One Father, Two Very Different Sons
The sage Vishrava, son of the great rishi Pulastya, had children from more than one union. With his first wife, sometimes named Ilavida or Devavarnini depending on the source, he had Kubera, a son of exceptional discipline who performed severe tapasya and was rewarded by Brahma with guardianship of wealth itself, the position of one of the eight lokapalas, the guardians of the directions, specifically presiding over the north. Kubera was also given a magnificent city, Lanka, built by the divine architect Vishwakarma, and a flying chariot beyond compare, the Pushpaka Vimana.
Later in his life, Vishrava married again, this time to Kaikasi, a rakshasa princess who, by most tellings, deliberately sought out a powerful sage as a husband specifically to bear sons capable of great strength. From this second union came Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Surpanakha and Vibhishana. Kubera, then, was not simply Ravana's rival later in the story; he was Ravana's own older half-brother from the start, raised with every advantage Ravana would spend his life trying to seize for himself.
The City That Changed Hands
Envious of his half-brother's city, wealth and chariot, Ravana undertook his own long tapasya and secured formidable boons of his own. With that power behind him, he marched on Lanka and drove Kubera out of the city that had been given to him, taking both the golden city and the Pushpaka Vimana as his own. Kubera withdrew north, establishing a new seat at Alaka near Mount Kailash, close to Shiva's own domain, where he remained the guardian of wealth and the north without the golden city he had lost.
The Uttara Kanda, where this backstory is told, also preserves a detail often left out of popular versions: Kubera did not simply vanish in defeat. He is said to have sent Ravana a courteous but firm message, sometimes through an emissary, warning him that this course of conduct, first the conquest of a brother's city and later, implicitly, whatever else his pride might lead him toward, would end badly. Ravana dismissed the warning exactly as he would later dismiss Vibhishana's counsel in the same court, a pattern of ignored warnings from his own family that runs through the whole epic.
One Chariot, Four Owners
The Pushpaka Vimana ties this whole story together in a way worth tracing on its own. Originally created by Vishwakarma at Brahma's direction, it passed to Kubera as part of his original grant, was seized by Ravana along with the city, and remained in Lanka through the entire war. After Ravana's death, Rama does not return it to Kubera but instead uses it himself, famously flying home to Ayodhya in it with Sita, Lakshmana and the vanara allies, a journey commemorated in the Pushpaka Vimana's route being retold as the geography of the Ramayana's ending.
Kubera's association with the north and with Alaka near Kailash, rather than with the tropical golden city more commonly linked to demon kings in popular memory, comes directly out of this one episode. It is also why Kubera, despite being the god most directly wronged by Ravana, holds no grudge visible in later devotional worship; he remains one of the most widely invoked deities for prosperity, his story with Ravana treated as an old family wound rather than an active enmity carried into ritual life today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Kubera the original king of Lanka?+
Yes, according to the Uttara Kanda, Lanka was originally built by Vishwakarma and granted to Kubera as part of his position as guardian of the north and of wealth, well before Ravana forcibly took it from him.
Did Kubera try to get Lanka back?+
There is no account of a military attempt. Kubera sent a warning message rather than an army, and simply relocated to Alaka rather than pursuing a war he likely could not win against a brother who had just secured major boons.
How is Kubera worshipped today?+
Kubera is widely invoked as a deity of wealth and prosperity, particularly around Dhanteras and Diwali, often alongside Lakshmi, and this worship carries no reference to the Ravana episode at all.
What happened to the Pushpaka Vimana after the war?+
Rama used it to fly back to Ayodhya with Sita, Lakshmana and the vanara allies immediately after the war, rather than returning it to Kubera, making it one of the few objects in the epic to pass through four different owners.
About the author
Anjali Mehta · Editor, M.A. Religious Studies
Anjali is the managing editor for Vandnaa and oversees the festival and vrat coverage. She holds an M.A. in Religious Studies and reviews every published article for accuracy, accessibility, and tradition-fidelity.
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