Indrajit

Etymology

In Sanskrit literal translation the name "Indrajit"(Sanskrit: इंद्रजीत) mentioned as "Conqueror of Indra" and "Mēghanāda"(Sanskrit: मेघनाद) as "Thunderous or lord of sky". In Tamil literal translation the name "Meghanathan" (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").

Biography

Indrajit was the eldest son of Ravana and his wife Mandodari. He was named Meghanada 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 he 11th house of his Meghnad’s horoscope and an ultimate warrior was born.

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 daitya(demons). He was married to Sulochana, the daughter of the King of the Serpents Shesha Naga.

Brahma's Boon

During a battle between the Devas and Ravana, Meghanada defeated all the Devas and 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 his Yagna(fire-worship) of his native goddess Prathyangira would be completed, he will become immortal. 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").

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.

Battle against Hanuman

Rama sent Hanuman to know about Sita, who were 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. Hanuman fought with them and swiftly destroyed many soldiers. 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, the most celestial weapon's of Indrajit had no effect on Hanuman. This promoted 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 fall unconscious which caused his defeat in the battle. Indrajit arrested Hanuman and presented him in front of his father King Ravana.

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

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 behind Rama's and Lakshmana's back. Indrajit used the Vasavi Sakthi against Rama, Lakshmana and the army of Sugriva. On being impaled by that weapon Rama, Lakshmana and the entire army fell unconscious, poised to die precisely at the following sunrise. Their 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 them.

Third day

When Indrajit came to know that Lakshmana had survived again, he went to his native deity's secret temple to perform the yagna that would make him immortal. Vibhishana, Indrajit's paternal uncle who left Ravana to join Rama, learned of his nephew Indrajit's plans through his spies and alerted Rama. Lakshmana and Vibhisana took the opportunity to face Indrajit in the "Yagnaagaar", where Indrajit 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. Indrajit 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 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 Ram helped them to kill him.

Abilities

Indrajit is said to be the one among the most skilled warriors. Indrajit with the help of Shukracharya acquired weapons from Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, including the boon that he would become immortal after performing him yajna.

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 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, demoralizing them.

Lakshmana aided by Vibhishana, employed strategy to kill Indrajit. Lakshman along with Vibhishana invite Indrajit to a fight, even before Indrajit starts 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. Each part exhibits different incidents. Starting from the death of Beerbahu, 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.

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 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. 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.

In Xena: Warrior Princess, Indrajit was a major antagonist in season 4. A severe enemy of Eli, who was a follower of peace and light, his goal was to vanquish him. Xena, fully aware of the situation at hand, took it upon herself to protect Eli and Gabrielle. As it often occurred in the Xenaverse, a battle was inevitable. At first, the battle between him and Xena seemed to go in his favor. After a dramatic battle sequence, he cut off both of her arms. As she lay there dying, she called upon Krishna, who took over her body to battle him. She grew her arms back, as well as two others. Ultimately, he fell at the hands of Xena and Krishna. While still under the direction of Krishna, Xena used one of her hooks to decapitate Indrajit.