vishrava was the name of ravana's father.
vishrava was the name of ravana's father.
what is the name of ravana's father?
vishrava
ravana's grandfather on his father's side, the sage pulastya, was one of the ten prajapatis or mind-born sons of brahma and one of the saptarishi (seven great sages rishi) in the first manvantara (age of manu). his grandfather on his mother's side, sumali (or sumalaya), king of the raksasas, was the son of sukesha. sukesha's parents were king vidyutkesa, who had married salakantankata (daughter of sandhya), who had abandoned sukesha, but by the grace of shiva he survived. sumali had wished her to marry the most powerful being in the mortal world, so as to produce an exceptional heir. he rejected the kings of the world, as they were less powerful than him. kaikesi searched among the sages and finally chose vishrava, the father of kubera. ravana and his siblings were born to the couple. they completed their education from their father, with ravana being a great scholar of the vedas. the brothers performed penances on mt gokarna for 11,000 years and won boons from brahma. ravana was blessed with a boon that would make him invincible to the creation of brahma, except for humans. he also received weapons, chariot as well as the ability to shapeshift from brahma. ravana later usurped lanka from his half-brother kubera and became the king of lanka. he appointed shukracharya as his priest and learnt the arthashastra (science of politics) from him. rama once addressed ravana as a "maha brahman" ("great brahman" in the context of his education).
ravana
the "uttara kanda" of the hindu epic "ramayana" records: the ten-headed, twenty-armed mighty king ravana defeated and looted alaka – the city of his step-brother and god of wealth kubera, situated near mount kailash. after the victory, ravana was returning to lanka in the "pushpaka vimana" (the flying chariot stolen from kubera), when he spotted a beautiful place. however, the chariot could not fly over it. ravana met shiva's bull-faced dwarf attendant nandi (nandisha, nandikeshvara) at this place and asked the reason behind his chariot's inability to pass over the place. nandi informed ravana that his lord shiva and parvati were enjoying dalliance on the mountain and no one was allowed to pass. ravana mocked shiva and nandi. enraged by the insult to his lord, nandi cursed ravana that monkeys would destroy him. in turn, ravana decided to uproot the mountain kailash, infuriated by nandi's curse and his inability to proceed further. he put all his twenty arms under kailash and started lifting it. as kailash began to shake, a terrified parvati embraced shiva. however, the omniscient shiva realized that ravana was behind the menace and pressed the mountain into place with his big toe, trapping ravana beneath it. ravana gave a loud cry in pain. advised by his ministers, ravana sang hymns in praise of shiva for a thousand years. finally, shiva not only forgave ravana but also granted him an invincible sword. since ravana cried, he was given the name "ravana" – one who cried.
ravananugraha