Indrajit

Indrajit
Victory Of Meghanada (Painting By Raja Ravi Varma)
Information
Spouse(s)	Sulochana

Indrajit or Meghanada, according to Hindu mythology, was a prince of Lanka and a conqueror of Indra Loka (heaven)Protector of Human world. He was mentioned in the Indian epic Ramayana as the son of king Ravana. Ravana wanted his son to be a great devotee of Lord Shiva. As per the wishes of Ravana, Indrajit was blessed to be a great warrior equal to Lord Shiva and one of his great devotee. He was prophesied to be reborn in Sri Lanka when the people need him.Indrajit played an active role in the great war between Rama and Ravana. He was a mighty Atimaharathi class warrior. He is considered as the most powerful warrior ever and among the only warrior along with Parshurama to ever possess the three ultimate weapons of Trimurti, i.e. Brahmanda astra, Vaishnava astra, and Pashupatastra. He acquired all kinds of celestial weapons from his Guru Shukra, Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. By defeating the devas in the heaven he took their weapons and become the possessor of all kinds of divine weapons of deva, asura's and Trimurti's.^[1] He even twice defeated Rama and Lakshman, the avatars of Lord Vishnu. Indrajit killed 670 million Vanara's in a single day, nearly exterminating the entire half man-half monkey race.^[1][2]

Etymology

In Sanskrit literal translation the name "Indrajit"(इन्द्रजित्) mentioned as "Conqueror of Indra" and "Meghanāda"(Sanskrit: मेघनाद) as "Thunderous or lord of sky". In Tamil literal translation the name "Meghanathan"^[3] (Tamil: மேகநாதன்) mentioned as "Lord of Clouds", which combines the words "Megham"(clouds) and "Nathan"(lord). He defeated Indra, the king of the Devas, after which he came to be known as 'Indrajit'("the conqueror of Indra").

He can be also known as Shakrajit, Ravani, Vasavajit, Varidanada and Ghananada. Indrajith is a derived version of the original Sanskrit name Indrajitha.

Biography

Wayang Figure Of Indrajit.

Indrajit 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 Meghnadh 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 knew a great priest and as per his instructions 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 constellation feared him. All the planets were in the position as desired by Raavan at time of his son Meghnad’s birth. All the planets aligned in such a way that they come in the 11th house of his Meghnad’s horoscope and an ultimate warrior was born.^[4] 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 lamed Shani.Due to the state of Shani, Meghanada had to die at the hands of Lakshmana in the war between Rama and Ravana in the future.But lord shiva has blessed him to born in this kalpa in Sri Lanka.once he is reborn he will awaken from his deep consciousness ,he will remember the past life have the mission of lord shiva prophesied.

At a very young age, Meghanada became the possessor of several supreme celestial weapons, including Brahmanda astra, Pashupatastra and Vaishnavastra, under the guidance of Shukra, the guru of the daityas.Since his childhood, Meghanada showed extraordinary signs of becoming the greatest of warriors ever and went through tough penance to attain the knowledge of celestial weapons as well as magical powers and the art of sorcey. He was married to Sulochana, the virtuous daughter of the King of the Serpents, Shesha Naga.She was a very brave woman who always supported Meghanada in his path of duty and never asked him to withdraw from any war by making him weak.

Brahma's Boon

During a battle between the Devas and Ravana, Indra, accompanied by other devas, captured Ravana.In the same battle,Ravana's maternal grandfather, Sumali was killed by the Vasu, Savitra. To rescue his father, Meghanada attacked Indra and his elephant Airavat, defeated all the Devas and even Indra. Meghanada tied and mounted Indra onto his celestial chariot and dragged him to Ravana in Lanka. Ravana and Meghanada decided to kill Indra. At this juncture, Brahma intervened and asked Meghanada to free Indra. Meghanada 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 that after the completion of the Yagna(fire-worship) of his native goddess Prathyangira or the "Nikumbhila yagna" would be completed, he will get a celestial chariot, mounting on which, he will win over any enemy in war and become invulnerable. But Brahma also cautioned him that whosoever would destroy this yagna would also kill him. Brahma was highly impressed by Meghanada's valor in this war and it was he who gave him the name Indrajit ("the conqueror of Indra").

It is also believed that Meghanada was granted another boon by Brahma in which it was promised to him that he would only be killed by such a man who hadn't had sleep and food for twelve years.However, Rama's brother Lakshmana didn't have any sleep or food for twelve years during their exile so that he would be able to serve Rama and Sita efficiently.

It was due to the side effects of these boons that Meghanada (Indrajit) was slain by Lakshmana in war.

Celestial weapons (Astra's) of Indrajit

Indrajit was trained under the guidance of Shukra and obtained all kinds of divine weapons of man, Devas, asura's and Trimurti's. The weaponry is categorized mainly into two types. One is Shastra, a handheld weapon like sword, lance or mace. The other is astra, a projectile missile invoked by reciting hymns.

Shastra's of Indrajit were,

Offensive astra's of Indrajit were:

Defensive astra's or Upasamhaara astras, which can be used to neutralize enemy's astra's are

Offensive astras and their Defensive astras or Upasamhaara Astras that can be used for both offensive and defensive purposes are.^[6]

Battle against Hanuman

Rama sent Hanuman to know about Sita, who was held captive by Ravana in Lanka. Hanuman met Sita and passed the message of Rama to Sita. The other purpose of this mission was to spy on Lanka and its forces. On the way Hanuman encountered the troops of Ravana in Ashoka vatika, where Sita was kept. Hanuman fought with them and swiftly destroyed many soldiers.Hanuman even killed the vatika's guard Jambumali and Ravana's youngest son Akshayakumara(Indrajit's brother). But things changed when Indrajit entered the battlefield. Hanuman was no match for Indrajit who used his superior skills in celestial weapons and magic in the battle. Though due to the boons by various gods, even the most celestial weapons of Indrajit had no effect on Hanuman. This prompted Indrajit to use powerful celestial weapons including the Brahmastra. Due to an earlier boon by Lord Brahma, Hanuman was not killed by Brahmastra but to keep the glory of creator Brahma's weapon Brahmastra, Hanuman voluntarily surrendered to this astra's intense energy and fell unconscious which caused his defeat in the battle. Indrajit arrested Hanuman and presented him in front of his father King Ravana.^[7]

Battle Against Rama & 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 Kumbhakarna had been killed by Rama. Indrajit fought with Rama's army for three days.

First Day

Rama & Lakshmana Bound By Indrajit's Nagapasha

On the first day of his battle with Rama's army, Indrajit was swift with his weapons. He swiftly wiped out the Armies of Sugriva, calling on 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 a million snakes). Both the brothers fell on the ground breathless. They were rescued by Garuda on behest of Hanuman. Garuda was the enemy of the serpents and also the flying vehicle of Vishnu, of whom Rama was the seventh avatar.

Second Day

When Indrajit learned 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 that day. When the battle started, he used all his force to cast a havoc on the armies of Sugriva. At this Rama and Lakshmana appeared before him and fought a fierce battle with him. Indrajit used his supreme magical powers, darting across the clouds and skies like a bolt of lightning. He combined his skills of sorcery and warfare, repeatedly vanishing and reappearing in order to confuse his enemies. Indrajit used the "Veer ghatini shakti" against Lakshmana. On being impaled by that weapon, Lakshmana fell unconscious, poised to die precisely at the following sunrise. His life was saved by Lord 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 Indrajit and cured him .

Third day

Lakshamana Fights Indrajit

Killing Of Indrajit Painting By Balasaheb Pant Pratinidhi

When Indrajit came to know that Lakshmana had survived again, he went to his native deity's secret temple cave to perform the Nikumbhila yagna that would make him invincible. Vibhishana, Indrajit's paternal uncle who left Ravana to join Rama, learned of his nephew's plans through his spies and alerted Rama, (Because of Vibhishana betrayal of his family and lust for ruling Lanka whole Ramayana story was changed-he has given all the family secrets to Rama)who ordered Lakshmana to destroy the yagna and kill Indrajit.Vibhishana disclosed all the secret paths to Lakshmana which would lead to the place where Indrajit would have been performing the sacrifice. Lakshmana and Vibhisana took the opportunity to face Indrajit in the "Yagnaagaar", where he would not touch any weapons . 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. He fought Lakshmana with the utensils of the yagna.

Seeing his uncle Vibhishana at Lakshmana's side multiplied Indrajit's fury manyfold. He vowed to kill his uncle Vibhisana after rebuking him terribly for cheating Lanka along with Lakshmana once and for all. The weaponless Indrajit overpowered both of them easily which forced them to retreat. They later came with Hanuman who on the order of Rama helped them to kill him.

The war between Indrajit and Lakshmana lasted for three days and three nights.During this war, both of them fired several weapons at each other, sometimes failing and sometimes succeeding.Their bodies were covered with blood.Indrajit used the three most potential weapons of the universe- Pashupatastra, Vaishnava astra and Bramhand astra one by one against Lakshmana to end the war but none of them even touched Lakshmana.Then Indrajit realised that Lakshmana and his brother Rama were no ordinary humans but divine incarnations.He vanished briefly from the battlefield and told his father in Lanka about everything, advising him to return Sita back to Rama and end the war.However, Ravana didn't pay heed to his son's advice and said to him that he had been tired of the war and had purposely left the war, in fear of Lakshmana's arrows.Indrajit, who would not tolerate anyone calling him a coward, shouted at his father but later apologised.He bid farewell to his wife and mother, accepted his fate and went back to the battlefield in order to fulfill his duty as a son.After a fierce fight, Lakshmana finally invoked the Indraastra(Indra's weapon)and uttered the following words:

"If Rama, the son of Dasharatha is the epitome of Dharma and if I am his true servant, then oh arrow, go forth and behead Meghanada(Indrajit), the son of Ravana"

Lakshmana fired the weapon, which ultimately severed Indrajit's head from his body and carried it away. According to some verses, Lakshmana also severed Indrajit's arm, which fell in front of his wife Sulochana, who made the arm come to life by the power of her devotion towards her husband and got to know about his heroic death on the battlefield when the arm wrote about the same.

Rama treated Indrajit's dead body with honor and returned the body to Lanka for a respectful funeral. When Ravana received the news of his son's demise, he collapsed at once.

Sulochana committed sati on the funeral pyre of Indrajit due to her dedication and love for him.

Abilities

Indrajit is said to be the one among the most skilled, brave and great warriors of all time. Indrajit with the help of Shukracharya acquired weapons from Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, including the boon that he would become invincible after performing the yajna for his native deity.

He was said to be so skilled in archery that he could slay multiple opponents with one arrow shot from his bow. Indrajit was also capable of spreading darkness and ignorance among enemies, which greatly empowered the might of the Rakshasas.He was also capable of vanishing, reappearing and attacking from the edge of clouds in sky without coming in notice of his enemies. He even defeated Indra and all Devas and captured all of them. Indrajit was well versed in using divine weapons and shot serpents in the form of arrows at Rama and Lakshmana. On the second battle at Lanka, Indrajit infused the power of the Brahmashira astra into his chariot, bow and arrows and slew six hundred and seventy million Vanaras in one day, even defeating Rama and Lakshmana. However, they were all resurrected when Hanuman brought mystical herbs of healing powers. Indrajit was capable of producing a false version of Sita and killing her in front of Vanaras, thus demoralizing them.

Lakshmana aided by Vibhishana, employed strategy to kill Indrajit. Lakshman along with Vibhishana invite Indrajit to a fight, even before Indrajit completes his sacrifice which would have made him invincible. A fierce fight ensues between Indrajit and Lakshmana who is accompanied by Hanuman, Vibhishana and the vanara army in which Indrajit's chariot, charioteer and horses are killed. As soon as he steps out of his chariot, Indrajit becomes vulnerable and is killed by Lakshmana using the Indraastra.

In Popular Culture

Meghnad is the central figure of Meghnad Badh Kavya, a Bengali ballad, which describes Meghnad as a caring husband, a devoted son of parents and friend of all people. Meghnad Badh Kavya is the most famous and most acclaimed poem by the poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta. It is based on the demise of Meghnad (Indrajit), son of Ravana, the villain of the classic Sanskrit epic Ramayana.

It was first published in 1861, incidentally the year of birth of the Bengali author, Rabindranath Tagore, who afterwards wrote a review on it. The ballad is divided into 9 different sargas, i.e. parts.^[8] Each part exhibits different incidents. Starting from the death of Beerbahu, a son of Ravana, it is continued till the sati-daha (the ancient Indian custom of burning the widows alive with the dead husband) of Prameela, Meghnad's beloved wife.Since according to this ballad, Meghnad's wife is Prameela, it can be reasonably believed that Sulochana was also known as Prameela.

Ravana, along with his sons, were the ones performing evil deeds in the Ramayana, which was originally written in Sanskrit by the sage Valmiki. But Dutta claims to have found a tragic hero in Meghnad of Ramayana, as he was conversant Western literature. He feels a shadow of Hector of Troy in Meghnad and Karna in Mahabharata. According to him, he realized why Ravana had perpetrated such crimes and Meghnad was slayed by Lakshmana brutally in an unfair fight. He says that Meghnad was worshiping Lord Shiva in the royal temple of Lanka, while Lakshmana attacked him with some help from Vibhishana who is eventually an uncle of Meghnad. Meghnad asked not to fight with an unarmed person, rebuking Lakshmana as a coward; but Lakshmana did not heed him. This unfortunate hero twice endangered Rama but could not survive himself in this unfair battle. This is the central theme of this epic. Here Meghnad is shown to be a patriot, a loving husband, a caring son and a friend to his countrymen.

See also

• Valmiki
• Ramayan
• Meghnad Bodh Kavya
• Radhakrishna
• Hindu mythological wars
• Patalkot, India
• Astra (weapon)

References

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Ramayana

External links

• Intarachit in the Thai Ramakian (Ramayana)