VIBHISHANA'S CHARACTER-VALUE

VIBHISHANA

Vibhishana or Bibhishan was a king who ruled what is part of Sri Lanka today and is also written off in the historical epic Ramayana. He was the younger half brother of the Ramana (demon) king Ravana of Lanka. Though a  Rakshasa himself, Vibhishana was of a noble character and advised Ravana, who kidnapped and abducted Sita, to return her to her husband Ram in an orderly fashion and promptly. When his brother did not listen to his advice, Vibhishana joined Rama's army. Later, when Rama defeated Ravana, Rama crowned Vibhishana as the king of Lanka. In some period of history Sinhala people have considered Vibhishana as one of the four heavenly kings. 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 Alakamandawa to Kelaniya. In the 15th century poem of  Totagamuwe Sri Rahula, the sandesaya, the 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.

Vibhishana had a sattvic (pure) mind and a sattvic heart. From his early childhood, he spent all his time meditating on the name of the Lord. Eventually, Brahma appeared and offered him any boon he wanted. Vibhishana said that the only thing he wanted was to have his mind fixed at the feet of the Lord as pure as lotus leaves (charan kamal). He prayed that he should be given the strength by which he would always be at the feet of the Lord, and that he would receive the darshan (holy sight) of Lord Vishnu. This prayer was fulfilled, and he was able to give up all his wealth and family, and join Rama, who was Avatar (God incarnate). Vibhishana was the youngest son of Sage Vishrava, who was the son of Sage Pulatsya, one of the Heavenly Guardians. He (Vibhishana) was the younger brother of the Lord of Lanka, Ravana and King of Sleep, Kumbkarana. Even though he was born in the   demon race, he was alert and pious and considered himself a Brahmin, since his father was intuitively such.

Due to Vibhishana's differences with Ravana and because he was against the act of kidnapping Sita, Ravana exiled him from Lanka. His mother, Kaikesi, advised him to go and serve Rama, who was at that time assembling an army to conquer Ravana and to recover Sita. Lord Rama accepted Vibhishana's service and anointed him the Lord of Lanka after Ravana's death. In the Lanka War, Vibhishana's knowledge about the secrets of Lanka proved invaluable to Rama.

Vibhishana freely divulged many secrets that became the key to the success of Rama's attack, including revealing the secret path to the temple of Mata Nikumbala, the family deity of the Pulatsya Clan. Because of this, however, Vibhishana is also known as a traitor. While modern readers tend to view the Indian epics with eyes used to seeing clearly defined good and bad characters, the Ramayana's characterisation is trying to represent 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.

Symbolically, Vibhishana represents devotion to Rama, and as a demon devotee, he shows that the Lord does not distinguish between his followers based on birth or circumstances in life. The same aught can be read in the story of Prahlada and Narasimha.

When Vibhishana attained the position of the King of Lanka, he turned his subjects from the path of evil to the path of Dharma (righteousness). His wife, Queen Sarma also aided him in this effort. He also married Ravana's widow Mandodari on Rama’s advice. When Rama was about to leave Ayodhya at the end of his reign, Lord Rama in his original form of Shri Vishnu ordered 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 seven immortals, or Chiranjeevins. Lord Vishnu also ordered Vibhishana to pray the family deity of Rama's natal  Sun Dynasty, Lord Ranganatha.