Ravana, the ten-headed King of Lanka, had 2 brothers – Vibhishana and Kumbakarna.

Kumbakarna was a mighty warrior. Despite being a giant and a rakshasa, he was a good, pious, and intelligent man. However, he used to frequently torture the Devas and the sages. Seeing this, Indra, King of Devas, decided to fight him.

“This Kumbakarna is a big threat to all of us. If I allow him to live, he will torture and kills all devas. I should defeat him,” thought Indra.

Taking his army with him, Indra climbed on his elephant, Airavata, and attacked Kumbakarna. But Kumbakarna was so powerful that no weapon could stop him. Arrows and spears tickled him, and he swallowed swords and maces thrown at him. Singlehandedly, he defeated Indra’s army.

To add insult to injury, Kumbakarna grabbed hold of Airavata’s tusks, spun him round and round, and threw him like a toy – while Indra was sitting on the elephant. Feeling dizzy, hurt, and totally humiliated, Indra had to retreat.

One day, Ravana told his brothers, “We should all pray to Lord Brahma to get more strength and power.”

Agreeing, all the brothers went to the forest and start praying to Lord Brahma, the God of Creation. Pleased with their devotion, Lord Brahma appeared in front of them and asked them what they wanted.

While Ravana and Vibhishana were requesting their boons, Indra panicked and ran to Saraswati, the Goddess of knowledge, arts, and speech.

“Please help us, Oh Saraswati,” said Indra. “Kumbakarna is going to be blessed by Lord Brahma. If he gets his boon, he will be undefeatable.”

“Do not worry, Indra. I will ensure he asks for something foolish,” replied Goddess Saraswati.

Meanwhile, in the forest, both Ravana and Vibhishana had been granted their boons.

When it was his turn, Kumbakarna, under the spell of Saraswati, asked Brahma, “I want to sleep all the time, my Lord!”

Ravana was shocked, but before he could say anything, Lord Brahma said, “So be it.”

Ravana said, “Please take back your boon, my Lord. This is not a blessing but a curse for my brother. He has many enemies who are waiting to kill him.”

To which Lord Brahma answered, “A boon once given cannot be taken back. However, I can change it. He will sleep continuously for six months in a year. However, beware. If anyone tries to wake him up when he is asleep, Kumbakarna’s life will be in danger.”

Saying so, Lord Brahma disappeared. So, this way, Kumbakarna slept for six months, and when he woke up, he wreaked havoc everywhere.

In the meantime, Ravana grew more powerful and arrogant, and one day he kidnapped Sita, the wife of Rama. Rama had come to Lanka and waged a war with Ravana to get his wife back. When Ravana was on the verge of defeat, he decided to take Kumbakarna’s help.

“Go and wake Kumbakarna up,” Ravana told his men. Fear of defeat made Ravana completely forget that Brahma had cautioned against waking Kumbakarna up during his sleep.

Ravana’s men immediately went to Kumbakarna’s palace to wake him up. But Kumbakarna slept like the dead during the six months that it was almost impossible to wake him up.

“Let us pull his hair,” suggested one man. So, many men came forward and pulled Kumbakarna’s hair in all directions but to no avail.

“Bring out drums, and cymbals, and trumpets. Let us play them loudly near Kumbakarna’s ears,” suggested another. Still, there was no use.

The men tried pouring cold water, throwing stones, but they were unable to wake up Kumbakarna. Finally, the men brought a thousand elephants to walk over him. The noise of the elephants, along with the weight, finally woke Kumbakarna from his deep sleep.

He was hungry the minute he woke up and ate the mountains of food laid in front of him. Finally, when his hunger was satisfied, he asked the men, “Why did you wake me up?”

One of the King’s men answered, “Ravana has abducted Sita, the wife of Rama; hence Rama, along with an army of monkeys, are attacking Lanka. King Ravana needs your help.”

Kumbakarna immediately went to his brother. He said, “It was wrong of you to abduct another man’s wife. Why don’t you release her and apologize to Rama? We can stop this war.”

Ravana got angry. “I will not do that. Vibhishana has already deserted me and gone to help Rama. Now, will you help me or not?” he asked

Kumbakarna replied, “You are my elder brother, and it is my Dharma to obey you. I will do as you wish and kill Rama.”

Saying thus, Kumbakarna went to the battlefield. On the battlefield, Kumbakarna trampled the monkey army with his feet and ate the monkeys that tried to escape. The monkeys started running helter-skelter, afraid for their lives.

Realising Kumbakarna’s rampage had to be stopped, Rama took out a powerful arrow and, with one shot, killed Kumbakarna.

When Ravana heard the news about his brother’s death, he was devastated. He finally thought of Lord Brahma’s words and was filled with regret.

“If only I had listened to Lord Brahma’s warning. I woke my brother up just to send him to his death,” thought Ravana sadly.

Eventually, Ravana was also defeated by Rama, and Vibhishana became the King of Lanka.