Kumbhakarna

(“Pitcher-eared”) In the Ramayana, the
earlier of the two great Indian epics,
Kumbhakarna is the brother of Ravana,
the demon ruler of Lanka. As his name
indicates, his dominant facial feature
is his prominent ears. Kumbhakarna is
a reincarnation of Vijaya, Vishnu’s
378
Kumarila
gatekeeper, who has been cursed to be
reborn three times as a demon, killed
by the god Vishnu each time.
Kumbhakarna and his brothers have
performed harsh asceticism (tapas) in
their youth to gain boons from the gods.
When the god Brahma finally comes to
give him boons, Kumbhakarna means to
demand “nirdevatvam” (that he cannot
be conquered by any of the gods). At the
critical moment he is foiled by the goddess Saraswati, who has power over
speech. She dances on his tongue and
confuses his speech, causing him to
request “nidravatvam” (sleepiness).
Because of this slip of his tongue,
Kumbhakarna will sleep for six months
at a time, wake up to gorge himself with
food and drink for a short time, and then
fall asleep again. Some of the dramatic
tension in the battle portions of the
Ramayana pertains to the violent efforts
to rouse Kumbhakarna, so that he can
take part in the battle. Once awakened
he fights valiantly, but is eventually
killed by Rama.
As is true for all the demons,
Kumbhakarna is not wholly evil. Before
engaging in battle with Rama’s army,
he rebukes Ravana for kidnapping
Rama’s wife, Sita. He also notes that as
the younger brother it is his duty to
uphold the family honor. Here we find
the demon Kumbhakarna upholding
idealized Indian family values—the
younger brother is supposed to support and defend his elder brother’s
interests as a way to keep the family
intact. This same virtue is in Rama’s
younger brothers, Lakshmana and
Bharata. Despite their enmity, the
epic’s “heroes” and “villains” have significant shared values.