A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.1504.1

c5.1504.1

RĀVANA. The demon king of Lankā or Ceylon, from which he expelled his half-brother Kuvera. He was son of Visravas by his wife Nikashā, daughter of the Rākshasa Su-mālī. He was half-brother of Kuvera, and grandson of the Rishi Pulastya; and as Kuvera is king of the Yakshas, Rāvana is king of the demons called Rākshasas. Pulastya is said to be the progenitor, not only of Rāvana, but of the whole race of Rākshasas. By penance and devotion to Brahmā, Rāvana was made invulnerable against gods and demons, but he was doomed to die through a woman. He was also enabled to assume any form he pleased. All Rākshasas are malignant and terrible, but Rāvana as their chief attained the utmost degree of wickedness, and was a very incarnation of evil. He is described in the Rāmāyana as having "ten heads (hence his names Dasānana, Dasa-kantha, and Pankti-grīva), twenty arms, and copper-coloured eyes, and bright teeth like the young moon. His form was as a thick cloud or a mountain, or the god of death with open mouth. He had all the marks of royalty, but his body bore the impress of wounds inflicted by all the divine arms in his warfare with the gods. It was scarred by the thunderbolt of Indra, by the tusks of Indra's elephant Airāvata, and by the discus of Vishnu. His strength was so great that he could agitate the seas and split the tops of mountains. He was a breaker of all laws and a ravisher of other men's wives. . .