In the Ramayana, Ravana plays the role of a villain. But did you know that he had a purpose behind this role? Yes, his birth was actually a curse. Let’s explore the story behind it.
Lord Vishnu, who sits on his snake Sheshnag in a place called Vaikunth Dham, has two main gatekeepers named Jay and Vijay. They were sincere devotees of Lord Vishnu. No one could meet Lord Vishnu without their permission, and thus no one could enter Vaikunth Dham without Jay and Vijay’s consent.
One day, the Kumaras, four very wise children who were actually sons of another god named Brahma, went to visit Lord Vishnu. The Kumaras were pure and different from other children, as they were created by Brahma’s mind and wanted to only learn and teach good things.
When they reached the gate of Vaikunth Dham, Jay and Vijay stopped them, thinking they were just ordinary children. They informed the Kumaras that Lord Vishnu was resting and could not meet anyone, asking them to comeback later. The Kumaras replied that Lord Vishnu loves all his devotees and is always ready to meet them, never too busy for them. However, Jay and Vijay did not let them in. The Kumaras became angry and cursed Jay and Vijay, saying they would be born on Earth as ordinary humans and live there.
Jay and Vijay realized their grave mistake and were terrified by the curse. Lord Vishnu came to know about the incident and apologized to the Kumaras for the behavior of his gatekeepers. Jay and Vijay also apologized and asked Lord Vishnu to remove the curse. However, Lord Vishnu said he could not undo Brahma’s words, so they had to endure the curse.
Jay and Vijay pleaded with Lord Vishnu to shorten their punishment, as they could not bear to be away from him for so long. Seeing their pain, Lord Vishnu offered them two options: they could be born seven times on Earth as his devotees or three times as his enemies, who would be killed by Lord Vishnu himself in any Avatar. Since Jay and Vijay loved Lord Vishnu deeply, they chose to be born three times as his enemies, hoping that they would return to Vaikunth Dham sooner and they were also pleased that each time when they will be killed by Lord Vishnu’s avatar, they would receive his divine darshan. Lord Vishnu agreed and promised that they would return to Vaikunth after these three lives.
Due to the curse, Jay and Vijay were born as demons in each era. In each era, their power diminished, and Lord Vishnu took different forms to defeat them:
- In Satya Yuga, they were born as Hiranyakashyap and Hiranyaksha. Lord Vishnu took the forms of Narasimha (the man-lion) and Varaha (the boar) to defeat them.
- In Treta Yuga, they were born as Ravana and Kumbhakarna. Lord Vishnu, in the form of Shri Ram, defeated them.
- In Dwapar Yuga, they were born as Shishupal and Dantavakra. Lord Vishnu, as Shri Krishna, vanquished them. This time, Lord Krishna also played a significant role in the Mahabharata.
After these three lives, the curse was lifted, and Jay and Vijay returned to their home in Vaikunth. Now you know who Jay and Vijay were, and why Ravana had a purpose behind playing the role of a demon in the Ramayana.