Pratāpabhānu

Pratāpabhānu was a great and righteous king of Kekaya. He was famous as an emperor who had brought all other kings under his rule. His story is told in the Bāla Kāṇḍa of the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa. It explains how Rāvaṇa came to be born. The story ends sadly. His defeated enemy Kālaketu led him into the forest in the form of a boar, and then tricked him by posing as a muni (a holy man). The king, without knowing it, had the flesh of a brāhmaṇa mixed into the food for a great feast of brāhmaṇas. The brāhmaṇas cursed him. In his next birth he was born as Rāvaṇa in the line of Pulastya.

The king and his kingdom

Pratāpabhānu ruled Kekaya with unmatched power. All the kings of the earth were under his rule, and none could stand against him in battle. His younger brother Arimardana was his loyal adviser. His minister was Dharmaruci. His father was Satyaketu, who had also been a famous ruler. (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Pratāpabhānu Kathā)

The rākṣasa Kālaketu

One of the kings Pratāpabhānu had beaten held a deep grudge. He swore to destroy Pratāpabhānu by trickery. This enemy went into the forest as a rākṣasa named Kālaketu and waited for his chance.

One day, during a royal hunt, Pratāpabhānu chased a boar deep into the forest. The boar was Kālaketu in disguise, and he was leading the king away from his army. The boar vanished. Pratāpabhānu found himself alone and lost in a dark forest, far from his kingdom. (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Pratāpabhānu Kathā)

The false muni

Deep in the forest, Pratāpabhānu came to a lonely āśrama (hermitage) where an old muni sat in meditation. The muni welcomed him and offered to help the lost king get home by magic. First, though, he wished to test the king’s devotion by asking a great service of him. The king was to arrange a grand feast for a thousand brāhmaṇas.

The king did not know that this “muni” was his defeated enemy Kālaketu in disguise. He was a rākṣasa skilled in illusion (māyā), pretending to be a holy man. Before the feast, the enemy arranged for the food to be spoiled with the flesh of a brāhmaṇa. (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Pratāpabhānu Kathā)

The curse of the brāhmaṇas

Before the brāhmaṇas could eat, a voice from the sky (ākāśavāṇī) warned them. They found that the food was spoiled and were filled with righteous anger. Together they cursed (śāpa) Pratāpabhānu and his whole family: they would be born again as rākṣasas.

At that same moment the rākṣasa Kālaketu showed his true form and gloated over the ruin he had planned. Then both he and Pratāpabhānu’s kingdom were destroyed at once. (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Pratāpabhānu Kathā)

Rebirth as Rāvaṇa

In his next birth Pratāpabhānu was born in the great line of Pulastya as Rāvaṇa. His brother Arimardana was born as Kumbhakarṇa. His minister Dharmaruci was born as Vibhīṣaṇa. His sons, servants and other kin were born as the rākṣasas around them.

The curse of the brāhmaṇas gave Rāvaṇa and Kumbhakarṇa natures ruled by tamo-guṇa (the quality of darkness). Vibhīṣaṇa was born with the righteous nature of the minister Dharmaruci from his past life. He stayed gentle and devoted to Śrī Hari. (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Pratāpabhānu Kathā; Rāvaṇa Vṛttānta)

Sources

• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Pratāpabhānu Kathā
• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Rāvaṇa Vṛttānta