Indrajit
Encyclopedia
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
, was the son of the Lanka
Lanka
Sri Lanka is the name given in Hindu mythology to the island fortress capital of the legendary king Ravana in the great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata...
n king Ravana
Ravana
' is the primary antagonist character of the Hindu legend, the Ramayana; who is the great king of Lanka. In the classic text, he is mainly depicted negatively, kidnapping Rama's wife Sita, to claim vengeance on Rama and his brother Lakshmana for having cut off the nose of his sister...
. The word 'Indrajit' literally means the 'conqueror of Indra (the Hindu king of gods)'.
Indrajit played an active role in the great war between Rama
Rama
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
and Ravana. He was said to be invincible in battle because of a Yajna
Yajna
In Hinduism, yajna is a ritual of sacrifice derived from the practice of Vedic times. It is performed to please the gods or to attain certain wishes...
he used to perform before every battle. He twice defeated Lakshmana
Lakshmana
Lakshmana was the brother and close companion of Rama, and himself a hero in the famous epic Ramayana...
and even Rama
Rama
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
once, but on the third occasion Lakshmana disrupted the Yajna with the help of Vibhishana
Vibhishana
Vibhishana or Bibhishan is a character in the epic Ramayana. He was the younger brother of the demon Ravana. Though a half-demon himself, Vibhishana was of a noble character and advised Ravana, who kidnapped and abducted Sita, to return her to her husband Rama in an orderly fashion...
and killed him when he was unarmed.
Biography
Indrajit was born to Ravana and his wife MandodariMandodari
Mandodari is the Queen Consort of Ravana, the demon king of Lanka, according to the Hindu epic Ramayana. The Ramayana describes Mandodari as beautiful, pious, and righteous...
, the daughter of Mayasura
Mayasura
In Hindu mythology, Maya , or Mayāsura was a great ancient king of the Asura, Daitya and Rakshasa races upon earth. He was also the chief architect of the people of the netherworld.-Tripura:...
. He was named "Meghanada" because his birth cry sounded like thunder. He defeated Indra
Indra
' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
, the king of the Devas
Deva (Hinduism)
' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...
, after which he came to be known as 'Indrajit' ("the conqueror of Indra").
At a very young age, Meghnada became the possessor of several supreme celestial weapons, including Brahmastra
Brahmastra
In ancient Sanskrit writings, the Brahmastra was a weapon created by Brahma.-Features:It is sometimes known as the Brahma Astra . As described in a number of the Puranas, it was considered the deadliest weapon...
, Pashupatastra, and Vaishnavastra, under the guidance of Shukra
Shukra
Shukra , the Sanskrit for "clear, pure" or "brightness, clearness", is the name of the son of Bhrigu, and preceptor of the Daityas, and the guru of the Asuras, identified with the planet Venus, one of the Navagrahas...
, the guru of the daitya
Daitya
In Hinduism, the Daityas are a clan or race or Asura as are the Danavas. Daityas were the children of Diti and the sage Kashyapa. They were a race of giants who fought against the Devas because they were jealous of their Deva half-brothers...
s (demons). He was married to Sulochana
Sulochana (Ramayana)
Sulochana was the daughter of the King of the Serpents Shesha Naga, who is mentioned in the Indian epic Ramayana. She was married to Indrajit who was the son of demon king Ravana, who defeated Indra, hence received his title....
, the daughter of the King of the Serpents Shesha Naga.
Brahma's boon
During the Devasura Sangram (the battle between the devaDeva (Hinduism)
' is the Sanskrit word for god or deity, its related feminine term is devi. In modern Hinduism, it can be loosely interpreted as any benevolent supernatural beings. The devs in Hinduism, also called Suras, are often juxtaposed to the Asuras, their half brothers. Devs are also the maintainers of...
s and the asura
Asura
-In Hinduism:In Hinduism, the Asuras constitute a group of power-seeking deities, sometimes considered sinful and materialistic. The Daityas and Danavas were combinedly known as Asuras. The Asura were opposed to the Devas. Both groups are children of Kasyapa...
s), he freed his father from the shackles of Indra
Indra
' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...
. He then turned the tables on Indra, tying him up and mounting him onto his celestial chariot.
At this juncture, Brahma
Brahma
Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
intervened and asked him to free Indra. Meghnada obliged, and was granted a chance to ask for a boon from Brahma. Meghanada asked for immortality, but Brahma remarked that absolute immortality is against the law of the nature. Instead, he was then granted another boon: he would never be won over in any battle, until his Yagna (fire-worship) of his native goddess Nikumbala was disturbed and detroyed. On the completion of the Yagna, a supreme celestial chariot would appear, boarding which, Indrajit would become invincible in any battle. But Brahma also cautioned him that whosoever would destroy this yagna would also kill him. It was Brahma who gave him the name Indrajit ("the conqueror of Indra").
Battle against Rama and Lakshmana
Indrajit joined the battle when all his brothers had been killed by Rama and his army. His father, Ravana, had been humiliated in the battle by Rama, and his paternal uncle KumbhakarnaKumbhakarna
Kumbhakarna , is a rakshasa and brother of Ravana in the Indian Ramayana epic...
had been killed by Rama. Indrajit fought with Rama's army for three days.
First day
On the first day of his battle with Rama's army, Indrajit was swift with his weapons. He swiftly wiped out the Armies of the SugrivaSugriva
In the Hindu epic Ramayana, Sugriva , also spelled Sugreeva or Sugreev, was the younger brother of Bali, whom he succeeded as ruler of the vanara or monkey kingdom Kishkindha. Ruma was his wife. He was the son of Surya, the Hindu deity of the sun...
, calling on the Lord Rama and Lakshmana to come out of their hiding, so he could avenge the deaths of his paternal uncle and his brothers. When Rama and Lakshmana appeared before him, he fought fiercely, and arrested both the brothers using his most nefarious weapon Nagapash (a trap made of million snakes). Both the brothers fell on the ground breathless. They were rescued by the Garuda
Garuda
The Garuda is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology.From an Indian perspective, Garuda is the Hindu name for the constellation Aquila and...
on behest of Hanuman
Hanuman
Hanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...
. Garuda was the enemy of the serpents and also the flying vehicle of Narayana.
Second day
When Indrajit learned that both the Brothers Rama and Lakhsmana were still alive and were rescued by Garuda, he was fiery and vowed to kill at least one of the brothers that day. When the battle started, he used all his force to cast a havoc on the armies of Sugriva. At this Lakshmana appeared before him, and fought a fierce battle with him. When Indrajit realised that Lakshmana could not be won over, he started using his supreme magical powers, darting across the clouds and skies like a bolt of lightning. He combined his skills of sorcery and deceptive warfare, repeatedly vanishing and reappearing behind Lakshmana's back to catch him off-guard, when used his fiercest and deadliest weapon, Shakti. On being impaled in the back by the weapon, Lakshmana fell unconscious, poised to die precisely at the following sunrise. His life was saved by Lord Hanuman, who kidnapped the Rajvaidya(royal physician) Sushena from the Lankan fortress, and brought the whole mountain of Dronagiri from the Himalayas to Lanka overnight to find the remedy(the magical herb - Sanjivani) for the weapon used by Indrajit. Sushena first was hesitant to use the herb on an enemy, which was only common as he was abducted from Lanka and was in a bad mood, but when Rama reminded him of the ancient saying that physicians then used, "A physician has no friends or enemies", Sushena bowed beneath the saying and cured Lakshmana, who, aroused and ready, challenged Indrajit once more.Third day
When Indrajit came to know that Lakhsmana had survived again, he went to his native deity's secret temple to perform the yagna that would make him invincible. Vibhishana, Indrajit's paternal uncle who left Ravana to join Rama in the name of truth and justice, learned of his nephew Indrajit's routine through his spies and alerted Lord Rama. Lakshmana and Vibhisana took the opportunity to face Indrajit in the "Yagnaagaar", where Indrajit would not touch any weapons. Indrajit fought Lakshmana with the utensils of the yagna and even managed to escape from there.As the Valmiki Ramayana quotes, upon his Yagna being destroyed by the armies of Lakshmana, Indrajit became enraged and stormed out of the Temple Cave. Seeing his uncle Vibhishana (who had abandoned Ravana and joined Rama) at Lakshmana's side multiplied Indrajit's fury manifold. He vowed to kill his uncle Vibhisana along with Lakshmana once and for all, letting loose the Yama-astra which he had been conserving for punishing Vibhishana's perceived treason. At this juncture, Lakshmana protected Vibhsana, countering the Yama-astra owing to an earlier warning by Kubera
Kubera
Kubera , also spelt Kuber, is the Lord of wealth and the god-king of the semi-divine Yakshas in Hindu mythology. He is regarded as the regent of the North , and a protector of the world His many epithets extol him as the overlord of numerous semi-divine species and the owner of the treasures of...
. Fierce battle ensued, and unable to injure Lakshmana by normal means, Indrajit resorted to the use of the three Supreme Weapons (Brahmastra, Pashupatastra, and Vaishnavastra) on Lakshmana. To Indrajit's great shock and dismay, each of the three weapons refused to even touch Lakshmana, with the Vaishnavastra circumambulating Lakshmana before disappearing. Realization dawned on Indrajit that Lakshmana was no ordinary human as he and his father had perceived. Indrajit vanished briefly from the battlefield, returning to Ravana at the royal palace, and reported the developments, proposing that his father make peace with Rama and protect the demon race from further decimation. Ravana, blinded with pride, was unrelenting and annoyed, and even suggested that Indrajit was a coward having fled the battlefield. This accusation provoked Indrajit who briefly lost his temper, striking fear even at the mighty Ravana's heart before apologising and clarifying to his father that his primary duty as a son was to serve his father's best interests, and that even in the face of death, he'd never abandon Ravana. Preparing to go back on the battle and knowing that he indeed faced death at the hands of a heavenly incarnation, Indrajit bade his last goodbyes to his parents and his wife. He returned to the battlefield and fiercely fought Lakshmana with all his skill at both warfare, and sorcery. Lakshmana was unstoppable, and slew Indrajit by beheading him with the Aindrastra (verses 71 and 72 chapter 90 Yudhkanda Valmiki Ramayana). Upon his death his wife Sulochana
Sulochana (Ramayana)
Sulochana was the daughter of the King of the Serpents Shesha Naga, who is mentioned in the Indian epic Ramayana. She was married to Indrajit who was the son of demon king Ravana, who defeated Indra, hence received his title....
became Sati
Sati (practice)
For other uses, see Sati .Satī was a religious funeral practice among some Indian communities in which a recently widowed woman either voluntarily or by use of force and coercion would have immolated herself on her husband’s funeral pyre...
on his funeral pyre.
The verse invoked by Lakshmana to slay Indrajit is considered by the devout as one of the moola mantras of the Ramayana:
dharmaatmaa satyasandhashcha raamo daasharathiryadi |
pauruShe chaapratidvandvastadenaM jahi raavaNim || 90-6-71
“[O! my dear arrow!] If Rama, the son of Dasaratha, is ever firm on the staying the path of Dharma and Satya, and is second to none in his prowess, go forth and destroy this Indrajit.”