Guide: Mahiravana

This is a guide to Mahiravana: A Magician Outwitted (Volume 526). You can find it at Amazon.

Bizzell Reserves call number: PN 6790 .I443 A437 v.526

See the detailed Reading Guide below.

Mahiravana (pp. 1-6). Mahiravana, magician, king of the netherworld, senses that his father, Ravana, needs his help, so he goes to Lanka. Ravana has summoned him in desperation after the deaths of his brother Kumbhakarna and his son Indrajit in battle. Ravana tells Mahiravana about Rama, Sita, and Hanuman. Mahiravana promises to help Ravana defeat Rama.

Additional reading: The story of Mahiravana (Ahiravana) is not found in Valmiki's Ramayana. Instead, it is found in other versions of the Ramayana. Sometimes Mahiravana is the brother of Ravana, and sometimes his son. You can read another version of the story of Ahiravana at Wikipedia. (It is quite different from the version here in the comic book!)

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The Fortress (pp. 6-11). Ravana's brother Vibhishana (now loyal to Rama) takes the form of a bird to spy on Ravana. He tells Rama about Mahiravana. Stretching his tail, Hanuman builds a fortress to protect Rama and Lakshamana, with the discus Sudarshan on top of the fortress to keep watch while Hanuman stands guard on the ground.

Additional reading: You can read about the Sudarshana Chakra (discus) of the god Vishnu at Wikipedia.

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The Tunnel (pp. 12-19). Meanwhile, Mahiravana plans to kidnap Rama and Lakshmana and sacrifice them to the goddess Durga. Mahiravana disguises himself as King Dasharatha in order to enter the fortress, and then as Bharata. These tricks fails, but when he pretends to be Vibhishana, Hanuman lets him in. When the real Vibhishana shows up, they rush inside but it's too late: Mahiravana has taken Rama and Lakshmana out through a tunnel, while all the rest of the army is fast asleep.

Additional reading: You can read about the goddess Durga, one of the many manifestation of Devi (the goddess), at Wikipedia.

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Hanuman in the Nether World (pp. 19-23). Hanuman goes on a rescue mission, following the tunnel that Mahiravana used to get out of the fortress. Although Hanuman hides in a tree, two women see him and from their conversation he learns of a prophecy that says that the arrival of monkeys and men mean that Mahiravana is doomed. Hanuman also learns that the sacrifice to Durga is about to begin, so he finds the temple and enters, disguised as a fly.

Additional reading: You can find out more about Patala, the nether world, at Wikipedia.

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Victory (pp. 24-31). Rama and Lakshmana awake, and Hanuman then goes to get Durga to help them. The goddess tells Hanuman how to defeat Mahiravana. Mahiravana begins the sacrifice, but Rama and Lakshmana refuse to bow, saying they don't know how. They ask Mahiravana to show them, and when he bows before the altar, Hanuman attacks! Mahiravana is defeated, and Hanuman takes Rama and Lakshmana back up through the tunnel to safety.

Additional reading: The story of Mahiravana is usually connected with Hanuman Panchamukha, "Five-Faced Hanuman." You might want to read that story at Wikipedia. It is a very cool story about why Hanuman needed to assume his five-faced form to rescue Rama and Lakshmana from Mahiravana. You can also find the story told in the Wikipedia article about Anjaneri, Hanuman's birthplace.

Guide: Ganga

This is a guide to Ganga: The Divine Beauty (Volume 515). You can find it at Amazon.

Bizzell Reserves call number: PN 6790 .I443 A437 v.515

Summary: Asuras who hide in the ocean are tormenting the people of earth, so Vishnu sends the gods to Agastya, who agrees to drink up the whole ocean, and it remains dry until the sons of Sagara set in motion a chain of events that brings the goddess Ganga to earth. When Sagara performs the Ashwamedha horse sacrifice, Indra steals the horse, so he sends all 60,000 sons in search of the horse; when they accuse Kapila of having stolen the horse, he burns them all to ashes. Sagara then sends his grandson Amsuman to see what happened. Amsuman retrieves the horse and discovers his uncles' ashes. Amsuman's own grandson Bhagiratha performs penances to bring Ganga down to earth, with Shiva protecting the earth from the power of her descent. When Ganga's waters disturb the sacrifice of Jahnu, he drinks her, but finally he relents and lets her go. Ganga fills the ocean and purifies the ashes of the sons of Sagara.

Guide: Kubera

This is a guide to Kubera: The Lord of Wealth (Volume 839). You can find it at Amazon.

Bizzell Reserves call number: PN 6790 .I443 A437 v.839

See the detailed Reading Guide below.

Kubera's Birth (pp. 1-5). The sage Pulastya, son of the god Brahma, comes to the ashram of sage Trinabindu, and he marries Trinabindu's daughter. Their child is Vishrava. When the virtuous Vishrava grows up, sage Bharadwaja arranges for Vishrava to marry his daughter, and their child is Vaisravana, also known as Kubera. Thanks to his austerities, Kubera impresses his great-grandfather Brahma. Kubera asks to be a lokapala, a guardian of the world. Brahma makes Kubera the guardian of wealth and he gives him the flying Pushpaka chariot, made by Vishvakarma, architect of the gods. Vishravan then advises his son to go live in Lanka.

Additional reading: There is a detailed article about Kubera at Wikipedia, and you can also learn more there about the lokapalas. There's an article about the Pushpaka Vimana too!

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The Story of Lanka (pp. 5-7). Vayu the wind god and Vasuki the cosmic serpent once had a contest to see who was strongest. Vasuki wrapped around Mount Meru while Vayu tried to blow the mountain away. Vishnu ordered them to stop and when Vasuki let go, Vayu's breath blew the peak of Trikuta off the mountain. It landed in the sea, and that was the origin of Lanka, which would later be the home of the rakshasas.

Additional reading: You can read about Mount Meru at Wikipedia, which is a sacred mountain in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religions, and there is also an article about peak Trikuta. You can learn more about Vayu and Vasuki too!

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Rakshasas in Lanka (pp. 7-10). When reciting the Vedas, the god Brahma felt hungry and his hunger gave birth to Praheti, a yaksha, and Heti, a rakshasa. Heti's son married Bhaya, sister of the god Yama, and their son Vidyutkesa had a son with the giantess Salakantaka, but the abandoned the baby. Shiva and Parvati rescued the child, who was named Sukesa. Parvati commanded that all rakshasas be born as adults, and so able to care for themselves, and Shiva bestowed great wealth on Sukesa. With a gandharva wife Sukesa had three sons: Malyavan, Sumali and Mali, but they used their powers for wicked purposes. They went to Lanka, living in a city built of solid gold by the divine architect Vishvakarma.

Additional reading: See Wikipedia for more about the rakshasas and yakshas. You can also learn more there about Vishvakarma, the divine architect and engineer. There is also a special section in that article about the construction of Lanka. 

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Kubera in Lanka (pp. 10-13). Malyavan, Sumali, and Mali challenged the gods, and the gods went to Vishnu for help. Vishnu led an attack, riding on Garuda, and he killed Mali with the Sudarshan chakra. Malyavan and Sumali retreated to Lanka, but Vishnu vowed to destroy them even there, so the rakshasas then fled to Patala, the underworld, abandoning Lanka. Kubera now goes to live in Lanka, ruling over the yakshas as their king.

Additional reading: You can read more about Vishnu and his Sudarshan weapon at Wikipedia, and also about Garuda, who is Vishnu's vahana (vehicle). There is an article about Patala too!

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Dashagriva, Son of Vishrava (pp. 14-18). When Sumali seeks Kubera's wealth, he decides to make his daughter Kaikesi the wife of Vishrava, the father of Kubera. Vishrava predicts that all their children, with one exception, will be wicked. They had four children: one daughter Shurpanakha and three sons — the ten-headed Dashagriva, Kumbhakarna, and Vibhishana. Vibhishana was the virtuous one of the four. When Kubera comes to visit his father, Kaikesi urges Dashagriva to make himself greater than Kubera. To gain power, Dashagriva cuts off his heads, one by one, and his brothers also do penances. Brahma grants them boons: Vibhishana asks to always be virtuous, and, thanks to a trick of the goddess Saraswati, Kumbhakarna asks to sleep for ages. Dashagriva asks for immortality, but Brahma refuses, so Dashagriva asks to be invincible, protected against other powerful beings, but he omits humans from the long list of beings.

Additional reading: Of course, Dashagriva is Ravana; he will gain that name later, but Dashagriva is his birth name. You can read about all four of the rakshasas at Wikipedia: Ravana, Shurpanakha, Kumbhakarna, and Vibhishana.

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Kubera Leaves Lanka (pp. 18-23). Sumali urges his grandson Dashagriva to take Lanka back from Kubera. At first Dashagriva is reluctant to fight his brother (half-brother). When he thinks about how the devas (gods) and the daityas are brother races (again, half-brothers) who are at war with one another, he changes his mind. Dashgriva demands that Kubera return Lanka to the Sumali and the rakshasas. Kubera agrees, but their father Vishrava urges Kubera to escape to the Himalayas, and there Kubera builds the city of Alakapuri.

Additional reading: There is an article at Wikipedia about Alakapuri, along with an article about Mount Kailash, which is the sacred abode of the god Shiva also — and remember that Shiva played an important role in this story, too, rescuing the infant Sukesa, the father of Sumali, Ravana's maternal grandfather.

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Dashagriva Attacks Kubera (pp. 24-29). King Dashagriva now leads the rakshasas into a war with all the three worlds, including devaloka, the home of the gods. Kubera asks Dashagriva to cease his attacks. Dashagriva is enraged and decides the time has come to attack Kubera's stronghold of Alakapuri. Although the yakshas are strong and possess magical powers, the rakshasa army defeats them. Even Manibhadra, Kubera's minister, falls in battle. Kubera then duels with Dashagriva. Kubera uses an Angeyastra (an Agni-weapon of fire), which Dashagriva answers with a Varunastra (a Varuna-weapon of water). Although Kubera cannot be killed, Dashagriva overwhelms him completely and steals the Pushpaka.

Additional reading: There is a long article at Wikipedia about the divine weapons called astras. An Agneyastra is a weapon of the fire god Agni, while a Varunastra is a weapon of the ocean god Varuna. 

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Rama Defeats Dashagriva (pp. 29-30). Years later, Rama, an avatar of Vishnu, builds a bridge to Lanka and defeats Dashagriva, now called Ravana, in battle, killing him at last. He makes Ravana's virtuous brother, Vibhishana, the king of Lanka. Rama flies the Pushpaka back to Ayodhya, and then returns the flying chariot to its rightful owner: Kubera.

Additional reading: Rama's defeat of Ravana is the subject of the epic Ramayana of course!

Guide: Aniruddha

This is a guide to Aniruddha: Beloved Grandson Of Krishna (Volume 663). You can find it at Amazon.

Bizzell Reserves call number: PN 6790 .I443 A437 v.663

Summary: Usha is an asura princess, daughter of the thousand-armed King Bana, a worshiper of Shiva. One day Usha dreams of a beautiful young man. She sees a painting of Krishna and his son Pradyumna; they are similar to the boy of her dreams. Her friend Chitralekha transports herself magically to Dwaraka and brings back Aniruddha, Pradyuma's son, asleep in his bed. They live happily in a secret marriage, but when Bana finds out, he is enraged. Meanwhile, Krishna and Pradyumna come looking for the missing boy. A great battle ensues, with Shiva fighting on Bana's side. Krishna wins in the end, but Shiva asks him to spare Bana's life, and then Usha goes with Aniruddha to live with him in Dwaraka.

Guide: The Parijata Tree

This is a guide to The Parijata Tree, and Other Tales Of Krishna (Volume 767). You can find it at Amazon.

Bizzell Reserves call number: PN 6790 .I443 A437 v.767

Summary: The first story tells how Krishna and his wife Satyabhama bring the celestial Parijata Tree (also called the Kalpavriksha) from Indra's garden back to their home in Dwaraka. The second story is how Krishna won Lakshmana, daughter of Brihatsena, as another one of his wives in a swayamvara contest. In the story of the "tulabhara" (scales), Krishna's wife Rukmini uses a tulsi leaf (holy basil) to teach Satyabhama just how much Krishna is worth. You can read more about Krishna and about Satyabhama at Wikipedia.