Meghānāda

Meghānāda was the son of Rāvaṇa and Maṇḍodarī, and the mightiest warrior of Laṅkā. He is also known as Indrajit, “the conqueror of Indra”. He fought the devas, captured Devarāja Indra and took him to Laṅkā. For this Brahmā gave him the name Indrajit. In the war at Laṅkā he bound Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa with serpent-arrows and fought with māyā (illusion). Lakṣmaṇa slew him at his yajña (fire ritual) in Nikumbhilā.

Birth and lineage

Meghānāda was born to Rāvaṇa and Maṇḍodarī in Laṅkā. He had great bodily power, and a courage and strength beyond that of any other rākṣasa.

The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, in the Rāvaṇa Vṛttānta, says that his birth, like that of Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa, came in the lineage of Pulastya Brahmā. It followed the śāpa (a curse) of a brāhmaṇa on King Pratāpabhānu.

The capture of Indra and the name Indrajit

Rāvaṇa made himself ruler of Laṅkā and began his campaign to conquer the world. Meghānāda then led a great campaign against the devalokas. He fought the devas together, overcame them in battle, and at last captured Devarāja Indra himself. He bound him and brought him to Laṅkā as a prisoner. The three worlds shook. Nothing like this had happened before.

Brahmā himself went to Laṅkā. He pleased Meghānāda with many varas (boons) and gave him great divine weapons, and he won the release of Indra. At that time Brahmā gave Meghānāda the name Indrajit, “the one who conquered Indra”. From that day the name was famous in all the worlds. The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Rāvaṇa Vṛttānta, and the Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Poorvārdha, Chapter 222, tell this.

Role in the war at Laṅkā

In the great battle between Rāma’s vānara army and Rāvaṇa’s rākṣasa forces, Indrajit was the most dangerous enemy. He fought with māyā. He stayed unseen in the sky and attacked from where no one could see him. He bound Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa with serpent-arrows (nāga-pāśa), so that they fell, and the vānara army lost heart. The physician Suṣeṇa’s remedy, and Hanumān bringing the Sañjīvanī mountain, revived both princes.

In the last meeting, Lakṣmaṇa slew Indrajit at his yajña in Nikumbhilā before the rite could be finished. The Agni Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 9–11, tells this.

In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Laṅkā Kāṇḍa

In the Laṅkā Kāṇḍa, Tulasīdāsa gives more about Meghānāda. Bhagavān Śiva tells the story of the war to Pārvatī.

The māyā-ratha and the twelve-year condition

Rāvaṇa was grieving after Kumbhakarṇa’s death. Meghānāda came to his father and comforted him: “Father! While your son Meghānāda lives, why grieve? I have received the māyā-ratha (chariot of illusion) as a vara from the devī I worship. Whoever rides this chariot cannot be defeated in battle.”

Bhagavān Śiva then told Pārvatī where this vara came from. In his twentieth year Meghānāda had performed fierce tapas (austerity) and had received from the devī the māyā-ratha, the divine chariot of illusion. Its rider could not be beaten in battle. But the devī had set a condition. Only a person who had lived for twelve full years without a break in celibacy, without sleep, food or any pleasure could fight the rider of this chariot. Even then Meghānāda would not fall easily.

Indrajit’s marriage to Sulocanā

Bhagavān Śiva also told how Indrajit once made war on Nāga-loka. He fought for fourteen days and at last bound Vāsuki, the king of the nāgas. Vāsuki won his own release by giving his daughter Sulocanā to Indrajit in marriage. Tulasīdāsa says that Sulocanā was a great pativratā, a wife of complete devotion and faithfulness.

The māyā-Sītā

In his second battle with the vānara forces, Meghānāda could not defeat Lakṣmaṇa directly, so he turned to deceit. He made a māyā-sītā, a false image of Sītā. He brought her bound to the battlefield and killed her before the eyes of the vānaras and Hanumān. He cried: “See! For this woman you wage war. I have killed her before your eyes.” He threw the cut body down from his chariot.

The vānaras were stunned and lost hope. Hanumān flew in anger to the camp of Śrī Rāma and told him what he had seen. Śrī Rāma fell down in grief. Vibhīṣaṇa then explained that Indrajit was a great master of māyā, that this must be an illusion, and that Sītā Devī could not be harmed. Hanumān flew to Laṅkā in disguise and found that Sītā was safe in the Aśoka Vaṭikā. The camp was relieved.

Sources

• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Rāvaṇa Vṛttānta
• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Laṅkā Kāṇḍa (Meghānāda-yuddha section; Māyā-Sītā section)
• Agni Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 9–11
• Viṣṇu Dharmottara Purāṇa, Poorvārdha, Chapter 222