7 Unbelievable and Shocking Facts About Kumbhakarna
According to ancient Indian epic Ramayana, Raavan had two brothers – Vibhishan and Kumbhakarana. The three of them had gone into intense meditation (tapasya) for years to please Lord Brahma. Impressed with their tapasya, when Lord Brahma appeared before them, he wasa little apprehensive to bless Kumbhakarana witha boon.The above has been described in Ramayana with this line,‘पुनि प्रभु कुंभकरन पहिं गयऊ। तेहि बिलोकि मन बिसमय भयऊ।‘Meaning, when Lord Brahma moved towards Kumbhakarana after fulfilling Raavan’s desire, hewas quite shocked to see him. Ramayana further adds,‘जौं एहिं खल नित करब अहारू। होइहि सब उजारि संसारू।। सारद प्रेरि तासु मति फेरी। मागेसि नीद मास षट केरी।।‘Lord Brahma was shocked to see Kumbhakaranawondering that if he continues to eat to his full stomach daily, soon the whole nature would end. Scared by the thought, Brahma with the help of Goddess Saraswati, made Kumbhakarana dumb.Because of being dumb, Kumbhakarana asked Lord Brahma to fulfill his wish of sleeping for 6 months at a stretch as a boon. Brahma blessed accordingly.What impact did it make in Kumbhakaran’s life?According to Ramayana,‘अतिबल कुंभकरन अस भ्राता। जेहि कहुँ नहिं प्रतिभट जग जाता करइ पान सोवइ षट मासा। जागत होइ तिहुँ पुर त्रासा’Which means that Raavan’s brother Kumbhakarana was extremely powerful and there was no one who could challenge and defeathim in the whole world. He would be awake for one day and eat the whole day and finish his meal with alcohol. He would then sleep again for 6 months. When he used to be awake, he would only create chaos and destruction around.Kumbhkarana Eating Capacity was Shocking‘जौ दिन प्रति अहार कर सोई। बिस्व बेगि सब चौपट होई’If Kumbhakarana would eat daily, he had the capacity to finish the entire world very soon. Therefore, Brahma with the help of Saraswati turned him dumb.Kumbkarana was Unhappy With Raavan When heKidnapped SitaWhen the war between Rama and Raavan began, the ape army had killed many soldiers of Raavan’s army. Soon Raavan asked his army to wake up Kumbhakarana. When Kumbhakarana woke up, he realized that Raavan had kidnapped Sita, he was unhappy with him.Kumbhkarana had Asked Raavan to Apologize to Rama‘जगदंबा हरि आनि अब सठ चाहत कल्यान’These were Kumbhakarana’s words to Raavan. In the above line, Kumbhakarana calls Raavan a foolish. He says, “After kidnapping the ‘jagat janani’, if you expect happiness for yourself, you are a fool.”He tried hard to explain Raavan about the repercussions of this war with Rama. He asked Raavan to apologize to Rama and return Sita. This was the only way to save the Rakshasa clan.However, Raavan refused to listen to him.The Knowledge of PhilosophyKumbhakarana had nothing to do with sin-virtue,religion or karma. He would sleep for 6-months and then wake up for a day and only eat to his heart’s content on that day. The remaining day, he would spend meeting his relatives and knowing how they were. Although, he was a rakshasa, but he would always be away from violence. Because of this reason, Narad Muni hadtaught him all aspects of Philosophy.For Raavan’s Pride, Kumbhakarana agreed to fightWhen Raavan refused to cancel the war, Kumbhakarana had to agree to be a part of the war to maintain his brother’s pride. Kumbhakarana knew that Rama was the avatar of Lord Vishnu and it was impossible to defeat him in war. Despite all this, he went on to fight with Rama.Kumbhkaran wanted MokshaAccording to Shri Ramcharitmanas,Kumbhakarana went to fight Rama with an intention of availing moksha. He was a devotee ofRama. When Rama’s arrow shot him dead, he achieved moksha.
Courtesy:Dailybhaskar.com
