Once an angel, he was banished from Heaven with a choice of redundancy packages. He chose three mortal lives devoid of any Godly assistance so he could go to the bad and become the worst demon ever.

For his first life he chose to be Hiranyakashipu who even tortured his own son until dispatched by Vishnu.

But that was just a trial run — now he was back as Ravana the raging pillaging King of Demons. Ten heads, twenty arms, teeth like knives, he could be any size he wanted.

He was also immune from death by Gods, and he battled with them all. Vishnu’s Sun Disc and Indra’s Thunderbolts were a little wounding at the time but they soon healed up. The tusking by Indra’s four-tusked elephant put him in a very foul mood indeed.

The very elements shrank from his approach, the sun dimmed, tides stopped flowing and the winds went chill. Something had to be done and it was Vishnu using all his ingenuity to create himself as Rama to end it all.

Even that took a struggle of epic proportions with help from many quarters of the Godly kingdom. Legions of Indian artists have kept poverty at bay for centuries depicting large and lurid scenes of the final battle. Not to mention the rampaging sequel as his son Indrajit enacted revenge for his daddy’s final death.

But wait — this was not the end — there was one life to go and he became Sisupala..!

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Article last revised on September 18, 2018 by Rowan Allen.
Editors: Peter J. Allen, Chas Saunders

References: Coming soon.

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