Kumbhakarna

Kumbhakarna
Kumbhakarna with his weapons
Affiliation	Rakshasa
Texts	Ramayana and its versions
Personal information
Parents	Vishrava (father) Kaikashi (mother)
Siblings	Ravana, Vibhishana (brothers) Shurpanakha (sister)
Consort	Vajrajwala Karkati
Children	Kumbha and Nikumbha (from Vajrajwala) Bhimasura (from Karkati)

This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.

Kumbhakarna (Sanskrit: कुम्भकर्ण, lit. pot-eared) is a well-known rakshasa and a younger brother of Ravana from the famous Hindu epic Ramayana. Despite his gigantic size and great appetite, he is described of a good character and a great warrior in the ancient Hindu Mythology, although he killed and ate many monkeys only to show his power during the war depicted in Ramayana.

He was considered pious and intelligent. He was also an unchallenged warrior as in a battle with Indra, the king of gods, Kumbhakarana was the one who won.

Along with his brothers, Ravana and Vibhishana, Kumbhkarna performed a major yajna and penance to please Lord Brahma. Indra who was worried and jealous of his strength. Indra went to Lord Brahma before the time for Kumbharana's boon came.

And when Kumbhkarna asked for his boon, his tongue was tied by goddess Saraswati, who acted on Indra's request; because of which, instead of asking Indraasana (throne of Indra), he asked for Nidraasana (bed for sleeping). It is also said he intended to ask for Nirdevatvam (annihilation of Devas) and instead asked for Nidravatvam (sleep). His request was instantly granted. However, his brother Ravana requested Brahma to undo this curse in the form of boon and Lord Brahma reduced it that he will sleep for six months and after he will sleep again as soon as his appetite goes down.^[1]

Origin[]

In the Bhagavata Purana, Kumbhakarna is said to be the incarnation of the gatekeeper deity Vijaya. Vijaya along with his brother and fellow gatekeeper Jaya, was punished by the Four Kumaras for impiety while they guarded the sacred realm of Vishnu. Vijaya was initially sentenced to mortality, but after appealing to the deity Vishnu for assistance, Vishnu agreed to reduce their sentence to just three lifetimes as his enemies before allowing them to return to the sacred realm Vaikuntha (place of eternal bliss). While his brother Jaya became Ravana, Vijaya became the godly demon Kumbhakarna during their second incarnation of three on Earth.

In the war[]

Kumbhakarna yawns as he is roused from Dhyana

During the war, Ravana went into battle and was humiliated by Shri Rama and his army. He decided he needed the help of his brother Kumbhakarna, who was awakened with great difficulty. He woke up only after one thousand elephants walked over him (Rāmāyaṇa 6.48.47).

Kumbhakarna Enters Warfront, Painting by Balasaheb Pandit Pant Pratinidhi

When he was informed of the circumstances of Ravana's war with Rama, he tried to convince Ravana that what he was doing was wrong. However, he chose to fight in the battle due to his loyalty to his brother. Kumbhakarna went into battle and devastated Rama's army. He knocked Sugriva unconscious, took him prisoner, but was blasted by arrow of Rama. When Ravana heard of his brother's death, he fainted and proclaimed that he was truly doomed.^[2]

Death of Kumbhakarna, c. 1670, Malwa painting, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kumbhakarna had two sons, Kumbha and Nikumbha, from his wife Vajrajwala, the daughter of Bali and granddaughter of Virochana who too fought in the war against Rama and were killed.^[3]

Jain tradition[]

Kumbhakarna attained Moksha from Barwani.^[4]

Characterization[]

Appearance[]

Kumbharana is depicted in various Indian Aam Lal pal Hal chal paintings.^[5][6] He is portrayed as a giant, sometimes with horns.

The demons try to rouse the giant Kumbhakarna, by hitting him with weapons and clubs and shouting in his ear, 17th century, British Museum.

Personality[]

Kumbhakarana is portrayed as a virtuous character, despite his monstrous size and appearance. He had asked his older brother Ravana to apologize for kidnapping Sita, however, Ravana did not heed this advice. He used to sleep for 6 months at a time.

Kumbhkaran Mask in Folk Play

Outside Indian subcontinent[]

Indonesia[]

Kumbakarna wayang (puppetry) figures in Indonesian culture

Defeat of Kumbakarna, Brahma Temple, Prambanan, Central Java, Indonesia

In Indonesian version. Kumbhakarna (Indonesian: Arya Kumbakarna ) is the second son of Resi Wisrawa with Dewi Sukesi, daughter of Prabu Sumali, king of the state of Alengka. He has three siblings named; Dasamuka/Ravana, Dewi Sarpakenaka and Arya Wibisana. Kumbakarna also has another mother named Wisrawana/Prabu Danaraja, the king of Lokapala, the son of Resi Wisrawa and Dewi Lokawati.

Kumbakarna has a seat in the ksatrian/state of Leburgangsa. He is honest, brave because he is right and is chivalrous. When he was young he went into meditation with the intention of getting God's grace. Kumbakarna once joined Prabu Dasamuka in attacking Suralaya, and got Dewi Aswani as his wife. From this marriage he had two sons named; Kumba-kumba and Aswanikumba.

When the Great Alengka war broke out, the Alengka country was attacked by the monkey army of Prabu Rama, under its warlord Narpati Sugriwa to free Dewi Sinta who was held captive by Prabu Dasamuka, Kumbakana stepped forward as a warlord. He fought not to defend the wrath of King Dasamuka but to defend the country of Alengka, the land of his ancestors who had given him life.

Kumbakarna finally died in the battle against King Rama and Laksmana. His body was dismembered into several pieces by the blows of the arrows that were released simultaneously. What happened to Kumbakarna was the action of Resi Wisrawa, his father, when he killed Jambumangli.

Kumbhakarna in Drama. Bali, Indonesia

According to the Ramayana story, Kumbakarna was the brother of Ravana, the rakshasa king of Alengka. Kumbakarna is a giant who is very tall and has a terrible face, but he is an officer and often realizes his brother's wrong actions. He has a weakness, which is sleeping for six months, and during that period of sleep, he is unable to exert all his strength. In Sanskrit, the name Kumbhakarna literally means "pitch-eared".

Kumbakarna's father was a sage named Wisrawa, and his mother was Kekasi, the daughter of a Detya king named Sumali. Rahwana, Wibisana and Surpanaka are his siblings, while Kubera, Kara, Dusana, Kumbini, are his half brothers. Marica is his uncle, son of Tataka, Sumali's brother. Kumbakarna had sons named Kumba and Nikumba. His two sons died in the battle in Alengka. Kumba met his death at the hands of Sugriwa, while Nikumba died at the hands of Hanoman, when Ravana and Kumbakrana performed penance, Lord Brahma appeared because he was pleased with their worship. Brahma gave them the opportunity to apply. When it was Kumbakarna's turn to make a request, Goddess Saraswati went into her mouth to bend her tongue, so when she asked for “Indraasan” (Indrāsan – the throne of Lord Indra), she said “Neendrasan” (Nīndrasan – eternal sleep). Brahma granted his request. Feeling affection for his sister, Ravana asked Brahma to cancel the gift. Brahma did not wish to cancel his gift, but he eased the gift so that Kumbakarna slept for six months and woke up for six months. While he is sleeping, he will not be able to exert all his strength.

Kumbakarna often gave advice to Ravana, realizing that his actions were wrong. When Ravana was overwhelmed with Sri Rama, he ordered Kumbakarna to confront him. Kumbakarna actually knew that his brother was wrong, but in order to defend Alengka, his homeland, he stepped forward as a soldier against Rama's invasion. Kumbakarna is often symbolized as an officer who defends his homeland, because he defends Alengka for all his people, not only for Ravana, and he fights against Rama without any hostility, just carrying out his obligations.

When the Alengka Kingdom was invaded by Rama and his allies, Ravana ordered his troops to wake up the sleeping Kumbakarna. Ravana's messenger woke Kumbakarna by leading the elephant to trample his body and pierce his body with a spear, then when Kumbakarna's eyes began to open, his messenger immediately brought the food to Kumbakarna's nose. After eating the food that was served, Kumbakarna really woke up from his sleep.

After waking up, Kumbakarna faced Ravana. He tried to advise Ravana to return Sita and explained that his brother's actions were wrong. Ravana was sad to hear this advice so that it touched Kumbakarna. Without being hostile to Rama, Kumbakarna went to the battlefield to fulfill his obligations as a defender of the country. Before the fight Kumbakarna talked with Wibisana, his sister, after that he fought with the Vanara troops.

In the war, Kumbakarna killed many Vanara troops and injured many selected soldiers such as Anggada, Sugriwa, Hanoman, Nila, and others. With his magic arrow, Rama severed Kumbakarna's hands. But with his feet, Kumbakarna was still able to trample the wanara troops. Then Rama cut off Kumbakarna's legs with his arrow. Without arms and legs, Kumbakarna rolled his body and ran over the wanara troops. Seeing Kumbakarna's might, Rama was impressed and amazed. But he didn't want Kumbakarna to suffer for too long. Finally Rama released his last arrow. The arrow separated Kumbakarna's head from his body and carried him flying, then fell in the center of Alengka.^[7]

See also[]

• Ravana

Literature[]

"Kumbhakarna" in M.M.S. Shastri Chitrao, Bharatavarshiya Prachin Charitrakosha (Dictionary of Ancient Indian Biography, in Hindi), Pune 1964, pp. 149-151

Notes[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kumbhakarna.

• Sri Lanka, Virtual Library. KUMBHAKARNA
• Pot-Ear's Awakening. From the Ramayana, as translated by Arthur W. Ryder