Meghanad or Indrajeet is an important character in Ramayana epic. He was the Son of Ravana, the demon king of Lanka. He was named Meghanad after his birth because his birth cry sunded like thunder. To make his son immortal, Ravana asked all the planets to remain in right places in meghanad’s horoscope. Except Saturn all others obeyed. And that remained as clue of meghanad’s death. Meghanad was a powerful fighter. He had all the divine weapons. In the Lanka war he defeated all the greant heroes of Ramas side – Hanuman, Sugriva, Angad, Laxman and Ramachandra Himself. In his first day of battle meghanad used Nagphas and bound Rama and Laxman. Later they were rescued by garuda. In the second day he used the powerful shakti which made Laxman unconscious on the battle field. Hanuman brought sanjivani herb from Himalayas to make Laxman alive.
On the third day his yajna was never completed due to the attack of the Vanara sena of Rama. Had his Yajna been completed, he wuld have been invincible. At last indrajeet was killed by Laxman. Meghanad was an infallible character in Ramayana, He did not make any fault in his life, unlike Karna, who mada an indecent comment on Draupadi in the Mahabharata. But Indrajeet was faultless. Although he was on the Adharma side still he was morally flawless. For example in the last encounter with Laxman, He used three final weapons – Brahmastra, Pasupata and Narayan Chakra. But they all refused to kill laxman. Meghanad was disillusioned at this. So he went back to his father Ravana and told all his experience and suggested to return sita to Ramachandra. Because Ram and Laxman were incarnations of god. But Ravana did not bother. So the inevitable came. But Meghanad supported the righteous.
This is remarkable in his character. In 1861. The Bengali poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt has written a Kavya known as Meghanad Vadha Kavya. This is an outstanding work. Ramanand Sagar, in his TV serial Ramayan, has depicted the character of Meghanad with outstanding dialogues which are appropriate and Sanskritised. Some examples are given here –1. Ye market ko Maharaj ke Darbaar main Pahuncha dena. (Take this monkey Hanuman to the court of Ravana.)2. Bibhisan Kaka, tum kul drohi, rajdrohi our santan drohi ho. (Uncle, you are a traitor to the kingdom, family and off spring)3. Laxman, tujhe yadi, Sri ram ki aan hai, mujhe meri desh ki aan hai. (If you have respect for Ram – one individual I have respect for my entire country.) Indeed indrajeet’s concept is larger than that of Laxman.a) Meghanad’s achievement was phenomenal.
To defeat Ram and Laxman is easier said than done. But Meghanad could do that. His father congratulated him. Meghanad, tu aaj mera mastak ooncha kar liya. Malyavan Chacha said –Indrajeet, tum Lanka ka Laaj ho. Lanka tum par sada garb karegi.Ravana was fortunte enough to have got a son like indrajeet. He said – “Abhinandan Meghanad, Ram vijayi Indrajeet ko abhinandan hei. Bibhisan our Malyavan chacha bol rahe the Ram Bhagwan hai, abinasi hei. Lekin mere Meghanad ki shakti ko nahi jante.” Meghanad was not only a successful fighter, but a sound moral person. He thought on the exigency of the moment. But unfortunately he was not the king; he was a prince. So his decision/ Suggestion could not be worked out. But Meghanad will be remembered for all time to come. There is not an iota of doubt.
(The views expressed are the writer’s own.)
Radhakanta Seth is a former Income tax officer in Sambalpur. He is a freelance writer and his articles have been published in some Oriya dailies like Sambad, Samaj, Dharitri, and English dailies like The Telegraph and in a sociological journal ‘Folklore’ published from Kolkata.
He can be reached at [email protected]
