Narāntaka, Son of Rāvaṇa

Narāntaka is one of the many sons of Rāvaṇa, the rākshasa king of Laṅkā. He appears in the Laṅkā Kāṇḍa of Tulsīdāsa’s Rāmacaritamānas, also called the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa. He was born under an unlucky nakshatra (lunar star-group), was thrown into the ocean as a baby, and later became the ruler of a city in the sky. He fought Rāma and Lakshmaṇa for many days and was killed by Rāma.

This Narāntaka is not the same as the Narāntaka of the Gaṇeśa Purāṇa. That Narāntaka is a different rākshasa, known from a different account.

Birth and abandonment

Narāntaka was born under the Abhukta-mūla nakshatra. In Jyotisha (Vedic astrology) this is a very unlucky star. It warns of harm or death to the parents of a child born under it.

Śukrācārya, the teacher of the asuras, told Rāvaṇa about this sign. On his advice, Rāvaṇa did not raise the baby in Laṅkā. He had the infant Narāntaka thrown into the ocean.

Tapas and varas

Narāntaka survived and came out of the ocean. He then did hard tapas (austerity) before Parameshṭhi Brahmā and Parameśvara Śiva. The two supreme devas were pleased with his tapas. They gave him varas (boons), among them great strength in battle that made him very hard to defeat.

Vihvābala-pura and his kingdom

After he received his varas, Narāntaka became a ruler in his own right. He built Vihvābala-pura, a fortress city that floats in the sky. He ruled there over an army of 72 crore rākshasa warriors. A crore is ten million, so this is 720 million.

Summoned by Rāvaṇa

Hanumān killed Ahirāvaṇa, and Rāvaṇa fell into despair. A wise minister then stepped forward. He reminded Rāvaṇa that Narāntaka was alive and was mightier than Ahirāvaṇa. He urged Rāvaṇa to call him.

Rāvaṇa at once sent his messenger Dhūmaketu to Vihvābala-pura to bring Narāntaka. Narāntaka heard the message and understood the situation. He came without delay, with his army of 72 crore rākshasas, to help his father.

Battle and death

Narāntaka and his huge army fought Rāma, Lakshmaṇa and the vānara forces for many days. He was a master of māyā-yuddha (war by illusion). The strength given by his varas made it very hard even for Rāma’s forces to gain the upper hand.

In the end Rāma killed Narāntaka, with the help of Dadhivala, the son of Sugrīva. Narāntaka’s army of 72 crore rākshasas was destroyed together with him.

Sources

• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa (Tulsīdāsa’s Rāmacaritamānas), Laṅkā Kāṇḍa, Narāntaka section