Ravana

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Ravana (Skt. Rāvaṇa, lit. 'roaring'). The raksha king of the mythical land of Lanka, who appears in the Hindu epic Ramayana as well as in the Buddhist texts such as the Laṅkāvatārasūtra and several Jataka tales.

Etymology

The word Rāvaṇa means "roaring" (active), the opposite of Vaiśravaṇa which means to "hear distinctly" (passive).[1][2] Both Ravana and Vaiśravaṇa, who is commonly known as Kubera, are considered to be patronymics derived from "sons of Vishrava".[1][2][3][4]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Aiyangar Narayan (1909) "Essays On Indo-Aryan Mythology-Vol.", p.413
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Cologne Scan". sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de. 
  3. ↑ The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki: An Epic of Ancient India. Ayodhyākāṇḍa. Motilal Banarsidass Publishers. 25 April 2007. p. 30 – via Google Books. 
  4. ↑ Hopkins, Edward Washburn (1915). Epic Mythology. Strassburg, DE: K.J. Trübner. p. 142. 

Further reading