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Mandodari in the Valmiki Ramayana
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Mandodari (Mandodarī) is the wife of Ravana in the Valmiki Ramayana [VR-CE 5.56.66] and is described as his chief wife (jyeṣṭhā patnī) [VR-CE 6.99.1]. Maya names her as his daughter, borne by the apsaras Hema [VR-CE 7.12.16]. Meghanada (Indrajit) is her son [VR-CE 7.12.26]. When Hanuman searches Ravana's inner apartments, he sees her lying there: fair, gold-radiant, of charming form, and mistress of the inner apartments [VR-CE 5.8.48]. He briefly takes her for Sita [VR-CE 5.8.49]. Earlier, she urges Ravana to turn from Sita to her (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 5.56.67]. Her main appearance is a lament over Ravana's body on the battlefield [VR-CE 6.99.7]. There she both praises his might [VR-CE 6.99.6] and blames his desire for Sita for his ruin (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.14]. In the same lament she calls Rama "merely human" [VR-CE 6.99.5] and later says he was not human [VR-CE 6.99.11]. She ends by cursing her heart for not breaking [VR-CE 6.99.29].
Name and epithets
The character is named Mandodarī in the Sundara Kanda, where she is called the wife (bhāryā) of Ravana [VR-CE 5.56.66], and in the same book where Hanuman sees her lying in the inner apartments [VR-CE 5.8.48]. In the Uttara Kanda, Maya introduces "a maiden named Mandodari" as his daughter [VR-CE 7.12.16]. A wife named Mandodari is also mentioned in a later passage spoken by Rama [VR-CE 6.111.8].
Several descriptive titles are attached to her. At [VR-CE 5.8.48] she is called iṣṭā (beloved or cherished) and antaḥpureśvarī (mistress of the inner apartments), though that verse does not state whose beloved she is. At the opening of her lament she is described as the chief wife (jyeṣṭhā patnī), dear to her husband. The epithet is resolved as Mandodari only in the following verse, and the husband is identified as Ravana from [VR-CE 6.99.2] [VR-CE 6.99.1]. The pack contains no Southern-only material for her name or epithets.
Family and origins
According to Maya, Mandodari is his daughter, borne by the apsaras Hema [VR-CE 7.12.16]. In her lament, Mandodari calls herself dauhitrī, a daughter's daughter, of a yātudhāna. She describes him as of great valor (mahāvīrya), skilled (dakṣa), and not fleeing in battles (saṃyugeṣv apalāyin) (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.26]. The word dakṣa may be an adjective, and the verse does not make clear whether it is a personal name [VR-CE 6.99.26]. The pack does not reconcile this maternal grandfather with the parentage given at [VR-CE 7.12.16].
Mandodari claims high birth for herself. She says Maithili (Sita) is neither superior to her nor equal to her in lineage (kula) (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.16].
By marriage she is the wife of Ravana [VR-CE 5.56.66] [VR-CE 6.99.2]. Meghanada, also called Indrajit, is her son [VR-CE 7.12.26]. A passage in the Sundara Kanda reads mandodarī putram, naming a son associated with her, and the surrounding context identifies him as Aksha [VR-CE 5.56.106]. In her lament she calls Khara Ravana's brother ("tava bhrātā") (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.11]. She also refers to an unnamed brother-in-law (devara) [VR-CE 6.99.21].
Physical description
When Hanuman sees her in the inner apartments, the narrator describes her as gaurī (fair or golden-hued), kanakavarṇābhā (having the radiance of gold color) [VR-CE 5.8.48], and cārurūpiṇī (of charming form) [VR-CE 5.8.48]. In the next verse she is described as adorned (bhūṣitā). From her wealth of beauty and youth, Hanuman conjectures that she is Sita and rejoices [VR-CE 5.8.49]. Her identification as Mandodari in that verse depends on the context of [VR-CE 5.8.48].
In her lament she recalls that she once wore variegated garlands and garments (citrasragambarā) (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.20]. She also asserts that Sita is not superior to her or equal to her in beauty (rūpa) (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.16].
Character and traits
Most of the material on Mandodari's character comes from her own lament over the fallen Ravana. She speaks there on the battlefield [VR-CE 6.99.7] and addresses his blood-covered body [VR-CE 6.99.25]. Rama later points out the place where she lamented (speaker: Rama) [VR-CE 6.111.8].
Grief and self-description. The narrator calls her wretched or pitiable (kṛpaṇā) at that moment [VR-CE 6.99.2]. She calls herself śokārtā, "afflicted by grief," and asks why Ravana does not answer her [VR-CE 6.99.25]. She describes herself as having little merit (alpapuṇyā) and as fallen into a terrible ocean of sorrow (ghore śokasāgare) [VR-CE 6.99.18]. The ocean of sorrow is a figurative expression for her grief [VR-CE 6.99.18]. She says she grieves for herself, afflicted by separation from Ravana (tvad-viyoga) [VR-CE 6.99.24]. She also says she has been deprived of the enjoyments of desire (kāmabhoga) because her hero (vīra) was killed [VR-CE 6.99.20]. She curses her own heart (dhig astu hṛdayam) because it does not break into a thousand pieces [VR-CE 6.99.29]. She attributes her mind's turn toward compassion (kāruṇya) to a woman's nature (strī-svabhāva), speaking of herself in that moment (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.23]. Recalling Hanuman's entry into Lanka, a city she calls hard to enter even for the gods, she says "we" were distressed (vyathitāḥ) from that very time [VR-CE 6.99.12].
Judgments of Ravana. Her lament mixes praise with reproach. She describes Ravana as one before whom Purandara trembles when he is angry [VR-CE 6.99.3]. She calls him endowed with śrī and vīrya and irresistible (aviṣahya) [VR-CE 6.99.6]. She says sages, earth-gods, gandharvas and caranas scattered to the directions out of agitation (udvega) caused by him (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.4]. Against this, she charges that he desired Sita akasmāt (suddenly or without cause), to the destruction of his sovereignty (aiśvarya), his body, and his own people (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.14]. She says he does not understand his situation because of delusion (moha) [VR-CE 6.99.16]. She holds that no death comes to any being without a sign or cause [VR-CE 6.99.17], and that Ravana's death has Maithili as its mark (maithilīkṛtalakṣaṇaḥ) [VR-CE 6.99.17]. She also says that a "vyuṣṭi" came to him because he did not accept something. The exact sense of vyuṣṭi is uncertain [VR-CE 6.99.13].
Judgments of Rama. Her statements about Rama do not agree with one another. At one point she characterizes him as "merely human" (mānuṣamātra) (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.5]. Elsewhere she states that he was not human (na mānuṣaḥ) from the time of Khara's death at Janasthana. The referent "asau" is resolved as Rama from context (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.11]. She also conjectures that Rama's form is a guise worn by Vasava. This is her speculation [VR-CE 6.99.10]. She says she does not believe (na śraddadhāmi) the deed Rama performed at the head of the army [VR-CE 6.99.8].
Judgments of Sita. Two of her statements about Sita stand in tension. In one, she calls Sita surpassing (viśiṣṭā) Arundhati and Rohini, and worthy of honor (mānyā) (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.15]. In the next verse she says Sita is neither superior nor equal to her in lineage, beauty or graciousness (dākṣiṇya) (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.16]. In the Sundara Kanda she says Janaki is not superior to her (madviśiṣṭā na jānakī) (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 5.56.67].
She also calls her brother-in-law (devara) truthful in speech (satyavāk) and greatly fortunate (mahābhāga) as she recalls his words (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.21].
Relationships
Ravana. Mandodari is Ravana's wife [VR-CE 5.56.66] [VR-CE 6.99.2] and his chief wife (jyeṣṭhā patnī) [VR-CE 6.99.1]. In the Sundara Kanda she restrains him among the women. She asks what he needs Sita for and tells him to take pleasure with her instead (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 5.56.67]. She then asks what he will do with Sita [VR-CE 5.56.68]. In her lament she recalls being with him on past outings [VR-CE 6.99.19]. She describes travelling by a fitting vimāna with matchless splendor and seeing many lands [VR-CE 6.99.20]. She refers to his weapon, which she compares to a vajra [VR-CE 6.99.27], and laments over a broken, scattered club [VR-CE 6.99.28]. In Rama's later account, a wife named Mandodari is described as surrounded by a thousand tearful co-wives [VR-CE 6.111.8]. The pronoun "tam" in that verse has no explicit referent, though it is probably Ravana from context [VR-CE 6.111.8].
Sita. Sita is a recurring point of comparison in Mandodari's speech, and her statements about Sita are set out under Character and traits [VR-CE 6.99.15] [VR-CE 6.99.16] [VR-CE 5.56.67]. Hanuman first mistakes Mandodari for Sita on the basis of her beauty and youth [VR-CE 5.8.49].
Children and kin. Indrajit (Meghanada) is her son [VR-CE 7.12.26], and Aksha is named in association with her [VR-CE 5.56.106]. Her father is Maya and her mother is the apsaras Hema, according to Maya [VR-CE 7.12.16]. She claims descent through her mother from a valiant yātudhāna [VR-CE 6.99.26]. She identifies Khara as Ravana's brother [VR-CE 6.99.11] and speaks of an unnamed devara whose words she recalls [VR-CE 6.99.21].
Rama and Hanuman. She speaks of Rama in contradictory terms in her lament [VR-CE 6.99.5] [VR-CE 6.99.11] [VR-CE 6.99.10]. She links her distress to Hanuman's entry into Lanka [VR-CE 6.99.12].
Role in the narrative by kanda
Sundara Kanda
Mandodari first appears in the Sundara Kanda through Hanuman's eyes during his search of the palace, when the monkey sees her lying there [VR-CE 5.8.48]. On seeing this adorned woman, Hanuman judges that she might be Sita, on account of her wealth of beauty and youth [VR-CE 5.8.49].
She appears again later in the kanda, in a scene where she springs up from among the women [VR-CE 5.56.66] and restrains him [VR-CE 5.56.66]. Her identity in this passage rests on the pronoun tayā, which is resolved from the preceding context [VR-CE 5.56.67]. She then addresses Ravana in a sweet voice (madhurāṃ vāṇīm) [VR-CE 5.56.67]. Addressing him as prabhu, she urges him to take pleasure there with divine, gandharva and yaksha maidens (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 5.56.68].
Yuddha Kanda
Mandodari's role in the Yuddha Kanda centres on her lament over the slain Ravana. The chief wife, described as dejected, looked toward her husband [VR-CE 6.99.1], and Mandodari, seeing Ravana slain, lamented over him there [VR-CE 6.99.2].
She opens by addressing Ravana directly and recalling his power over others. She speaks of sages, earth-gods, renowned gandharvas and caranas who fled to the various directions out of the fear he caused (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.4]. She addresses him as rājan and rākṣasarṣabha ("bull among rakshasas") and asks whether he feels no shame, asking "what is this?" (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.5]. She states that Ravana had overrun the three worlds (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.6].
Her account of how Ravana died contains two opposing statements. She says he was defeated in battle by Rama, whom she calls merely human (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.5], and she asks how a human forest-dweller killed one who had overrun the three worlds and possessed splendour and valour (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.6]. She also declares that Ravana's destruction by Rama in battle is not plausible (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.7]. With "atha vā" ("or else") she offers an alternative: that Vasava (Indra) himself came in the form of Rama (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.10], and that in this form he created an unforeseen illusion (māyā) to destroy Ravana (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.10].
Mandodari then recalls her earlier counsel. She says she told Ravana to make a non-hostile arrangement with Raghava, and that he did not accept this when it was said to him (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.13]. Addressing him as durmate ("ill-minded"), she says he did something unbefitting by assaulting Sita (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.15], and she states that Maithili will now dwell with Rama, free from sorrow (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.18]. She says that what her brother-in-law had said has come true, and that this destruction of the chief rakshasas has arrived (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.21].
Part of her lament looks back on their shared life. She recalls roaming for pleasure with Ravana at Kailasa, Mandara, Meru, the Chaitraratha forest and all the gardens of the gods (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.19], and travelling in a suitable aerial vehicle with incomparable splendour, viewing various regions (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.20]. She asks Ravana why he does not look at her (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.26]. She says her heart, afflicted by grief, does not burst even though he has died (speaker: Mandodari) [VR-CE 6.99.29].
In a Southern-only passage, she is struck down by faintness and sinks down, shining upon Ravana's chest [VR-S 6.99.29+2]. Her lament is referred to again later in the kanda, where Mandodari is said to have lamented over Ravana (speaker: Rama) [VR-CE 6.111.8].
How other characters describe them
Rama
In a passage tagged to Rama as speaker, Mandodari appears as a wife who lamented (paryadevayat) over "him" (speaker: Rama) [VR-CE 6.111.8]. The verse gives no explicit referent for "tam" (him). Context makes Ravana the probable referent, but the verse does not state this, so the link is uncertain [VR-CE 6.111.8]. The verse records her act of lamenting. It offers no evaluation of her character.
Unnamed first-person speaker
An unnamed first-person speaker uses the phrase mandodarī putram, which names a son associated with Mandodari [VR-CE 5.56.106]. The surrounding context identifies this son as Aksha, and the pack marks this identification as uncertain [VR-CE 5.56.106]. The reference places Mandodari as a mother. It does not judge her conduct or qualities.
Contested and contradictory passages
Claims about Mandodari in the staging records include explicit statements, metaphors, and uncertain readings, and speakers do not always agree. The judgments and traits sections above keep those sides separate. This page does not choose among them.
Southern-only material
The material in this section comes from the Southern recension (VR-S) only and is not part of the Critical Edition core text. The Southern-only pack for Mandodari contains a single narrative claim, and that claim is marked uncertain.
In this Southern-only passage, a woman identified as Mandodari is overcome by faintness or stupor (kaśmala), sinks down, and is described as shining upon Ravana's chest [VR-S 6.99.29+2]. The pack gives no speaker for the passage. It records the event as narration, and the image places her collapse directly on Ravana's body [VR-S 6.99.29+2].
The pack contains no other Southern-only narrative about Mandodari.
Key verses
गौरीं कनकवर्णाभामिष्टामन्तःपुरेश्वरीम्
कपिर्मन्दोदरीं तत्र शयानां चारुरूपिणीम्
gaurīṃ kanakavarṇābhām iṣṭām antaḥpureśvarīm kapir mandodarīṃ tatra śayānāṃ cārurūpiṇīm
The monkey saw Mandodari there, lying down: fair, gold-radiant, beloved, mistress of the inner apartments, of lovely form.
Word-by-word: ["gaurīm=fair/golden-hued", "kanakavarṇābhām=having a gold-colored radiance", "iṣṭām=beloved", "antaḥpureśvarīm=mistress of the inner apartments", "mandodarīm=Mandodari", "śayānām=lying down"]
विमानेनानुरूपेण या याम्यतुलया श्रिया
पश्यन्ती विविधान्देशांस्तांस्तांश्चित्रस्रगम्बरा
भ्रंशिता कामभोगेभ्यः सास्मि वीरवधात्तव
vimānenānurūpeṇa yā yāmy atulayā śriyā paśyantī vividhān deśāṃs tāṃs tāṃś citrasragambarā bhraṃśitā kāmabhogebhyaḥ sāsmi vīravadhāt tava
स तां दृष्ट्वा महाबाहुर्भूषितां मारुतात्मजः
तर्कयामास सीतेति रूपयौवनसंपदा
हर्षेण महता युक्तो ननन्द हरियूथपः
sa tāṃ dṛṣṭvā mahābāhur bhūṣitāṃ mārutātmajaḥ tarkayām āsa sīteti rūpayauvanasaṃpadā harṣeṇa mahatā yukto nananda hariyūthapaḥ
Seeing her adorned, the mighty-armed son of the Wind guessed 'she is Sita' from her wealth of beauty and youth; filled with great joy, the monkey chief rejoiced.
Word-by-word: ["tarkayam asa=conjectured", "sita iti=(that she is) Sita", "rupayauvanasampada=by wealth of beauty and youth", "bhushitam=adorned", "harshena mahata yukto=filled with great joy", "nananda=rejoiced"]
यदैव नगरीं लङ्कां दुष्प्रवेषां सुरैरपि
प्रविष्टो हनुमान्वीर्यात्तदैव व्यथिता वयम्
yadaiva nagarīṃ laṅkāṃ duṣpraveṣāṃ surair api praviṣṭo hanumān vīryāt tadaiva vyathitā vayam
अकस्माच्चाभिकामोऽसि सीतां राक्षसपुंगव
ऐश्वर्यस्य विनाशाय देहस्य स्वजनस्य च
akasmāc cābhikāmo 'si sītāṃ rākṣasapuṃgava aiśvaryasya vināśāya dehasya svajanasya ca
अरुन्धत्या विशिष्टां तां रोहिण्याश्चापि दुर्मते
सीतां धर्षयता मान्यां त्वया ह्यसदृशं कृतम्
arundhatyā viśiṣṭāṃ tāṃ rohiṇyāś cāpi durmate sītāṃ dharṣayatā mānyāṃ tvayā hy asadṛśaṃ kṛtam
न कुलेन न रूपेण न दाक्षिण्येन मैथिली
मयाधिका वा तुल्या वा त्वं तु मोहान्न बुध्यसे
na kulena na rūpeṇa na dākṣiṇyena maithilī mayādhikā vā tulyā vā tvaṃ tu mohān na budhyase
सर्वथा सर्वभूतानां नास्ति मृत्युरलक्षणः
तव तावदयं मृत्युर्मैथिलीकृतलक्षणः
sarvathā sarvabhūtānāṃ nāsti mṛtyur alakṣaṇaḥ tava tāvad ayaṃ mṛtyur maithilīkṛtalakṣaṇaḥ
References
Distinct inline citations used above:
- VR-CE 5.56.106
- VR-CE 5.56.66
- VR-CE 5.56.67
- VR-CE 5.56.68
- VR-CE 5.8.48
- VR-CE 5.8.49
- VR-CE 6.111.8
- VR-CE 6.99.1
- VR-CE 6.99.10
- VR-CE 6.99.11
- VR-CE 6.99.12
- VR-CE 6.99.13
- VR-CE 6.99.14
- VR-CE 6.99.15
- VR-CE 6.99.16
- VR-CE 6.99.17
- VR-CE 6.99.18
- VR-CE 6.99.19
- VR-CE 6.99.2
- VR-CE 6.99.20
- VR-CE 6.99.21
- VR-CE 6.99.23
- VR-CE 6.99.24
- VR-CE 6.99.25
- VR-CE 6.99.26
- VR-CE 6.99.27
- VR-CE 6.99.28
- VR-CE 6.99.29
- VR-CE 6.99.3
- VR-CE 6.99.4
- VR-CE 6.99.5
- VR-CE 6.99.6
- VR-CE 6.99.7
- VR-CE 6.99.8
- VR-CE 7.12.16
- VR-CE 7.12.26
- VR-S 6.99.29+2