Meghanada (), also referred to by his epithet Indrajita , according to Hindu texts, was a son of Ravana and 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 mentioned in the Indian epic Ramayana. Meghanada is the central character in Bengali ballad Meghnad Badh Kavya. He played an active role in the great war between Rama and Ravana. He acquired many kinds of celestial weapons from his Guru Shukra. His most prominent feat is having defeated the devas in heaven. Using the Brahmastra, Indrajita killed 670 million vanaras in a single day; nearly exterminating the entirety of the vanara race. No warrior had ever achieved this statistical feat before in the Ramayana. He is the only warrior in the entire Ramayana to defeat both Rama and Lakshmana twice while they were both armed by making them unconscious in a battle with the help of astras and sorcery (once by using "Nagapashastra" and another time by using Brahmastra). He was said to be more powerful and superior warrior than his father Ravana by Brahma and Agastya. He is the only warrior in the entire Hindu text to possess all three "Trimurti astras", namely, Brahmastra, Vaishnavastra, and Pashupatastra.
Etymology
Indrajita had the special ability to fight from the sky, hidden behind the clouds. That is why both Rama and Lakshmana were defeated during the battle and were tied up by the snake. In Sanskrit, the literal translation of the name "Indrajita" (इन्द्रजित) is mentioned as the "Conqueror of Indra" and "Meghanāda" () as " Lord of the sky". In Tamil, the literal translation of the name "Meghanathan" () is mentioned as the "Lord of Clouds", which combines the words "Megham" (clouds) and "Nathan" (lord). He defeated Indra, the king of the devas, after which he came to be known as "Indrajita" (the conqueror of Indra). He is also known as Shakrajit, Ravani, Vasavajit, Varidanada, and Ghananada.
Early life
Indrajita was the eldest son of Ravana and his wife Mandodari. He was named Meghanada after his birth because his birth cry sounded like thunder. When Meghanada was going to be born, Ravana wished his son to be supreme so that no one in the world could defeat him. Ravana wanted his son to be the ultimate warrior and extremely knowledgeable. Ravana was a great astrologer. To make his son immortal, he commanded all the planets and constellations in such a position that would allow his son to be born the way he wanted. Because of Ravana's anger and power, all the planets and constellations feared him. All the planets were in the position as desired by Ravana at time of his son Meghanada's birth. All the planets aligned in such a way that they came in the 11th house of Meghanada's horoscope. However, Shani (Saturn) had disobeyed Ravana's orders and had settled in the 12th house of Meghanada's horoscope. Ravana became furious at this and blamed Shani. Due to the state of Shani, Meghanada had to die at the hands of Lakshmana in the war between Prince Rama and Ravana.
Meghanada was also an expert in magical warfare, sorcery and tantra. His wife is not mentioned in the original epic; however in later versions of the epic, Sulochana—the daughter of the King of the serpents Shesha Naga—is mentioned as his wife.