Kubera and Laṅkā
Laṅkā was not always a rākshasa city. Viśvakarma built it on the three peaks of Mount Trikūṭa at Brahmā’s request, and it was linked with Bhagavān Śiva. It was later given to Kubera, also called Vaiśravaṇa, the yaksha lord of wealth and half-brother of Rāvaṇa.
Kubera ruled Laṅkā with dharma until the rākshasa brothers Mālyavān, Sumāli and Māli drove him out. Bhagavān Vishṇu killed Māli, and the other two fled. Kubera came back and ruled again. Then Rāvaṇa, after his tapas and the boons he won, seized Laṅkā a second time and took the Pushpaka vimāna from his half-brother. The Uttara Kāṇḍa gives this whole history of Laṅkā as background to the Rāmāyaṇa.
Viśvakarma builds Laṅkā
In ancient times Brahmā asked Viśvakarma, the divine architect of the devas, to build a great city. Viśvakarma raised the city of Laṅkā on the summit of Mount Trikūṭa, a range of three peaks rising from the southern ocean. The city was made of gold, so it is also called Svarṇa-Laṅkā. It had tall ramparts, crystal palaces, gardens of unearthly beauty, and everything its people needed for comfort and wealth.
At first the city was linked with Bhagavān Śiva and his domain. It showed Viśvakarma’s finest craft, made for a divine task. Later, through a series of events, Brahmā gave it to Kubera. (Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 8)
Kubera’s rule
Kubera, also called Vaiśravaṇa, is the son of Viśravas and Iḍaviḍā. Brahmā gave him Laṅkā. He was also made one of the Ashṭadikpālakas, the guardians of the eight directions, and he guards the north. Kubera ruled Laṅkā with dharma and plenty. His yaksha attendants prospered and the city shone.
Kubera also owned the great Pushpaka vimāna, a divine aerial chariot. It could travel anywhere in the three worlds at the speed of thought. Its inside grew or shrank to hold any number of passengers, and it always moved as its rider wished. This vimāna was the finest sign of Kubera’s place as lord of wealth. (Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 9)
The first loss: Mālyavān, Sumāli and Māli
The three great rākshasa brothers Mālyavān, Sumāli and Māli were sons of Sukeśa. After they received divine boons, their power and ambition grew. They wanted Laṅkā, the most splendid city in the world, as the seat of rākshasa rule over the three lokas.
The three brothers marched on Laṅkā with their huge rākshasa army. Kubera was a man of dharma and did not want to fight his own kinsmen. He chose to leave rather than fight them. He went from Laṅkā and took shelter near Kailāsa, under the protection of his devotion to Bhagavān Śiva.
The three brothers settled in Laṅkā and from that great fortress they terrified all three worlds. (Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapters 6 and 7)
Bhagavān Vishṇu’s battle and Kubera’s return
The devas suffered under rākshasa rule and called on Bhagavān Vishṇu. He came down and fought the rākshasa army. In the great battle Māli charged straight at Bhagavān Vishṇu and was killed by the Sudarśana Chakra. The rout that followed broke the brothers’ alliance. Mālyavān and Sumāli fled with their forces into deep pātāla, where they stayed hidden for generations.
With the rākshasas gone, Kubera went back to Laṅkā and ruled with dharma again. The city returned to its old glory. (Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 7)
The second loss: Rāvaṇa
The second loss of Laṅkā came from inside Kubera’s own family. Rāvaṇa finished his tapas and received from Brahmā the great boon that no deva, asura, gandharva, yaksha, rākshasa or nāga could kill him. Then he turned to Laṅkā.
Rāvaṇa marched on Laṅkā with the authority of greater power, and with the rākshasa claim to the city through his mother’s father, Sumāli. Once again Kubera had to choose between war with his kin and an honourable withdrawal. He left without a fight. This time Rāvaṇa also took the Pushpaka vimāna from Kubera.
Kubera went to Alakāpurī (Alakā) in the Himālayas, near Kailāsa, and built a new capital of great beauty there. Laṅkā became the rākshasa capital under Rāvaṇa and stayed so through the whole war of the Rāmāyaṇa. (Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 14)
The journey of the Pushpaka
After Rāvaṇa died, the Pushpaka vimāna, which had been taken to Laṅkā, came back into the hands of dharma. Bhagavān Rāma used it to carry himself, Sītā, Lakshmaṇa and the whole vānara army from Laṅkā back to Ayodhyā after the war. At Ayodhyā, Rāma gave the Pushpaka back to its rightful owner, Kubera. What was taken by adharma was returned by dharma. (Yuddha Kāṇḍa, as referred to in the Uttara Kāṇḍa)
Laṅkā after the war
After the war Rāma made Vibhīshaṇa the righteous king of Laṅkā. He was the first rākshasa of pure dharma to sit on the throne of Laṅkā.
Sources
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Uttara Kāṇḍa, Chapters 6 to 9 and 14
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, as referred to in the Uttara Kāṇḍa