Indrajit
Meghanada | |
---|---|
Devantaka Trishira (brothers) | |
Spouse | Sulochana |
Home | Lanka |
Meghanada (
Etymology
Indrajita had the special ability to fight from the sky, hidden behind the clouds. That is why both Rama and Lakshmana were defeated during the battle and were tied up by the snake[citation needed]. In Sanskrit, the literal translation of the name "Indrajita" (इन्द्रजित) is mentioned as the "Conqueror of Indra. He defeated Indra, the king of the devas, after which he came to be known as "Indrajita" (the conqueror of Indra).[6] He is also known as Shakrajit, Ravani, Vasavajit, Varidanada, and Ghananada.
Early life
Indrajita was the eldest son of Ravana and his wife Mandodari. He was named Meghanada after his birth because his birth cry sounded like thunder. When Meghanada was going to be born, Ravana wished his son to be supreme so that no one in the world could defeat him. Ravana wanted his son to be the ultimate warrior and extremely knowledgeable. Ravana was a great astrologer. To make his son immortal, he commanded all the planets and constellations in such a position that would allow his son to be born the way he wanted. Because of Ravana's anger and power, all the planets and constellations feared him. All the planets were in the position as desired by Ravana at time of his son Meghanada's birth. All the planets aligned in such a way that they came in the 11th house of Meghanada's horoscope.[7] However, Shani (Saturn) had disobeyed Ravana's orders and had settled in the 12th house of Meghanada's horoscope. Ravana became furious at this and blamed Shani. Due to the state of Shani, Meghanada had to die at the hands of Lakshmana in the war between Prince Rama and Ravana.
Meghanada was also an expert in magical warfare, sorcery and tantra. His wife is not mentioned in the original epic; however in later versions of the epic,
Brahma's boon
During the battle between the devas and Ravana, Indra, king of heavens accompanied by all other devas captured
Role in battle
Meghanada was the greatest warrior on Ravana's side. He was a great archer and unsurpassed grand master in illusion warfare techniques.
First Day
On the first day of his battle with Rama's army, Indrajita was fast with his weapons. Angada jumped onto Indrajit's chariot and killed his horses and charioteer.[10] Immediately, Indrajit became invisible and went into the clouds, from where he attacked and swiftly wiped out the armies of Sugriva, calling on Rama and Lakshmana to come in a direct combat by his illusion tactics of sorcery, so he could avenge the deaths of his paternal uncle and his brothers. When Lakshmana appeared before him, he fought fiercely and used his most nefarious weapon Nagapasha (a trap made of a million snakes). Rama and Lakshmana fell on the ground breathless. They were rescued by Garuda on behest of Hanuman. Garuda was the nephew of Jatayu and Sampati and the enemy of the serpents and also the flying vehicle of Vishnu, of whom Rama was the seventh avatar.
Second Day
When Indrajita discovered that both Rama and Lakshmana had been rescued by Garuda and were still alive, he was livid and vowed to kill at least one of the brothers on 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 him fiercely. Indrajita used his supreme magical powers, darting across the clouds and skies like a bolt of lightning. He combined his skills of sorcery and illusion warfare, repeatedly vanishing and reappearing behind Lakshmana's back. He was invisible but his arrows injured Lakshmana. Indrajita used the Vasavi Sakthi against Lakshmana, and upon being impaled Lakshmana fell unconscious, poised to die precisely at the following sunrise. His life was saved by Hanuman, who 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 Indrajita and cured him. Although there is false speculation that Rama fought, too. Dharma does not allow multiple warriors to fight against one and it was only Lakshmana who was injured because it is against moral duty to fight against an invisible warrior.
Third day
When Indrajita learned that Lakshmana had survived again, he went to his native deity's secret temple to perform the yagna that would make him a warrior who can't be killed by anyone.
In popular culture
- In the Tamil movie, 'Seetha Jananam or Vedavathi (1941), M.G. Ramachandran, played the Indrajita character.
- Meghnada or Indrajita is the central character in Michael Madhusudan Dutt's Bengali epic poem, Meghnad Badh Kavya (English: The Slaying of Meghnada).
See also
- Valmiki
- Ramayana
- Meghnad Bodh Kavya
- Hindu mythological wars
- Patalkot, India
References
- ^ www.wisdomlib.org (28 January 2019). "Story of Indrajit". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ ISBN 978-955-96843-0-5.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-57607-283-7.
- ^ 9
- ^ a b c DUTT, MANMATHA NATH (1894). The Ramayana. CALCUTTA: Elysium Press.
- ^ a b "The Ramayana index".
- ^ "Ravana and Shani fight over the horoscope of Meghanath". Retrieved 2 December 2015.
- ^ Dalal, Roshen (2010). Hinduism: An alphabetical guide
- ISBN 978-0-520-22703-3.
- ^ "Valmiki Ramayana - Yuddha Kanda - Sarga 44".
External links
- Intarachit in the Thai Ramakian (Ramayana)
- The Slaying of Meghanada by Michael Madhusudan Datta (https://home.uchicago.edu/cbs2/Megha.html)