The nivatakavachas ( sa, निवातकवच, lit=the impenetrable armoured ones, translit=Nivātakavaca) are a sect of
daityas
According to ancient scriptures, the daityas (Sanskrit: दैत्य) are a race of asuras, descending from Kashyapa and his wife, Diti. Prominent members of this race include Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashipu, and Mahabali, all of whom overran the ...
, the children of
Kashyapa
Kashyapa ( sa, कश्यप}, ) is a revered Vedas, Vedic Sage (philosophy), sage of Hinduism., Quote: "Kasyapa (Rudra),(Vedic Seer)..." He is one of the Saptarishis, the seven ancient sages of the ''Rigveda''. Kashyapa is the most ancien ...
and
Diti
Diti ( sa, दिति) is a daughter of the ''Prajapati'' Daksha in Hinduism. She is a wife of the sage Kashyapa and the mother of the demonic race Daityas and the divine group of Marutas.
Legend
According to the ''Puranic'' scriptures,
Di ...
, classified under the race of
asuras
Asuras (Sanskrit: असुर) are a class of beings in Indic religions. They are described as power-seeking clans related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the word is sometimes translated ...
in
Hindu mythology
Hindu mythology is the body of myths and literature attributed to, and espoused by, the adherents of the Hindu religion, found in Hindu texts such as the Vedic literature, epics like ''Mahabharata'' and ''Ramayana'', the Puranas, and reg ...
. They are best known for their battles against
Ravana
Ravana (; , , ) is a rakshasa king of the island of Lanka, and the chief antagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' and its adaptations.
In the ''Ramayana'', Ravana is described to be the eldest son of sage Vishrava and rakshasi Kaikesi. He a ...
and
Arjuna
Arjuna (Sanskrit: अर्जुन, ), also known as Partha and Dhananjaya, is a character in several ancient Hindu texts, and specifically one of the major characters of the Indian epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he is the third among Panda ...
, the latter of which caused their annihilation.
Thirty million nivatakavachas were born in the daitya clan. Allied with the
kalakeyas
The kalakeyas ( sa, कालकेय, translit=Kālakeya) or kalakhanjas ( sa, कालखञ्ज; Pali: kālakañjā) are a sect of danavas in Hindu mythology, referring to the children of Kashyapa and Kala. Sixty-thousand kalakeyas are said ...
, they triumphed over the devas in battle. They are described to have been skilled in magic and warfare, wielding powerful weapons to defeat their foes.
Literature
Ramayana
The nivatakavachas are said to have terrorised the world, living deep beneath the ocean, and residing in the city of Maṇimatī after securing boons from
Brahma
Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 21 ...
. In the ''
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...
'',
Ravaṇa with his sons
Meghanada
Meghanada (), also referred to by his epithet Indrajita , according to Hindu texts, was the crown prince of Lanka, who conquered Indraloka (Heaven). He is regarded as one of the greatest warriors in Hindu texts. He is a major character mention ...
,
Atikaya
Atikaya was the son of Ravana and his second wife Dhanyamalini in the Ramayana epic.
Due to his extraordinary skills and superiority, Atikaya had to be slain by Lakshmana by using a Brahmastra, a powerful weapon of the god Brahma. The wind-go ...
, and with his army attacked these daityas, but found himself unable to defeat the sect after centuries of battle. The two sides finally formed an alliance after Brahma intervened.
Mahabharata
In the
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...
,
Indra
Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes/ref> I ...
sought the destruction of the nivatakavachas from his son, Arjuna, as his
dakshina (honorarium). Describing the sect as his foes, he stated that the nivatakavachas lived in a fortress under the ocean, numbered thirty million, and were alike in shape, size, and prowess. To achieve this task, Indra sent his own charioteer,
Matali, to drive Arjuna to the location of his foes. The devas offered Arjuna a conch named Devadatta, and Matali offered him ornaments that resembled his own. When the two reached the city of the daityas, they closed their gates, fearing that Indra himself had appeared to slay them. When Arjuna blew his conch, the nivatakavachas attacked him, loosing tridents, spears, and arrows upon him. Arjuna released arrows from his
Gandiva
Gandiva (IAST: Gāṇḍīva; ) is a divine bow of Arjuna, one of the Pandavas from the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata.'' The bow was made by Brahma.
How Arjuna got the Gandiva
Agni, God of fire, wanted to devour the forest of Khandavaprastha, t ...
, slaying the daityas in the thousands. The nivatakavachas rendered themselves invisible, and showered elemental attacks on Arjuna. The prince grew disheartened when he realised that he was unable to manoeuvre their attacks due to the intensity of their barrage. Matali urged him to employ the thunderbolt missiles he had brought with him, which devastated the daityas, and defeated them. The daitya women sought shelter in their houses as Arjuna entered Maṇimatī, thinking that it looked better than the city of the devas. The charioteer explained that the city had previously belonged to the devas, but had been captured by the daityas following a boon granted to them by Brahma. Brahma assured Indra that the latter himself, in another form, would defeat the daityas, which had just transpired. He encouraged Arjuna to also lay waste to Hiranyapura, a neighbouring city of the danavas who opposed his father as well, which the prince achieved.
Javanese Ramayana
The Javanese
Kakawin Ramayana
''Kakawin Ramayana'' is an Old Javanese poem rendering of the Sanskrit Ramayana in ''kakawin'' meter (poetry), meter.
''Kakawin Rāmâyaṇa'' is a ''kakawin'', the Javanese form of ''kāvya'', a poem modeled on traditional Sanskrit meters.It ...
has an episode named Arjunawiwaha (the marriage of Arjuna), which is set up on the incidents that take place surrounding Arjuna's exploits of the nivatakavachas. The city of the danavas in this poem is known as Manimantaka. Apart from the protagonist Arjuna, other main characters of the poem include
Sakra, the king of the devas, and Suprabha, a
celestial nymph who helps Arjuna on his mission.
[Arjunawiwaha, translated by Stuart Robson Link: https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/34659]
See also
*
Asuras
Asuras (Sanskrit: असुर) are a class of beings in Indic religions. They are described as power-seeking clans related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the word is sometimes translated ...
*
Daitya
According to ancient scriptures, the daityas (Sanskrit: दैत्य) are a race of asuras, descending from Kashyapa and his wife, Diti. Prominent members of this race include Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashipu, and Mahabali, all of whom overran the ...
s
*
Danavas
In Hindu mythology, the danavas are a race descending from Kashyapa and his wife Danu, a daughter of the progenitor god, Daksha. It is mentioned that there are one hundred danavas.
Origin
The danavas are a mythological race of demigods, t ...
*
Kalakeyas
The kalakeyas ( sa, कालकेय, translit=Kālakeya) or kalakhanjas ( sa, कालखञ्ज; Pali: kālakañjā) are a sect of danavas in Hindu mythology, referring to the children of Kashyapa and Kala. Sixty-thousand kalakeyas are said ...
*
List of Asuras
Asuras ( sa, असुर) are a class of beings or power-seeking clans, related to the more benevolent devas (also known as ''suras'') in Hinduism.
Clans
The two major clans of the asuras are the daityas and the danavas.
* Daitya - a clan of as ...
References
*
{{HinduMythology
Asura
*