Sukesha

Sukesha
Devanagari	सुकेश
Sanskrit transliteration	Sukeśa
Affiliation	Rakshasa King
Texts	Ramayana (Uttara Kanda)
Gender	Male
Personal information
Parents	Vidyutkesha (father) Salakatankata (mother)
Consort	Devavati
Children	Malyavan, Sumali and Mali

Sukesha (Sanskrit: सुकेश, IAST: Sukeśa) is a Rakshasa king in Hindu mythology. He features prominently in the Uttara Kanda of the Hindu epic Ramayana, where he is described as the grandson of Heti (the first Rakshasa king) and the patriarchal ancestor of the Rakshasa empire in Lanka. Blessed by the deities Shiva and Parvati, Sukesha became a powerful ruler and fathered the brothers Malyavan, Sumali, and Mali.

Birth and abandonment

According to the fourth sarga (chapter) of the Uttara Kanda, Sukesha was born to the Rakshasa Vidyutkesha and his wife Salakatankata, who was the daughter of Sandhya.

Immediately after delivering Sukesha on Mount Mandara, Salakatankata, desiring to continue enjoying conjugal pleasures with her husband, abandoned the newborn infant.

Divine intervention

While the infant was crying, the god Shiva and his consort Parvati were flying overhead. Hearing the child's cries, Parvati was overwhelmed with maternal compassion. Out of pity, Shiva and Parvati intervened.

Shiva bestowed several immense boons upon Sukesha. He granted the infant instantaneous maturity, elevating him to the age of his mother.

Moved by the abandonment of the child, Parvati decreed a sweeping boon for all Rakshasa women. She ordained that in the future, Rakshasa women would conceive instantly, give birth instantly, and their children would instantly grow to the age of their mothers.

Marriage and descendants

Having received divine boons, wealth, Sukesha became an immensely powerful and haughty king. He wandered the world proudly, displaying his might like the king of the gods, Indra.

Observing Sukesha's righteousness and the divine favor he had acquired, a Gandharva named Gramani offered his daughter, Devavati, to Sukesha in marriage. Sukesha accepted, and Devavati was delighted to be wedded to such a husband.

Through Devavati, Sukesha fathered three sons: Malyavan, Sumali, and Mali. These sons would later perform severe austerities to win boons from Brahma, drive out their enemies, and establish the golden city of Lanka under the instructions of the divine architect Vishvakarma. Through Sumali, Sukesha is the great-grandfather of Ravana, the central antagonist of the Ramayana.