Lakshmana

About Lakshmana

Lakshmana (लक्ष्मणः), son of King Dasharatha and Queen Sumitra, twin brother of Shatrughna, is the incarnation of Shesha Naga — the thousand-headed serpent upon whom Lord Vishnu reclines in the cosmic ocean. Where Rama is Vishnu in human form, Lakshmana is the inseparable support Shesha provides him — he cannot be apart from his elder brother for even a moment, and has almost no independent life in the Ramayana outside of service to Rama.

When Rama is exiled for fourteen years, Lakshmana insists on accompanying him and Sita to the forest without hesitation, leaving behind his wife Urmila — who accepts fourteen years of separation as her own tapas. In the forest, Lakshmana is the one who builds their parnashalas (leaf huts), stands guard while they sleep, confronts and mutilates the rakshasi Shurpanakha (Ravana's sister), and fights the rakshasas Khara and Dushana at Panchavati. He is the warrior-shadow of Rama — deadly in battle, sharp in speech, fiercely protective of Sita.

In the Yuddha Kanda, Lakshmana faces Ravana's son Indrajit (Meghanada) in a series of decisive duels. Struck down by Indrajit's Shakti-weapon, Lakshmana is saved only by Hanuman's legendary flight to the Himalayas for the Sanjivani herb. Lakshmana ultimately kills Indrajit in battle, breaking the back of Lanka's resistance. In the Uttara Kanda he serves Rama as Yuvaraja, accepts the painful task of escorting the pregnant Sita to the forest on Rama's command, and finally — bound by his own vow — departs this world before Rama, dissolving into the Sarayu river to return to his form as Shesha.