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{{Short description|Chief wife of Lanka king Ravana in Hindu epic Ramayana}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Hindu
| member_of = [[Panchakanya]]
| image = File:Mandodari based on Raja Ravi Varma's painting (cropped).jpg
| texts = [[Ramayana]] and its versions
| caption = [[Raja Ravi Varma]]'s lithograph on Mandodari
| affiliation = [[Rakshasa|Rakshasi]]<br> [[Panchakanya]]
| Devanagari = मंदोदरी
| Sanskrit_transliteration = Mandodarī
| abode = [[Lanka]]
| father = [[Mayasura]]
| mother = [[List of characters in Ramayana#Hema|Hema]]
| consort = Ravana
| children = Neela (son)
| siblings = Mayavi and Dundubhi (brothers), Dhanyamalini (sister turned co-wife)
}}

'''Mandodari''' ({{lang-sa|मंदोदरी}}, {{IAST|Mandodarī}}, lit. "soft-bellied";<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1jRWziY9m4cC&pg=PA429 Rāmopākhyāna: the story of Rāma in the Mahābhārata p.429]</ref>) was the [[queen consort]] of [[Ravana]], the king of [[Lanka]], according to the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] epic ''[[Ramayana]]''. The ''Ramayana'' describes her as beautiful, pious, and righteous. She is extolled as one of the ''[[Panchakanya]]'', the recital of whose names is believed to dispel sin.

Mandodari was the daughter of [[Mayasura]], the King of the [[Asura]]s (demons), and the ''[[apsara]]'' (celestial nymphs) Hema. She marries Ravana. According to some Ramayana adaptations, Mandodari is the mother of [[Rama]]'s wife [[Sita]], who is infamously kidnapped by Ravana. Despite her husband's faults, Mandodari loves him and advises him to follow the path of righteousness. She repeatedly advises Ravana to return Sita to Rama, but her advice falls on deaf ears. Her love and loyalty to Ravana are praised in the ''Ramayana''.

In a version of Ramayana, [[Hanuman]] tricks her into disclosing the location of a magical arrow which Rama uses to kill Ravana. Many versions of Ramayana state that after Ravana's death, [[Vibhishana]]—Ravana's younger brother who joins forces with Rama, does so on Mandodari's advice.

==Birth and early life==
The ''[[Uttara Kanda]]'' of the ''[[Ramayana]]'' mentions that [[Mayasura]] visited [[Svarga]] (heaven), where the [[apsara]] [[List of characters in Ramayana|Hema]] was given to him by the gods. They had two sons, Mayavi and Dundubhi, and a daughter, Mandodari. Later, Hema returned to heaven; Mandodari and her siblings were left with their father.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Manmathnath Dutt|url=https://archive.org/stream/Ramayana_201309/Ramayana-VOL-4-Uttara-Kanda#page/n15/mode/2up|title=Ramayana - Uttara Kanda|date=1891}}</ref><ref name="manushi" /><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Vālmīki|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mCtAAQAAIAAJ&q=hema+maya+mandodari|title=The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki: An Epic of Ancient India|last2=Goldman|first2=Sally J. Sutherland|last3=Lefeber|first3=Rosalind|last4=Pollock|first4=Sheldon I.|date=1984|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-06663-9|language=en}}</ref>

There are varying accounts of Mandodari's birth. The [[Telugu language|Telugu]] text ''Uttara Ramayana'' mentions that Mayasura is married to the ''[[apsara]]'' Hema. They have two sons, Mayavi and Dundubhi, but long for a daughter, so they start performing penances to seek the favour of the god [[Shiva]]. Meanwhile, an apsara named Madhura arrives at [[Mount Kailash]], the abode of Shiva, to pay her respects.
Shiva told Madhura that she will become a beautiful woman and be married to a great valorous man. After twelve years, Madhura becomes a beautiful maiden again and cries out loudly from the well. Mayasura and Hema, who are performing penance nearby, answer her call and adopt her as their daughter. They bring her up as Mandodari.

[[File:Emerald_Buddha_Temple_-_2017-06-11_(099).jpg|thumb|Scene from the Thai ''[[Ramakien]]'', Thotsakan (Ravana), carries Montho (Mandodari) back to his kingdom.]]

In the Telugu ''[[Ranganatha Ramayanamu|Ranganatha Ramayana]]'', Parvati creates a doll, which is turned into a damsel by Shiva. However later, Parvati becomes worried due to the maiden's beauty; Shiva turns her into a frog, who is later turned back to a human and granted to Mayasura as a daughter.<ref name="manushi" /> In another Telugu tale and the [[Kuchipudi]] dance tradition, Ravana asks Shiva for Parvati as his wife. Shiva consents; however Parvati creates a look-alike maiden from a frog and entrusts her to Ravana. Since the woman was created from a frog, she was called Mandodari.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb4gjzmWBGo Mandodari - Born of a Frog] Devlok Mini with Devdutt Pattnaik Feb 16, 2018</ref> In the ''[[Ananda Ramayana]]'', Vishnu creates Mandodari from sandalwood paste smeared on his body and rescues Parvati from Ravana by handing him Mandodari as the real Parvati.<ref name="manushi" />

The frog motif also reiterated in other stories. The [[Odia language|Odia]] ''Dharma Purana'' narrates that the earth sends her son Maninaga to poison their cow's milk of the sages Mandar and Udar, who had denied her the share of the milk. A female frog jumps in the vessel to save the sages. Cursed by the sages for her supposed gluttony, she turns into a beautiful maiden called Vengavati. She has pre-martial coitus with [[Vali (Ramayana)|Vali]]. Ravana demands her hand in marriage from the sages, who refuse. Ravana assumes Vali's form and kidnaps Vengavati. The real Vali and Ravana pull in opposite directions, thereby tearing her apart. As a consequence, [[Angada]] (generally described as [[Tara (Ramayana)|Tara]]'s son) is born. The death-god [[Yama]] and wind-god [[Vayu]] resurrect her and is named as Mandodari, after the two sages. [[Mahari dance]] tradition narrates a similar tale where a snake poisoned the milk of a hermit; the female frog jumps in the milk and dies to rescue the sage. She is cursed by the hermit in the misbelief of her greed and turns into the beautiful Mandodari.<ref name="manushi">{{cite journal |last=Bhattacharya |first=Pradip |date=March–April 2004 |title=Five Holy Virgins, Five Sacred Myths: A Quest for Meaning (Part I) |url=http://www.manushi-india.org/pdfs_issues/PDF%20141/03%20panchakanya%204-12.pdf |journal=[[Manushi]] |issue=141 |pages=9–10 |archive-url=https://www.manushi.in/culture--faith-traditions/five-holy-virgins-five-sacred-myths-a-quest-for-meaning |archive-date=December 23, 2020}}</ref>

==Marriage with Ravana==
Ravana comes to the house of Mayasura and falls in love with Mandodari. Mandodari and Ravana are soon married with [[Vedic]] rites. <ref name = "Mani476"/> [[Mandore]], a town located 9 km north of [[Jodhpur]], is believed to be the native place of Mandodari. Ravana is treated as a son-in-law among some local [[Brahmin]]s and has a temple dedicated to him here.<ref name="Times Of India#">{{cite news | url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Saluting-the-virtues-of-Ravan/articleshow/49344194.cms | title=Saluting the virtues of Ravan | work=Shailvee Sharda | date=14 October 2015 | agency=Times Of India | access-date=14 October 2015 | author=Times Of India | location=Lucknow}}</ref>

Despite Ravana's faults, Mandodari loves him and is proud of his strength. She is aware of Ravana's weakness towards women.{{sfn|Mukherjee|1999|p=39}}{{sfn|Ayyer|2006|pp=50-51}} A righteous woman, Mandodari tries to lead Ravana to righteousness, but Ravana always ignores her advice. She advises him to not to subdue the ''[[Navagraha]]'', the nine celestial beings that govern one's destiny, and not to seduce [[Vedavati]], who would be reborn as Sita and cause the destruction of Ravana.{{sfn|Ayyer|2006|pp=50-51}}

==Saviour of Sita==
[[File:Mandodaree Repressing the Wrath Of Ravana.jpg|thumb|Mandodari stops Ravana from slaying Sita.]]
Mandodari is described as a beautiful woman in Valmiki's Ramayana. When [[Hanuman]], the monkey messenger of Rama, comes to Lanka in search of Sita, he is stupefied by Mandodari's beauty when he enters Ravana's bed chambers and mistakes Mandodari for Sita.<ref name = "Mani476">Mani p. 476</ref> When Hanuman finally finds Sita, he finds Ravana threatening to kill Sita unless she marries him. Ravana raises his sword to behead Sita when she refuses. Mandodari saves Sita by holding Ravana's hand. Mandodari says that the murder of a woman is a heinous sin and thus Ravana should not kill Sita. She asks Ravana to entertain himself with his other wives and give up the idea of having Sita as his wife. Ravana spares Sita's life, but does not give up his wish to marry Sita.{{sfn|Wheeler|1869|p=338}} Though Mandodari considers Sita inferior to her in beauty and ancestry, Mandodari acknowledges Sita's devotion to Rama and compares her to goddesses like [[Sachi]] and [[Rohini (nakshatra)|Rohini]].{{sfn|Mukherjee|1999|p=39}}

==During the war==
[[File:Hanuman obtaining Mandodari's weapon.jpg|thumb|Hanuman steals from Mandodari the weapon that leads to Ravana's death]]
When all attempts for a peaceful return of Sita fail, Rama declares war on Ravana's Lanka. Before the final battle against Rama, Mandodari makes a last attempt to dissuade Ravana, but to no avail.{{sfn|Wheeler|1869|p=365}} Finally, Mandodari stands by her husband in the final battle like an obedient and faithful wife,{{sfn|Mukherjee|1999|p=39}} though she advises her sister turned co-wife's son (Dhanyamalini's son) Meghanada, alias Indrajit ("One who had conquered [[Indra]]; the god-king of heaven"), not to fight Rama.{{sfn|Wheeler|1869|p=370}}

Several manuscripts of the ''Ramayana'' mention a story in which Angada drags Mandodari by her hair in presence of Ravana as a punishment for Ravana's treatment of Sita. Satyatirtha, a commentator on ''Ramayana'', dismisses this story as spurious.{{sfn|Goldman et al.|2009|p=1320}} According to this story: When all of Ravana's sons and warriors die, Ravana organizes a ''[[yajna]]'' ("fire sacrifice") to assure his victory. Rama sends a troop of monkeys headed by Hanuman and the monkey prince [[Angada]] to destroy this ''yajna''. The monkeys create havoc in Ravana's palace, but Ravana continues the ''yajna''. Angada drags Mandodari by her hair in front of Ravana. Mandodari pleads to her husband to save her and reminds him what Rama is doing for his wife. The enraged Ravana abandons the ''yajna'' and strikes Angada with his sword. With the ''yajna'' disturbed, Angada's purpose is served and he leaves Mandodari and escapes. Mandodari again implores Ravana to surrender Sita to Rama, but he refuses.{{sfn|Wheeler|1869|pp=373-4}} Other Ramayana adaptations present more gruesome descriptions of the incident. The ''[[Krittivasi Ramayan]]'' narrates that the monkeys dragged Mandodari and tore off her clothes. In ''Bicitra Ramayana'', it is Hanuman who humiliates Mandodari. The Thai adaptation ''[[Ramakien]]'' narrates that Hanuman sleeps with Mandodari in the form of Ravana and destroys her chastity, which protects Ravana's life.{{sfn|Lutgendorf|2007|p=211}}

Ravana fights the final duel with Rama. Rama fails to kill Ravana with his ordinary arrows, but finally kills with a magical arrow. While Valmiki's Ramayana narrates that the magical arrow was given to Rama by Indra, in other versions the magical arrow is hidden in Mandodari's bed chambers or under her bed. While Mandodari is engrossed in worshipping the goddess [[Parvati]] for Ravana's wellbeing, Hanuman comes to her disguised as a hermit. After winning her confidence, he tricks her into revealing the secret location of the arrow. Hanuman seizes the arrow and gives it to Rama, leading to Ravana's end.{{sfn|Lutgendorf|2007|pp=154, 217}} Mandodari appears at the death scene of Ravana in a disarrayed state and laments his death.{{sfn|Mukherjee|1999|p=39}}{{sfn|Wheeler|1869|p=382}} In this battle, Mandodari loses her husband.
.<ref name="Bhattacharya"/>

==Remarriage to Vibhishana==
It is not mentioned anywhere in Valmiki Ramayana or Tulsidasa's Ramcharit Manas which are considered most authentic and original scripture about Ramayana that Mandodari remarried. While the Ramayana of Valmiki is silent on Mandodari's fate after Ravana's death,{{fact|date=November 2022}} many versions of Ramayana state that after the death of Ravana, Rama advises Vibhishana to take Mandodari as his wife, even though he already had a wife.{{sfn|Shashi|1998|p=222}} A theory suggests that Ravana's race may have had [[Matrilineality|matrilineal]] families and thus, to restore order in the kingdom after Ravana's death, it was necessary for Vibhishana to marry the reigning queen to get the right to rule.{{sfn|Shashi|1998|p=222}} Another theory suggests it may be a non-[[Aryan]] custom to marry the reigning queen.<ref name="Bhattacharya" /> The marriage between Mandodari and Vibhishana is purely an "act of statesmanship", rather than a marriage based on their "mutual sexual interference".{{sfn|Shashi|1998|p=222}} Mandodari may have agreed to marry Vibhishana, her younger brother-in-law, as this would lead the kingdom to prosperity and stability as allies of Rama's Ayodhya, and she would continue to have a say in governance.<ref name="Bhattacharya" /> Another reason for the marriage is as an alternative to suicide for the widowed Mandodari, which is averted by Rama.{{sfn|Shashi|1998|p=222}}

==Mother of Sita==
[[File:Ravi Varma-Ravana Sita Jathayu.jpg|thumb|right|Ravana abducts Rama's wife, Sita. According to some ''Ramayana'' adaptations, Ravana was abducting his own daughter from a union with Mandodari.]]

Though Valmiki's Ramayana does not record Mandodari as being the mother of Sita, some later adaptations of the Ramayana depict Mandodari as the mother of Sita or at least the cause of the latter's birth.

The ''[[Adbhuta Ramayana]]'' narrates: Ravana used to store the blood of sages he killed in a large pot. The sage [[Gritsamada]] was practicing penance to acquire the goddess [[Lakshmi]] as his daughter. He stored milk from [[Darbha]] grass and purified it with [[mantra]]s in a pot so that Lakshmi would inhabit it. Ravana poured the milk from this pot into his blood pot. Mandodari is frustrated seeing the evil deeds of Ravana, so she decides to commit suicide by drinking the contents of the blood-pot, which is described to be more poisonous than poison. Instead of dying, Mandodari gets pregnant with the incarnation of Lakshmi due to the power of Gritsamada's milk. Mandodari buries the foetus in [[Kurukshetra]], where it is discovered by [[Janaka]], who named her Sita.<ref name = "Mani721"/>{{sfn|Shashi|1998|pp=14-15, Sarga VIII of Adbhuta Ramayana}}

The ''[[Devi Bhagavata Purana]]'' says: When Ravana wants to marry Mandodari, [[Mayasura|Maya]] warns him that her horoscope indicated her first-born would destroy her clan and should be killed. Ignoring Maya's advice, Ravana buries his first child by Mandodari in a casket in Janaka’s city, where it is discovered and grew up as Sita.<ref name = "Mani721"/> [[Jain]] adaptations of the Ramayana like ''[[Vasudeva-hindi|Vasudevahindi]]'', ''Uttara-purana'', and others also state that Sita is the daughter of Ravana and Mandodari, and is abandoned when she is prophesied to be the cause of the end of Ravana and his family.{{sfn|Shashi|1998|p=237}}

In the [[Malay language|Malay]] ''Seri Rama'' and the [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]]-[[Java]]nese ''Rama Keling'', Ravana wants to possess Mandodari, the mother of Rama, but instead marries a pseudo-Mandodari, who looks like the real one. Rama's father has a union with this pseudo-Mandodari, resulting in the birth of Sita, who is nominally Ravana's daughter.{{sfn|Shashi|1998|p=243}}

According to the ''Ananda Ramayana'', king Padmaksha had a daughter named Padma - an incarnate of the goddess Lakshmi. When her marriage is organized, Rakshasas (demons) kill the king. The grief-stricken Padma jumps into fire. Ravana discovers her body, which had turned into five jewels, in the fire and takes it to Lanka sealed in a box. Mandodari opens the box and finds Padma inside it. She advises Ravana to cast off the box containing the ill-fated Padma, who led to the doom of her father. When the lid of the box is closed, Padma curses Ravana that she will return to Lanka and cause his doom. Ravana buries the box in the city of Janaka, who discovers Padma and brings her up as Sita.<ref name = "Mani721">Mani p. 721</ref>

==Assessment==
[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Reliëf op de aan Brahma gewijde tempel op de Candi Lara Jonggrang oftewel het Prambanan tempelcomplex TMnr 10016175.jpg|thumb|right|Queen Mandodari and the women of Lanka mourning the death of [[Ravana]]. She brings a flower garland to lay upon her husband's body which rests on cremation wood. Bas-relief of 9th century [[Prambanan]] temple, Java, [[Indonesia]].]]
<blockquote>
{{IAST|Ahalyā draupadi sita tārā mandodari tathā <br />
pañcakanyā smarenityaṃ mahapātaka nāśanaṃ }}
<br />
Remembering ever the five goddess-[[Ahalya]], [[Draupadi]], [[Sita]], [[Tara (Ramayana)|Tara]] and Mandodari<br />
Destroys the greatest of sins.<ref name="panchakanya">{{cite journal|last=Devika|first=V.R.|title=Women of substance: Ahalya|journal=[[The Week (Indian magazine)|The Week]]|date = October 29, 2006|volume = 24|issue = 48|page = 52}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Hindus remember the ''panchakanya'' - the five maidens in this daily prayer, though none of them is considered an ideal woman who could be emulated.{{sfn|Mukherjee|1999|p=36}}{{sfn|Mukherjee|1999|pp=48-49}} Mandodari, with Ahalya, Sita and Tara, belong to the ''Ramayana'', while Draupadi is from the ''[[Mahabharata]]''.<ref name="Bhattacharya">{{cite web|url=http://www.boloji.com/hinduism/panchkanya/pk01.htm|title=Panchkanya: Women of Substance|last=Bhattacharya|first=Pradip|date=1999–2010|publisher=Boloji Media Inc|access-date=15 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114164455/http://boloji.com/hinduism/panchkanya/pk01.htm|archive-date=14 January 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> Among the five [[mahabhuta|elements]], Mandodari is equated to water, "turbulent on the surface and deep in her spiritual quest".{{sfn|Ayyer|2006|pp=50-51}} The writer Dhanalakshmi Ayyer says:{{sfn|Ayyer|2006|pp=50-51}}
<blockquote>
Her story is a reminder that the universal denigration of a group, based on the behaviour of a few, cannot cloud the greatness of the individual. Mandodari defies the stereotype of this racism. She is simple, unswerving, and self-effacing, driven by the light of knowledge which gives meaning to solid materialism in an age that is shrouded by impulse, passion, and desire. She is the instrument that awakens the mind and counsels reason when irrationality becomes the core being. That she goes unheard and unheeded does not change her path. To her, the [[dharmic]] part is inward-looking, while the role of the dutiful wife is the external self. Mandodari thought that her duty to her husband on issues of morals and values ended with her telling him what she thought of his actions. She neither put up any brave fight to stop him nor considered it her duty to do so.
</blockquote>

Mandodari's role is short in the Ramayana but very important. She is described as a pious and righteous royal lady.{{sfn|Mukherjee|1999|p=39}}{{sfn|Ayyer|2006|pp=50-51}} Compared to the rest of the ''panchakanya'', Mukherjee considers Mandodari's life as "less colourful and eventful". He adds: "Mandodari seldom got prominence ... Her image lacks substance and fades quickly",{{sfn|Mukherjee|1999|p=39}} though he lays stress on her love and loyalty towards her husband.{{sfn|Mukherjee|1999|pp=48-49}} Pradip Bhattacharya, author of the book ''Panchkanya: Women of Substance'' notes that "there is hardly anything special that Valmiki (Ramayana) has written about her (Mandodari) except that she warns her husband to return Sita and has enough influence to prevent his [sic] raping her."<ref name="Bhattacharya"/>

==References==
; Notes
{{Reflist}}

; Bibliography
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite journal|last=Ayyer|first=Dhanalakshmi |title=Women of substance: Mandodari : Pure as water|journal=[[The Week (Indian magazine)|The Week]]|year=2006|volume = 24|issue = 48|pages = 50–1 }}
* {{cite book |editor1=Robert P. Goldman |editor2=Sally J. Sutherland Goldman |editor3=Barend A. van Nooten |title=The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki: An Epic of Ancient India |volume=VI: Yuddhakāṇḍa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vDibDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA1320 |year=2009 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-3326-9 |page=1320 |ref={{harvid|Goldman et al.|2009}}}}
* {{cite book|last=Lutgendorf|first=Philip|title=Hanuman's tale: the messages of a divine monkey|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press |location=US }}
*{{cite book|author = Mani, Vettam|title = Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary With Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature|url = https://archive.org/details/puranicencyclopa00maniuoft|publisher = Motilal Banarsidass|year = 1975|location = Delhi|isbn = 0-8426-0822-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Mukherjee|first=Prabhati|title=Hindu Women: Normative Models |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ovdvq7mjpUC&q=Hindu+Women%3A+Normative+Models.+Calcutta%3A+Orient+Blackswan|year=1999|publisher=Orient Blackswan|location=Calcutta|isbn=81-250-1699-6}}
* {{cite book|last=Shashi|first=S. S.|title=Encyclopaedia Indica: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh|series=Encyclopaedia Indica|volume=21-35|year=1998|publisher=Anmol }}
* {{cite book|last=Wheeler|first=James Talboys |title=The History of India from the Earliest Ages: The Rámáyana and the Brahmanic period|volume=II|year=1869|publisher=N. Trübner|location=London|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=C1DRAAAAMAAJ&q=mandodari+&pg=PA373 }}
*{{Cite book|last=Dutt|first=Manmathnath|url=https://archive.org/stream/Ramayana_201309/Ramayana-VOL-4-Uttara-Kanda#page/n15/mode/2up|title=Ramayana - Uttara Kanda|date=1891}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
*
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{{Ramayana}}
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{{Good article}}

[[Category:Rakshasa in the Ramayana]]
[[Category:Women in Hindu mythology]]

Mandodari - Revision history

NorineYoungblood: Expanded content with additional details

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