Shiva – Lanka – {Ep.202} – Stories From India – Podcast

Today’s story is an inside scoop about Mayasura and the construction of Lanka, and the role that Ravana played in finding Shiva and Parvati a summer home, before undoing it all again

Welcome to “Stories From India”. This is a podcast that will take you on a journey through the rich mythology, folklore and history of the Indian subcontinent. I am Narada Muni, the celestial storyteller and the original “time lord”. With my ability to travel through space and time, I can bring you fascinating stories from the past, the present, and the future. From the epic tales of the Mahabharata and Ramayana to the folktales of the Panchatantra to stories of Akbar-Birbal and Tenali Raman, I have a story for every occasion.

The purpose of the stories is neither to pass judgment nor to indoctrinate. My goal is only to share these stories with people who may not have heard them before and to make them more entertaining for those who have.

Today’s Story

Our story stands today on Mount Kailash. This was the home of Shiva and Parvati. I suspect you may already know who they are. But let me clarify in case there are any first time listeners amongst you. The Universe is largely controlled by Vishnu, and Shiva and Brahma. 

Vishnu, is the preserver of the Universe and acts as a kind of a balancing force between Brahma the creator, and Shiva the destroyer.

Anyway, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva together form the holy trinity in Indian mythology. I am sometimes an eyewitness, or even an active participant in some of these events. And that’s not just because of nepotism. It’s true – Brahma is my dad, but I have a number of superpowers as well. And I’m friends with everyone. Well practically everyone. There are some people whom I’m not friends with – for example – Ravana who is the mega villain of the Ramayana. But even with such people I’m on speaking terms, and I have visited their homes and palaces before. Like that time during Episode 55 when I secretly intervened in rescuing the planet Saturn from under Ravana’s feet.

Anyway, I was at Kailash. I’d just finished my afternoon tea with Shiva and Parvati. We also had a long conversation about so many different topics. Particularly the weather. Truth be told, it was quite cold here in Kailash seeing as we were almost 22 thousand above sea level. That’s why when the tea crystallizes, it’s generally a signal to leave.

Besides, I was going to have dinner at King Dashrath’s palace in Ayodhya. You might wonder how I could get from Kailash to Ayodhya in just a few hours, when the distance is several hundred kilometers. But don’t forget I can travel through space and time. So after tea with Shiva and Parvati, I could have gone on to eat dinner with Dashrath the previous night if I wanted.

Just as I was saying my goodbyes to Shiva, Parvati, Ganesh and Kartikeya, Nandi popped his head in to announce that Ravana was visiting. Parvati said not to send Ravana in right away. To wait a few minutes, because it seemed that Narada was doing a flashback.

Indeed I was. Ravana’s visit to Kailash caught me by surprise. And I’ll explain why with a flashback as Parvati said. 

Ravana was an Asura king. And an all around bad guy. He had ten heads, and every one of them was evil. I knew he was up to no good. Once upon a long long ago he had done something that may sound shocking. He tried to carry away Mount Kailash.

You see Ravana had just absolutely beaten his brother Kubera who was also the God of wealth. Having stolen Kubera’s Pushpaka Vimana which was a flying chariot – Ravana was sailing on cloud 9. Literally and figuratively. But that was when he found that the plane stalled. He began doubting the workmanship on the flying chariot, but then it seemed to him there must be more to it than that. Scanning the controls he found his altitude was a good 30000 feet. No way was there an obstruction ahead and yet the plane would not move forward. Looking down to get his bearings, Ravana realized directly under the path he was trying to take – was mount Kailash. Swerving to the left or right seemed to work fine. The Pushpaka Vimana shot forward. But Ravana wasn’t content with that. He knew there was some secret technology here and he wanted it. Imagine if he had this technology it would rule out any kind of air raids on his kingdom.

Well he would just have to have it. So Ravana set down the Pushpaka Vimana and dropped into Shiva and Parvati’s home.

But Shiva and Parvati were not at home at that time. Nandi was. Nandi is a bull. Literally. He’s also Shiva’s home protection system. Sort of designed to stop home invasion and such. As if anyone would bother coming to this frigid place to steal from them. Very unlikely, you might say. But then again, you might be wrong. Because Ravan was doing just that. One look at the mountain and Ravana was correctly convinced that the mountain itself was the source of what prevented his chariot from flying over. It has some kind of protection shield. So if Ravana wanted the shield, he would take Kailash with him then. The snowy mountain might look good in Lanka – he could ski on the slopes when he wanted, Ravana thought. He had ten heads, but not enough sense to realize that the snow would not stay snow at Lanka’s latitude. 

Nandi began to fight but Ravana had a boon. A boon from Brahma, my dad. No creation of Brahma could harm Ravana. Except humans. For some reason he hadn’t checked the fine print and a human was able to ultimately defeat Ravana. Even if that human, Ram, was just Vishnu in disguise.

Ravana would have gone off with Kailash too but just then Shiva returned. He did get alerted by Nandi’s panic signal. Shiva thought the text alert from Nandi which read “come quick, your home is being stolen” was just Nandi having made some kind of a typo. Maybe he had meant his home was being burgled or something in his home was being stolen.

But when he rushed back home he saw Ravana carrying the entire Kailash mountain on his shoulder. Parvati rubbed her hands with glee and said “ooh I’d love to take care of this”.

But Shiva disagreed. “No dear, besides you took care of Mahishasura. Why should you have all the fun? Let me have a go.”

And with that Shiva placed his big toe on the mountain. Which increased the weight of the mountain exponentially. It crushed Ravana. Well not quite crushed. Because Ravana was incapable of being destroyed by a mountain, remember? Mountains are also creations of Brahma. But that meant Ravana could not be harmed, but he also couldn’t really get out from under Kailash when Shiva’s toe was holding it in place.

Well, Ravana did get out of that, but only after begging and pleading and praying to Shiva for thousands of years. It worked and Ravana finally let him go. And not just that, Shiva also granted him a sword that would guarantee him victory. Ravana humbly returned home.

And that’s the flashback. So you can imagine my surprise that he was at Shiva’s doorstep again. If anything, just the painful memory of being trapped for thousands of years should have given him some PTSD – enough not to come near Kailash again. Painful memory times 10 for the 10 heads.

And what’s more Ravana had brought a plus one with him. Ravana’s companion was another asura just like Ravana. Except he had 9 fewer heads. Which made him a lot easier to deal with. With Ravana, it’s impossible to see eye to eye on anything. One head may be smiling at you while another is frowning.

I recognized this chap of course. Unless you’re tired of hearing me say it – I’ll just remind you yet again that I have an encyclopedic knowledge of the world and everyone and everything in it. This guy was Mayasura, and he was an architect. And not just an architect but the architect that put all other architects to shame.

“Tsk, tsk. Love the atmosphere, but I can’t say much about the durability of your home in such harsh weather. Snow accumulations can be very heavy in this part of the world, be terrible on your roof. And what about the foundation?”

I felt the need to intervene. “But Mayasura,” I interrupted, “there isn’t a roof. There aren’t even any walls. And the foundation is all just the entire mountain.”

“And therein lies the problem. You need one, how can you hang a chandelier in a home like this? And how can you have massive bay windows overlooking the beautiful landscape”

I didn’t want to interrupt again to say that Shiva and Parvati could look out over the beautiful landscape perfectly fine without the need for walls and then windows to look through them. But I was sure Mayasura would just dismiss me. He wasn’t here for me. He was interested in offering his services to Shiva and Parvati.

When my focus went back to the situation, Mayasura was going on and on about thermal insulation, and using double-pane windows to minimize heat loss.

Ravana said that his good friend Mayasura here was spot on. This was no place to call home. But luckily for Shiva and Parvati, Mayasura had precisely the remedy – a new home for Shiva and Parvati in a warmer climate. And what’s more, Ravana said he was going to have it built[ for them. All he needed was their blessings, figuratively and literally.

I knew right away exactly what Ravana had in mind. Oldest trick in the book to do something in service of a God. And then when that God tries to thank you, you just ask for something more in turn. That’s what Ravana wanted to do here no doubt. He had already pulled this off with Brahma, my dad. Brahma had granted Ravana’s wish that no one could kill him. But he left out humans in the fine print. No doubt he was looking to impress Shiva to close that little loophole that remained.

I glanced at Shiva and Parvati. Surely they must know what Ravana was up to. But if that’s what they thought, they didn’t show it.

Parvati and Shiva looked at each other meaningfully. Parvati then addressed Ravana who had been eagerly waiting for an answer. “Are you sure, Ravana? We don’t want you to go to any trouble you know. We can manage here, even though it does get awfully cold”

“Of course I’m sure! Constructing a new home for you is the least I can do for trying to carry off your mountain”. And with that Ravana and Mayasura said their goodbyes and walked off. Mayasura said that he’d have his secretary send some architectural models here. But Shiva and Parvati had other ideas. “Don’t bother sending us a model, Mayasura. We trust your judgment. Besides, it’ll be a surprise” Shiva said. “And we love surprises, don’t we Parvati?”

No sooner had Mayasura and Ravana left, I brought up the elephant in the room. “You know that Ravana is trying to trick you into granting him a wish, right?”

Shiva and Parvati chuckled. “Don’t overthink this Narada. We’ve got this” Parvati said. And I knew they had. I just couldn’t understand how they would get out of granting Ravana a wish. It’s in the Gods and Goddesses guidebook. It’s impossible for them to not grant a wish when someone does something awesome for them. And knowing Ravana, he was trying to be sneaky here. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. 

Now I could have just looked in the future, and maybe I even did. But let’s assume I didn’t. Or that might give too much away.

I went on to Dashrath’s for dinner. Even though the chole bhature was amazing, I didn’t eat much. I was still thinking about Ravana and Mayasura.

Meanwhile, Ravana and Mayasura were not thinking about me. They were back in their secret hideout. Ravana asked Mayasura to make the palace valuable enough to get a good strong boon out of Shiva.

The architect said that he initially wanted to create a sheesh mahal. You know with mirrors and crystals and such. But considering what Ravana had in mind, they might need to consider using Gold.

He picked up a massive book titled “the Asura’s guide to prayers and offerings”. After looking up the right page and the right table, he told Ravana that as per the recommended guidelines it was best to use at least 12.4 metric tonnes of Gold. But the more the better.

“I don’t have that many,” Ravana said. “But that’s not a problem. I’ll just tax the people and go loot a few kingdoms. And what else do you need, Mayasura?”

Turns out, Mayasura needed a lot of other stuff. So at the end of it, Ravana volunteered a few thousand unwilling laborers, a few hundred foremen to whip the laborers. And several hundred “gloaters” – you know people who would lounge about the building site and gloat at the laborers.

Mayasura said that the palace would be completed in a month. Also, he didn’t know why but it was kinda strange how these days he seemed to only construct buildings for evil people. It seemed like a nice change – creating this palace for the good guys – you know, Shiva and Parvati.

All 10 of Ravana’s heads were laughing an evil mastermind laugh. “That’s what you think, Mayasura! This plan of mine cannot fail and with it we’ll get four birds with one stone!”

Mayasura was puzzled, so Ravana explained that number one – Ravana would get Shiva and Parvati to grant him a wish – and then he’d become immortal! Can’t believe he let himself be fooled by the fine print when Brahma made him almost immortal. Number 2 – Mayasura would be getting his revenge on Shiva – Shiva had destroyed Tripura – the three flying cities that Mayasura had constructed. Number 3 – Ravana would have his revenge for 10000 years of being crushed under a mountain. And Number 4 – all the money that Ravana had promised Mayasura for this commission – he had no intention of paying him a single rupee, once the palace was constructed.

Mayasura thought about that and said that it really was just one bird with one stone. Because Number 2 – Mayasura didn’t hold a grudge against Shiva for the Tripura destruction. The three brothers who had commissioned Tripura had been misusing those cities. And Mayasura already got credit for having constructed it. What more could he ask for? For Number 3 wasn’t a thing either. Constructing a palace for someone who crushed you under a mountain didn’t seem like much of a revenge. Unless Ravana had intended for Mayasura to put in lots of booby traps in the palace. And if so, he had omitted those from the specifications here. As for Number 4, Ravana had probably not meant to say that out loud.

Ravana threw up his arms. “Have it your way. Just one bird and one stone then. Just make sure the palace is impressive. It should be so marvelous that it should put Shiva in a generous mood”.

Mayasura got down to it. And put in all his efforts in making not just a palace, but a city. A massive city. And that too covered in Gold. Ravana delivered on his promise. He even exceeded Mayasura’s expectations by delivering several tons of Gold.

The great architect had found just the spot. There were three mountain peaks called Trikuta. And between them was a plateau. And that’s where Mayasura constructed Lanka. It wasn’t just a palace that he constructed but an entire city! And everything was mostly Gold! Well, not the foundation and the walls and the doors. Mayasura quickly found that Gold’s compression strength doesn’t make it an ideal construction material. But he coated everything in it. The walls, the domes, the doors, the gates. Even the roads within this city were covered in gold.

Ravana examined it and all 10 of his heads dropped their jaws. This was going to work. This palace was so marvelous, Shiva was sure to offer him something substantial in return.

And all those times that Shiva would be here in Lanka in the tropical climates, Ravana would invite himself to a vacation on Mount Kailash, why not? Bet the skiing there was great!

So, Ravana sent word to Kailash to have Shiva and Parvati inaugurate this new palace. 

Mayasura said he couldn’t stay, he had to go meet a friend of his in the forest back over in India – where some characters from the Mahabharata were waiting for him to move their story along. Besides, Mayasura was shy and didn’t like to participate in these modern elaborate ribbon cutting ceremonies. They might even put him on the spot and expect him to make a speech!

Ravana was ready! He’d already ordered his new skiing gear, complete with 10 helmets. He had the portable hot tub, and he had taken igloo making lessons from Mayasura himself. He was going to have a nice cool holiday on Mount Kailash to celebrate his immortality. Which should come any second now.

Shiva and Parvati had just cut the ribbon to huge applause from the Lankan crowd.

Now Shiva was making a speech. Ravana wasn’t paying much attention. But I was. So I can tell you what Shiva said. First he thanked the crowd, thanked Ravana, thanked Mayasura, thanked the laborers who had worked night and day to create this massive city. Everything was great. Except there was just one tiny thing. A simple thanks wouldn’t do. Ravana deserved a reward for his generosity in constructing this magnificent home.

“Heh heh heh,” Ravana thought. “I will become immortal now!”

Shiva continued “As I was saying I can only grant what is in my power. Parvati and I – we’re a very simple couple. We don’t even have a house of our own. We’ve been living on Mount Kailash but we don’t own it. In fact our only possession so far is this city of Lanka. And so I shall gift this to Ravana”

Ravana was shocked. What? He didn’t want this city in the middle of nowhere! He much preferred his own capital closer to the shore. This one was Shiva and Parvati’s – let them have it. But of course he couldn’t say all that now, could he?

He did quickly scramble up his lawyers to examine the Gods and Goddesses handbook to find if Shiva could do this. Ravana was pretty sure that a God had to give some kind of an intangible gift, or to prophesize something. Except there was an exception. There’s always an exception. The clause is heavy with legal words but it went something like this. If a party of the first part – who is a God or a Goddess wishes to gift a physical object, structure or vehicle to a party of the second part, said gift may be a physical object, structure or vehicle provided the party of the second part offers the party of the first part a physical object of similar or lesser value. Well, the Lankan palace complex was not just similar in value it was exactly the same value.

Of course Shiva could do this. Ravana sighed and ordered his people to sell all the skiing gear to his citizens. At least someone in his Kingdom would be frightened enough to cough up the money for the skiing equipment even if it was completely useless in their tropical location. 

Shiva and Parvati had departed back to Kailash and being able to ski there was a dream that Ravana would have to abandon. For now. At least all that Gold he had invested wasn’t lost. As long as the city was protected from any potential hazard like pyromaniac monkeys, his investments were protected. So he thought.

That’s all for now

Some notes on the show

There is plenty of debate about whether it was Vishwakarma or Mayasura who constructed Lanka. Mayasura makes a little bit more sense when you consider that Mayasura’s daughter was married to Ravana. And that might have obligated Mayasura towards helping Ravana out. Even if Ravana intended to skip out on the bill.

That’s all for now. 

Next Time

In the next episode, we’ll do a folk tale! It’s been a while since we did one, and I’ve had some requests to do this story of the King of Crocodiles who married a regular human. We’ll see that if you go back on your promise to a magical talking crocodile family, bad things will happen to you. But if you do eventually keep your promise, you might receive a mansion and heaps of gold.

Feedback

Thank you all for the comments on Social Media and on Spotify’s Q&A! I can’t directly reply to the questions there, but I’ll address them here on this show.

Thank you for the feedback Hariprasad, Vamsi and Ligma. I agree Vamsi, the guard didn’t really guard anything for much of the story.

Samay and Bindu – the story of Vikramaditya and the Chinese princess is coming up. And Ani Kar, we’ll go back to the Mahabharata very soon. I’d encourage everyone to vote in the poll if you haven’t already. For those who asked, the poll is currently on Spotify but I’m looking to set it up on the website as well. More on that soon.

Hariprasad – we covered the Gajendra Moksha story during the character of the week segment of Episode 30.

If you have any other comments or suggestions or if there are particular stories you’d like to hear, please do let me know by leaving a comment or a review on the site sfipodcast.com, or tweet @sfipodcast, or reply to the questions on Spotify Q&A. You can also find me on Instagram and Facebook.

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A big thank you to each of you for your continued support and your feedback.

The music is from Purple Planet.

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next time!