Kubera and Ravana: How Lanka and the Pushpaka Vimana Changed Hands (Valmiki Ramayana)

Last updated: 5 November 2026. Story checked against the Uttara Kanda text listed at the end on 5 November 2026.

Quick answer: In the Valmiki Ramayana, Lanka was first Kubera's city. Brahma made Kubera lord of wealth and gave him the Pushpaka vimana, and his father Vishrava settled him in Lanka, which had been built by Vishvakarma for the rakshasas and abandoned. When his half-brother Ravana grew powerful and demanded Lanka, Kubera left for Mount Kailasa on his father's advice. Later Ravana attacked him there, defeated him and seized the Pushpaka. The story is told by the sage Agastya to Rama in the Uttara Kanda.

तस्माद्गच्छ महाबाहो कैलासं धरणीधरम् । निवेशय निवासार्थं त्यज लङ्कां सहानुगः ॥

Transliteration: tasmād gaccha mahābāho kailāsaṃ dharaṇīdharam । niveśaya nivāsārthaṃ tyaja laṅkāṃ sahānugaḥ ॥

Meaning: "Therefore go, mighty-armed one, to Kailasa, the mountain that holds up the earth. Make your home there, and leave Lanka with your followers." (Vishrava to Kubera)

Label: Valmiki Ramayana, Uttara Kanda (the itihasa). Devanagari transcribed by us from the IAST text quoted in the Kamakoti summary.

The family: two mothers, one father

The sage Vishrava, son of Pulastya, had two wives. With Devavarnini, daughter of the sage Bharadvaja, he had Vaishravana, known as Kubera. With Kaikasi, daughter of the rakshasa chief Sumali, he had Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Vibhishana and a daughter, Shurpanakha. Kubera and Ravana are therefore half-brothers, and the Ramayana has Ravana himself call Kubera his elder brother.

Part 1: Kubera receives Lanka

Kubera did severe tapas for thousands of years. Brahma, pleased, made him the fourth guardian of the world with Indra, Yama and Varuna, made him lord of wealth, and gave him the Pushpaka, a flying vimana "bright as the sun".

Kubera then asked his father where to live. Vishrava told him about Lanka, a city "like Indra's Amaravati" built by Vishvakarma for the rakshasas. Its gateways were of gold and vaidurya. The rakshasas had abandoned it long before, fleeing to the netherworld for fear of Vishnu. Kubera settled in Lanka, filled it with people and ruled there happily, visiting his parents from time to time in the Pushpaka.

Part 2: Ravana demands Lanka

Kaikasi had seen Kubera's splendour and urged her sons to become as great. Ravana and his brothers did their own tapas and won boons from Brahma.

Sumali then came up from the netherworld with his ministers, including Prahasta and Maricha. They told Ravana that Lanka had been theirs and that he should become its lord. Ravana at first refused, saying that Kubera was his elder brother. Prahasta argued that among heroes there is no brotherly love and recalled the wars between the sons of Diti and Aditi. Ravana gave way and sent Prahasta to Kubera with a message: Lanka belongs to the rakshasas, so give it back, and that would please him and keep dharma.

Kubera did not fight. He replied that his father had given him the empty city, and went to ask Vishrava what to do. Vishrava said that Ravana, confused by his boons and by a curse, no longer knew right from wrong, and that Kubera should go to Kailasa and leave Lanka. Kubera respected his father's word and left with his wives, citizens, ministers, vehicles and wealth. He built a new city on that moon-bright mountain, by the Mandakini river. Ravana entered the empty Lanka with his brothers and was crowned there. Later literature calls Kubera's new city Alaka; see Who is Lord Kubera.

Part 3: The messenger

As Ravana's cruelty grew, Kubera, remembering what a family should be, sent a messenger to counsel him. In the message Kubera spoke of his own friendship with Shiva. While keeping a vow in the Himalaya he had seen the Goddess Uma; by her power his left eye was scorched and turned tawny. Shiva, pleased with his austerity, had made him his friend.

Ravana was enraged by the reminder. He cut the messenger down with his sword and set out to conquer Kubera.

Part 4: The battle and the Pushpaka

Ravana marched on Kubera's mountain with his ministers and army. The Yakshas fought hard: one great Yaksha struck down Maricha, and the Yaksha general Manibhadra fought Ravana before he too was turned back. Then Kubera himself came out. He reproached Ravana for his conduct and struck him on the head with his mace. They fought with weapons and divine missiles. Kubera loosed the fire weapon, and Ravana answered with the water weapon.

At last Ravana took on an illusory form and struck Kubera on the head with a great mace. Kubera fell "like an ashoka tree cut at the root". His attendants carried him to the Nandana garden, where the treasures, Padma and the others, revived him (see Nava Nidhi).

Ravana took the Pushpaka, with its golden pillars, gateways of vaidurya and nets of pearls, a vimana that goes wherever its master wishes, and came down from Kailasa in triumph. Soon after, the Pushpaka stopped over a mountain where Shiva was present, which leads to the famous episode of Ravana trying to lift Kailasa.

Timeline

What the story teaches devotees

Retellings draw a few lessons from it:

• Kubera does not cling. He gives up Lanka because his father asks him to, which is why devotees see him as a guardian of wealth rather than a possessive owner of it.
• Power without restraint is ruin. Ravana's boons and wealth lead him away from dharma, the thread the whole Ramayana follows to its end.
• Wealth is held in trust. Kubera keeps treasure for the world, a theme families remember at Kuber Puja on Dhanteras and in the Kubera mantras.

These are interpretations, not lines from the text.

Frequently asked questions

Was Lanka originally Kubera's?

Yes, in the Valmiki Ramayana. Lanka was built by Vishvakarma for the rakshasas, who abandoned it. Vishrava then settled Kubera there, and Kubera ruled it until Ravana demanded it back for the rakshasas.

Why did Kubera give Lanka to Ravana?

He asked his father Vishrava, who told him that Ravana, made arrogant by his boons, could not be reasoned with. Kubera should leave Lanka and settle on Kailasa, and he did so out of respect for his father.

How did Ravana get the Pushpaka vimana?

Ravana attacked Kubera on his mountain, defeated the Yakshas and struck Kubera down with a mace. He then took the Pushpaka, which Brahma had given to Kubera.

Where is the Kubera and Ravana story told?

In the Uttara Kanda of the Valmiki Ramayana, where the sage Agastya tells Rama the history of the rakshasas and of Ravana.

Are Kubera and Ravana brothers?

They are half-brothers. Both are sons of the sage Vishrava. Kubera's mother was Devavarnini, daughter of Bharadvaja, and Ravana's mother was Kaikasi, daughter of Sumali.

Where did Kubera go after leaving Lanka?

To Mount Kailasa, where he built a new city. Later Sanskrit literature, such as Kalidasa's Meghaduta, calls Kubera's city Alaka or Alakapuri.

Sources

Fact-checked on 5 November 2026. Episodes are from the Valmiki Ramayana, Uttara Kanda. We cite it at book level. The Sanskrit is quoted from the Kamakoti summary, which presents the text chapter by chapter.

• Valmiki Ramayana, Uttara Kanda: Essence of Valmiki Uttara Ramayana, kamakoti.org (Sanskrit text with summary)
• Lord Kubera, Drik Panchang (Kaikesi's four children; Kubera as Ravana's half-brother)
• Meghaduta with Mallinatha's commentary, sanskritdocuments.org (Alaka)

Related Kubera guides

• Who is Lord Kubera? Birth, Alakapuri, Pushpaka and guardian of the north
• Nava Nidhi: the nine treasures of Kubera
• Kubera Gayatri Mantra: text, meaning and variants
• Rajadhirajaya prasahya sahine: the Vedic Kubera verse
• Kubera Yantra: meaning and traditional worship
• Kubera worship in shops and offices: Chopda Puja and account books
• Kubera puja on Friday: custom and simple worship
• Kubera Mantra for Wealth: the complete guide
• 108 Names of Lord Kubera (Kubera Ashtottara Shatanamavali)
• Kuber Puja 2026 on Dhanteras: date, muhurat and vidhi
• Mantras to chant while buying gold on Dhanteras