Kabandha

(“headless trunk”) A demon in the
Ramayana (the earlier of the two great
Hindu epics) who attacks the god-king
Rama, the epic’s protagonist, and
Rama’s brother Lakshmana. In a previous life Kabandha has been a king of the
gandharvas, or celestial musicians; but
in a battle with the god Indra,
Kabandha’s head is pushed down into
his body. When Kabandha requests
some means by which he can eat, Indra
places a mouth in Kabandha’s belly.
Indra tells him that the curse will be
broken when Rama and Lakshmana cut
off his arms.
As Rama and Lakshmana travel
through a forest, searching for Rama’s
kidnapped wife Sita, they are set upon
by Kabandha, who grabs each of them in
one of his long arms. Finding they could
not escape, Rama and Lakshmana each
slash off one of his arms, and with his
dying breaths Kabandha asks the brothers to burn his body. As the body is
burning, the gandharva king arises from
the fire in his previous form and advises
the brothers to seek help from the monkey-king Sugriva.