace in the city of Kubera. At its gate he saw a man who blazed with fire-like power. The man was black like polished collyrium and held an iron staff. Rāvaṇa went in, challenging the man to fight. The gatekeeper told him that Bali, the daitya king bound by Bhagavān Vishṇu, was inside, and that Rāvaṇa was not worthy to fight him. Rāvaṇa went in and found Bali. He said he had come to free Bali from the bond of Bhagavān Vishṇu. Bali answered with a quiet smile.

Bali pointed to his divine earrings, which shone brightly and were set with priceless gems. He asked Rāvaṇa to bring one from across the hall. Rāvaṇa used all his strength but could not move the earring at all. Tired and sweating, he stood amazed. Bali set Rāvaṇa on his thigh and said:

“These earrings belonged to my great-grandfather Hiraṇyakaśipu. The one who wore them on his ears, that very being (Vishṇu), set him on his thigh and tore him apart with his nails. How do you plan to defeat him? The black Purusha who stands always at my gate is Vishṇu’s own form. Many proud daitya lords tried him and were put down. Even I was bound by him. No one in the three worlds can say what this being is. He is the maker and destroyer of all, the cause of all that moves and does not move, the one to whom all karma, tapas and yajña belong. Worship him, and gain everything through him alone.”

Rāvaṇa left. He looked again for the black Purusha at the gate and could not find him. He came back to the world above and found no worthy opponent anywhere on earth.

The Viśvarūpa Darśana and the foretelling (Chapter 239)

While wandering the earth, Rāvaṇa met a great Mahāpurusha of golden radiance. The whole cosmos was in his form. Dharma and tapas rested in his thighs, Manmatha in the liṅga, the Viśvedevas at the waist, the Maruts at the belly, Bhūdevī at the feet, the eight Vasus at the centre, the oceans in the abdomen, all the directions at the joints, Vāyu at the back, the pitṛs at the heart, Brahmā in the chest, the rivers in the veins, the sun and moon in the eyes, the Vedas in the kneecaps, and fire at the mouth. This was Bhagavān Vishṇu in his cosmic form, going into Pātāla.

Rāvaṇa followed and entered Pātāla alone, by the power of his vara from Brahmā. There he saw thousands of four-armed beings with the Śrīvatsa mark and red garlands, all alike in radiance. They were worshipping and dancing before Janārdana, and lived in endless bliss. Rāvaṇa was full of wonder and the hair on his body stood on end. Then he saw the Mahāpurusha lying on a bed with a bright white blanket, sweet-smelling and decked with divine ornaments. Beside him a woman of great beauty, in divine clothes, held a fly-whisk at his feet.

Rāvaṇa leapt to seize the woman, but only the blazing coverlet appeared to him. Bhagavān Vishṇu laughed aloud, and his radiance knocked Rāvaṇa to the ground like a tree cut at the root. Bhagavān Vishṇu said to him: “Rise. You have not yet died. Brahmā’s vara protects you now. But in a short time I will slay you. And the woman you now wish to seize is the one through whom you will be destroyed. I will take a human body and kill you. For her sake, go back now.”

Rāvaṇa rose in awe and said, “O Bhagavān Vishṇu, I am fortunate that death comes to me from your hand. That is itself my glory.” He then saw the three worlds held in Vishṇu’s viśvarūpa (cosmic form). He marvelled, took leave of Bhagavān Vishṇu and returned home. The text ends: “It was to slay this Rāvaṇa that Vishṇu came to the human world as Rāma, together with Sītā as Lakshmī, and Lakshmaṇa, Bharata and Śatrughna as his own vibhūtis (manifestations).”

The war and Rāvaṇa’s end

Vibhīshaṇa’s counsel

The Agni Purāṇa (Chapter 10) tells that the vānara army stood outside the gates of Laṅkā and war could not be avoided. Rāvaṇa’s righteous younger brother Vibhīshaṇa came to him in private and counselled him with wisdom and compassion: “Give Sītā back to Rāma. What you have done is adharma. Rāma is no ordinary man. He is Parameśvara himself. To go on in this way is to invite the ruin of all Laṅkā and all our people.” Rāvaṇa mocked and shamed Vibhīshaṇa and called him a coward. Vibhīshaṇa could not stay in a kingdom ruled by such wilful blindness. He left and crossed over to Rāma’s side. There he was received with full honour and made the rightful king of Laṅkā.

The war-council

In the Yuddha Kāṇḍa of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa (Chapters 16–18), the court of Rāvaṇa had voices that urged dharma. The elderly Mālyavān, the most senior statesman of Laṅkā, spoke in the assembly. He named Śrī Rāma plainly as Bhagavān Mahāvishṇu himself. He urged that Sītā be returned at once, as the only way to save the rākshasa race. Rāvaṇa answered in fury and drove Mālyavān from the assembly. His own wise minister Vibhīshaṇa also advised the return of Sītā. He was shamed in public and driven out, and in the end he crossed over to Rāma’s side. So Rāvaṇa went into the war having refused every counsel of dharma from inside his own court.

The Laṅkā Kāṇḍa of the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa (Rāvaṇa-mantrālocana section) tells that when the vānara army first crossed the ocean and camped outside the walls of Laṅkā, Rāvaṇa called a great war-council. He heard advice from Vibhīshaṇa, who urged the return of Sītā in full dharmic terms. He heard Mālyavān, who backed Vibhīshaṇa’s advice and declared Rāma to be Śrī Mahāvishṇu. He also heard his commanders, who boasted of their fighting skill. Rāvaṇa waved aside every wise voice with scorn and fury. He drove Vibhīshaṇa from the sabhā (assembly) and went on with his plan to fight.

The fight with Lakshmaṇa

In the war itself Rāvaṇa fought with great power, using all the divine weapons he had gathered through his tapas. He killed many vānara warriors with his divine astras. In his last direct duel with Śrī Rāma, he showed the śakti-astra, a divine lance given to him by Brahmā, which no target could resist. He drove it into Lakshmaṇa’s chest and brought the great Saumitri close to death. Hanumān’s journey to the Oshadhi Parvata and the healing of Susheṇa saved Lakshmaṇa before Rāvaṇa could press his advantage (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 100).

Rāvaṇa’s death

Agni Purāṇa (Chapter 10). In the last battle Rāma and Rāvaṇa faced each other directly. Rāma rained arrows on Rāvaṇa’s body. Rāvaṇa’s heads and arms were cut off again and again, but they grew back each time. Indra sent his own divine chariot and the charioteer Mātali to help Rāma. In the middle of this fight that seemed to have no end, the ṛshi Agastya came to the battlefield. He taught Rāma the Āditya-hṛdaya, the great stotra to Bhagavān Sūrya that gives victory. Rāma recited it with full devotion. Then he took up the supreme Brahmāstra, the weapon given by Agastya on behalf of Brahmā. He aimed it at Rāvaṇa’s heart. The arrow flew and pierced Rāvaṇa’s chest, and Rāvaṇa fell from his chariot to the earth. The rākshasa army was destroyed. The women of Laṅkā wept for their fallen king. Rāma ordered Vibhīshaṇa to give Rāvaṇa the funeral rites fit for a warrior of his rank.

Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa (Chapter 108). In the last fight, all of Rāvaṇa’s commanders had already fallen: Prahasta, Kumbhakarṇa and Indrajit. Then Rāvaṇa himself came to the field. Maharshi Agastya came down from the sky just when Śrī Rāma stood tired, and taught him the Āditya Hṛdayam stotra. Rāma recited it three times, renewed his strength and raised his bow. He loosed the Brahmāstra, the supreme weapon given by Agastya. It pierced Rāvaṇa’s chest through and ended the life of the great king of Laṅkā.

After Rāvaṇa fell, his wife Mandodarī mourned him in words of great insight. In her lament (vilāpana) she named Rāma as Mahāvishṇu. She said that Rāvaṇa had brought destruction on himself by carrying off Sītā, who is Mahālakshmī herself. Vibhīshaṇa then performed the last rites (antima-saṃskāra) with full ritual care, honouring the fallen king in spite of everything (Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapters 109–111).

Kedāra Khaṇḍa (Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 8). The Kedāra Khaṇḍa says Rāvaṇa could not be killed as long as his bhakti to Śiva stayed whole. He became open to death only when his desire for Sītā, who is Brahma-vidyā herself, spoiled his dharma. Bhagavān Vishṇu’s plan was that Rāvaṇa, slain by Vishṇu’s arrow, which is the śāstra of dharma, would reach Śiva’s sārūpya (liberation through divine form). This would come through his bhakti to Śiva joined with Vishṇu’s freeing weapon. When Rāma slew Rāvaṇa, Rāvaṇa was at once given dvaitādvaita-jñāna (knowledge of both duality and non-duality) and gained moksha.

Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Laṅkā Kāṇḍa. In the last fight Rāma cut off Rāvaṇa’s heads and arms again and again, but they grew back each time, like a miser’s greed that grows instead of shrinking. Rāma gave Vibhīshaṇa a questioning look. Vibhīshaṇa told him the key secret (Rāvaṇa-saṃhāra section):

Nābhī kuṇḍa sudhā basa yāke / Nātha jiyata Rāvanu bala tāke

That is: amṛta (the drink of life) was stored in a pool (kuṇḍa) in Rāvaṇa’s navel, and it was the source of his constant revival. Rāma had to destroy it first.

On the day of Caitraśuddha Daśamī, Rāma fired thirty-one arrows together. They pierced the pool in the navel, all of Rāvaṇa’s heads and all his arms. Rāvaṇa’s body fell. At that moment all of Rāvaṇa’s gathered teja (radiance) left his body and merged straight into Śrī Rāma.

When Rāvaṇa died, the gathered devas came down and praised Śrī Rāma (Svarloka-vāsulu section). They said:

O Omniscient One! Even Rāvaṇa, who was driven by lust, anger, greed, pride and envy, was able to reach your divine presence through your grace. But we devas, though of divine nature, have been caught in self-seeking. We forgot the highest path of bhakti and are drowning in the ocean of saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death). O Deva-ādi-deva! Protect us who take refuge in you.

Sources

• Agni Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 7, 10–11
• Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, Chapter 8
• Skanda Mahā Purāṇa, Māheśvara Khaṇḍa, Kedāra Khaṇḍa, Chapter 8
• Vishṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Poorvārdha, Chapters 220–223, 238–239
• Śiva Purāṇa, Koti Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapters 8–10, 28
• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Rāvaṇa Vṛttānta
• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa
• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Laṅkā Kāṇḍa
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 31–51
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapters 1–111
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapters 9–36