{{short description|Character in the Hindu epic Ramayana}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}} {{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}} {{Infobox deity | image = Vibhishan become King of Lanka.jpg | caption = Lakshmana crowns Vibhishana as King of Lanka | abode = Lanka | predecessor = Ravana | consort = Sarama<br>Mandodari | children = Taranisena, Nila (sons), Sananda, Trijata and Analte(daughters) by Sarama | dynasty = Rakshasa | father = Vishrava | mother = Kaikesi | siblings = Ravana <br/> Kumbhakarna <br/>Shurpanakha | type = Hindu | affiliation = Rakshasa, Vaishnavism | texts = Ramayana and its versions | deity_of = King of Lanka<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/compilation/puranic-encyclopaedia/d/doc242055.html | title=Story of Vibhīṣaṇa | date=28 January 2019 }}</ref> | member_of = Chiranjivi }}
{{Contains special characters|Indic}}
'''Vibhishana''' ({{Langx|sa|विभीषण|lit=formidable|translit=Vibhīṣaṇa}})<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.wisdomlib.org |date=2012-06-24 |title=Vibhishana, Vibhīṣaṇa, Vibhīṣaṇā: 28 definitions |url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/vibhishana |access-date=2022-10-28 |website=www.wisdomlib.org |language=en}}</ref> is the younger brother of Ravana, the King of Lanka, in the ancient Indian epic ''Ramayana,'' and one of the eight Chiranjivis.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.viralsrilanka.com/ravana/|title=Ravana | King Ravana - Viral Sri Lanka|access-date=24 January 2020|date=3 January 2020|archive-date=4 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804102920/https://www.viralsrilanka.com/ravana/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Though a rakshasa himself, Vibhishana turned his back on Ravana, and defected to Rama's side, owing to his ''dharma''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Buck |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vvuIp2kqIkMC&dq=vibhishana+brother+ravana&pg=PA281 |title=Ramayana |date=2000 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1720-3 |language=en}}</ref> After Rama defeated Ravana, the former crowned Prince Vibhishana as the King of Lanka before returning to Ayodhya. [[File:Vibhishana showing Vimana to Rama.jpg|thumb|Vibhishana (left) shows the Pushpaka Vimana to Rama and Lakshmana]]
==Legend== [[File:Rameshvaram lingam.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Rama and Sita worship Shiva at Rameshwaram as Vibhishana (right) looks on with Lakshmana, Tumburu and Narada]]
=== Early life and boon from Brahma === Prince Vibhishana is portrayed as a pious and pure of heart in the epic. After performing a penance to invoke a boon from Brahma, he asked the deity to always set his mind on the path to righteousness, and nothing more.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Saraswati |first=Smt T. N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RBGLDwAAQBAJ&dq=vibhishana+prays+brahma&pg=PT9 |title=Vibhishana |date=2019-03-02 |publisher=Bharatha Samskruthi Prakashana |isbn=978-93-89020-78-6 |language=en}}</ref> Pleased by his righteousness Brahma gave the boon of immortality.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Mahabharata, Book 3: Vana Parva: Draupadi-harana Parva: Section CCLXXIII |url=https://sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03273.htm |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=sacred-texts.com}}</ref>
Vibhishana was the youngest son of the rakshasi Kaikesi and the sage Vishrava, who was himself a son of the sage Pulastya, one of the Prajapati. Vibhishana was the younger brother of the King of Lanka, Ravana, and also the sibling of Kumbhakarna. Even though he was born as a rakshasa, he was pious and virtuous, upholding the values of dharma.
=== Rama's devotee and Lanka war === thumb|left|Vibhishana clarifies Rama about the enemy troops Due to Vibhishana's differences with Ravana, and because he was against the act of kidnapping Sita, he fled Lanka. His mother, Kaikesi, advised him to go and serve Rama, who was at that time assembling an army to defeat Ravana and to recover his wife. As a consequence, he divulged the secrets of Ravana's army and made sure Rama was victorious in the great battle. Rama accepted Vibhishana's fealty and anointed him the King of Lanka after Ravana's death. In some versions of the epic, he takes his slain brother's queen Mandodari as his second wife, though in others he merely seeks her blessings during his coronation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shashi, S. S. |title=Encyclopaedia Indica: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. |publisher=Encyclopaedia Indica |year=1998 |volume=21–35 |pages=222}}</ref>
In the Lanka War, Vibhishana's knowledge about the secrets of Lanka proved invaluable to Rama.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ranganayakamma |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MPLgDwAAQBAJ&dq=Vibhishana+secrets+rama&pg=PA569 |title=RAMAYANA The Poisonous Tree |publisher=Sweet Home Publications |language=en}}</ref> Vibhishana freely divulged many secrets that became key to the success of Rama's attack, including revealing the secret path to the temple of Nikumbala, the family deity of the Pulastya clan.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Maheshwari |first1=Vipul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pMwAEAAAQBAJ&dq=Vibhishana+nikumbala&pg=PT146 |title=Ramayana Revisited: An Epic through a Legal Prism |last2=Maheshwari |first2=Anil |date=2020-10-18 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-93-89351-07-1 |language=en}}</ref> In the climactic battle between Rama and Ravana, when Rama was unable to kill Ravana, he revealed the secret of Ravana's invulnerability to Rama. He told Rama that Ravana has stored the nectar of immortality in his belly and it is necessary to dry it. With this knowledge, Rama was finally able to kill Ravana.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keshavadas |first=Sadguru Sant |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3XIatVGyjmQC&dq=Vibhishana+secrets+rama&pg=PA200 |title=Ramayana at a Glance |date=1988 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-0545-3 |pages=200 |language=en}}</ref> He had a daughter named Trijata.
=== Chiranjivi === When Rama was about to leave Ayodhya at the end of his reign, he assumed his true form of Vishnu, ordering Vibhishana to stay on earth and serve the people and guide them to the path of truth and ''dharma''. Hence, Vibhishana is considered one of the immortals, the Chiranjivis.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ramesh |first=M. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dAdJAQAAIAAJ&q=Vibhishana+chiranjeevi |title=108 Vaishnavite Divya Desams |date=1997 |publisher=T.T. Devasthanams |pages=262 |language=en}}</ref> Vishnu also ordered Vibhishana to pray to the family deity of Solar dynasty, Ranganatha.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Saraswati |first1=Smt T. N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RBGLDwAAQBAJ&dq=vibhishana&pg=PT30 |title=Vibhishana |date=2 March 2019 |publisher=Bharatha Samskruthi Prakashana |isbn=978-93-89020-78-6 |language=en |access-date=6 September 2020}}</ref>
== Characterisation == In the ''Ramayana'', Vibhishana's characterisation assists in demonstrating the practical implications of the concept of ''dharma''. The epic stresses that neither Vibhishana nor Kumbhakarna strayed from the path of ''dharma'' and that there is no single way out of a moral dilemma. The ''Ramayana'' teaches that Kumbhakarna adhered to the ''dharma'' of loyalty to his kin when his advice fails, while Vibhishana chose to oppose his kin when his advice failed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keshavadas |first=Sadguru Sant |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3XIatVGyjmQC&dq=Vibhishana+dharma&pg=PA180 |title=Ramayana at a Glance |date=1988 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-0545-3 |language=en}}</ref>
==Regional legends==
=== Srirangam === [[File:Lankatillaka Temple, Vibhishana 0547.jpg|thumb|The statue in Lankatilaka Vihara of Vibhishana and wife is Sarama as in position of guardian deity of Sri Lanka<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lanka-excursions-holidays.com/lankatilaka.html|title=Lankatilaka Temple near Kandy}}</ref>]] Vibhishana is featured in the Pancharatra, and consequently the regional legend of Ranganathaswamy temple of Srirangam, considered the foremost of the Divya Desams, the abodes of Vishnu in Sri Vaishnavism. During the coronation of Rama, the avatar of Vishnu, Vibhishana was presented the sacrosanct Sri Ranga vimana. He decided to carry it to his kingdom of Lanka. Midway his journey, in order to rest, he placed the image on the banks of the Kaveri. After performing his routine puja, he tried to lift the vimana, but it could not be lifted.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kalyanaraman |first=Srinivasan |title=Evidence for temples in Bhāratam, from ca. 4th-3rd millennium BCE |url=https://www.academia.edu/59775998}}</ref> Vishnu appeared to him and said that he desired to stay as Ranganatha in the place, which went on to become Srirangam. Vishnu also desired to watch the brahmotsavam at Tirucherai. The festivals of the temple are thus considered sacred.<ref name=M>{{cite book|title=15 Vaishnava Temples of Tamil Nadu|last=M.|first=Rajagopalan|pages=66–75|publisher=Govindaswamy Printers|location=Chennai, India|year=1993}}</ref>
=== Sri Lanka === In some period of history Sinhalese people have considered Vibhishana as one of the ''Sathara Waram Deviyo'' (four guardian deities).<ref>{{cite news|last=Kariyawasam|first=A.G.S|title=The Gods & Deity Worship in Sri Lanka|year=1995|url=http://www.hotspotsz.com/The_Gods_and_Deity_Worship_in_Sri_Lanka_%28Article-348%29.html|access-date=26 September 2014|publisher=The Wheel Publication No. 402/404, Buddhist Publication Society|isbn=955-24-0126-7|archive-date=8 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208063827/http://www.hotspotsz.com/The_Gods_and_Deity_Worship_in_Sri_Lanka_%28Article-348%29.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> This belief was more prominent in the Kotte period. According to the ''Ravana Katha'' of Wickramasinghe Adigar, after the defeat of Ravana, Vibhishana transferred the Yaksha capital from Alaka mandawa to Kelaniya.<ref>Dr. Mirando Obeysekere, ''Was Maya Dannawa the architect of Sigiriya?'', Daily News, 6 March 2003. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/mdannawa.html</ref> In the 15th-century poem of Thotagamuwe Sri Rahula Thera, the ''sælalihini sandesaya'', Myna is ordered to carry the missive to Vibhishana at his temple in Kelaniya. After the 16th century, he was replaced as a God of the four warrants by the goddess Pattini. He continues to be worshipped by a diminishing number of adherents, mainly in the Kelaniya area.<ref>Nandasena Ratnapala, ''Folklore of Sri Lanka'', State Printing Corporation, Colombo, 1991; {{ISBN|955-610-089-X}}</ref>
== Literature == The Sapta Chiranjivi Stotram is a mantra that is featured in Hindu literature:
{{Blockquote|text=अश्वत्थामा बलिर्व्यासो हनुमांश्च विभीषण:।<br>कृप: परशुरामश्च सप्तैतै चिरञ्जीविन:॥<br>सप्तैतान् संस्मरेन्नित्यं मार्कण्डेयमथाष्टमम्।<br>जीवेद्वर्षशतं सोपि सर्वव्याधिविवर्जितः॥
aśvatthāmā balirvyāsō hanumāṁśca vibhīṣaṇaḥ।<br>kṛpaḥ paraśurāmaśca saptaitai cirañjīvinaḥ॥<br>saptaitān saṁsmarēnnityaṁ mārkaṇḍēyamathāṣṭamam।<br>jīvēdvarṣaśataṁ sopi sarvavyādhivivarjitaḥ॥|title=Sapta Chiranjivi Stotram}}
The mantra states that the remembrance of the eight immortals (Ashwatthama, Mahabali, Vyasa, Hanuman, Vibhishana, Kripa, Parashurama, and Markandeya) offers one freedom from ailments and longevity.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category}} {{Ramayana}}
Category:Rakshasa in the Ramayana Category:Chiranjivins Category:Characters in the Ramayana Category:Sinhalese Buddhist deities