In the epic Ramayana, Meghnad was the son of demon King
Ravana and Mandodari. Meghnad means ‘one whose speech was like the thunder.’ He
was the greatest warrior in the army of Lanka and he was noted for his
formidability.
Meghnad had defeated Indra, the king of Devas, and had thus
got the name Indrajit.
To free Indra, Brahma appeared before Meghnad and gave him
the boon that he will not be defeated in any battle if he performs a yajna to
his kuldevi Nikumbala. So before venturing into a battle, Meghanad performed
the yajna and a chariot would appear and he used to go to battle in this
chariot and remained invincible.
Thus Meghnad was able to defeat Sri Ram and Lakshman. He
was able to capture both the brothers using the divine weapon Nagapasha. But
Garuda appeared on the scene and rescued the brothers.
Lakshman was mortally wounded by Meghanad. He had used his
magical powers and disappeared into the sky and use the arrow ‘Shakti’ against
Lakshman. Hanuman bought the magical herb ‘Sanjivani’ to rescue Lakshman.
But finally, Lakshman interrupted the yajna and killed
Meghanad. It was Vibhishana who informed Lakshman about the yajna performed by
Meghanad.
When the yajna was interrupted, Meghnad used Yamastra,
Brahmastra, Pashupatastra and Vaishnavastra on Lakshman. But it had no effect
and he was finally killed by Lakshman.
Related
Story of Indra in Ravana’s Prison in Lanka
Related
Story of Indra in Ravana’s Prison in Lanka