Makara-dhvaja (Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa)
Makara-dhvaja is a son of Hanumān, born in the sea and raised in pātāla (the netherworld). He was half vānara (monkey) and half makara (sea creature) in form. He served as the gate guardian of the realm of Mairāvaṇa and Airāvaṇa in pātāla. He met his father Hanumān when Hanumān came to rescue Rāma and Lakshmaṇa. After the asuras were defeated, Rāma crowned Makara-dhvaja as the righteous king of pātāla. The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa tells this in the Sāra Khaṇḍa, Sarga 11.
Birth
Hanumān burned Laṅkā and flew back over the ocean. He cooled his burning tail in the sea. During this, some fluid from his body fell into the ocean. The text calls it śleshma (phlegm) that left Hanumān’s throat because of the smoke of Laṅkā’s fire. In other passages it is called vīrya. A large makara (a great sea creature, sometimes described as a huge fish) swallowed this fluid. A child was born inside the makara. The child looked half vānara, like Hanumān, and was half makara by nature, like the creature that carried him. This child was Makara-dhvaja.
In pātāla
Makara-dhvaja grew up in pātāla. The strong asura rulers Mairāvaṇa and Airāvaṇa noticed him. They saw his great strength, which came from Hanumān’s śakti (power). They made him the chief gate guardian (dvārapāla) of their realm. He stood at the entrance of pātāla to stop anyone from entering without leave.
He meets Hanumān
Mairāvaṇa and Airāvaṇa carried off Rāma and Lakshmaṇa to pātāla. Hanumān went down to rescue them. At the gate of pātāla, Makara-dhvaja challenged him. Hanumān named himself as a servant of Rāma. Makara-dhvaja at once asked, “Is Añjana-sambhava Hanumān well?” (Añjana-sambhava means “born of Añjanā”.) This astonished Hanumān, and he asked for an explanation. Makara-dhvaja then told him the story of his birth.
Hanumān was both surprised and moved. He first tied Makara-dhvaja with his own tail, so that his son, the gate guardian, could not stop him, and then went on freely into pātāla. Rāma and Lakshmaṇa were rescued and the asuras were defeated. After that, Hanumān freed Makara-dhvaja from his bonds.
Crowned king of pātāla
Rāma himself killed Mairāvaṇa and Airāvaṇa. Pātāla then had no rulers. Rāma crowned Makara-dhvaja as the new king (rāja) of pātāla, just as he had crowned Vibhīshaṇa as king of Laṅkā. Makara-dhvaja accepted the kingship and promised to rule righteously.
The return and Rāma’s coronation
Makara-dhvaja handed the running of his new kingdom to his chief minister. He went with Rāma, Lakshmaṇa and Hanumān to Laṅkā, and then to Ayodhyā for the pattābhisheka (the coronation of Rāma). At the great ceremony Makara-dhvaja is named among those present. He took his place among the beings who gathered to honour Bhagavān Rāma. After the celebrations at Ayodhyā he went back to pātāla to rule.
Sources
- Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Sāra Khaṇḍa, Sarga 11