Shatrughna (, ), also known as Ripudaman, is the younger brother of Rama, and King of Mathura and Vidisha, in the Hindu epic Ramayana. He is considered as an incarnation of the Sudarshana Chakra of god Vishnu, and was married to Shrutakirti.
Shatrughna is the twin of Lakshmana. He is a loyalist of Bharata, just like Lakshmana is to Rama.
Etymology
The name Shatrughna is of
Sanskrit origin.
Shatru means 'enemy' and
Ghna means 'kill'. His name means 'killer of enemies'.
Legend
Birth and early life
King
Dasharatha of Ayodhya had three wives:
Kausalya,
Kaikeyi, and
Sumitra. Shatrughan and his elder brother
Lakshmana were born to Sumitra, while
Rama and Bharata were born to Kausalya and Kaikeyi.
In the
Ramayana, he is described as an incarnation of Sudarshana Chakra.
Marriage to Shrutakirti
After Rama won the
svayamvara of
Sita, their marriage was fixed. King
Dasharatha arrived in Mithila for his son's wedding and noticed that Lakshmana had feelings for
Urmila, but according to tradition, Bharata and
Mandavi were to marry first.
King Dasharatha then arranged for Bharata to marry Mandavi and Shatrughna to marry
Shrutakirti, allowing Lakshmana to marry Urmila. Ultimately, all four sisters married the four brothers, strengthening the alliance between the two kingdoms.
Shatrughna and Shrutakirti had two sons named Subahu and
Shatrughati.
Rama's exile
When Rama was exiled, Shatrughna dragged Kaikeyi's old nurse
Manthara (who was responsible for poisoning the queen's mind against Rama) and tried to kill her, but he was restrained by Bharata, who felt that Rama would not approve. Bharata went to Rama and asked him to come back to Ayodhya, but Rama refused. Bharata ruled Ayodhya from Nandigram and was an excellent leader, acting as the very embodiment of dharma. Although Bharata was the king designate of Ayodhya during Rama's exile, it was Shatrughna who undertook of the administration of the whole kingdom during Rama's absence. Shatrughna was the only solace for the three queen mothers during the absence of Rama, Lakshmana, and Bharata from Ayodhya.
Rage against Manthara
Manthara appears only once in the
Ramayana after Rama's banishment. Having been rewarded by Kaikeyi with costly clothing and jewels, she was walking in the palace gardens when Bharata and his half-brother Shatrughna came upon her. Seeing her, Shatrughna flew into a violent rage over Rama's banishment and decided to attack her. Kaikeyi begged Bharata to save her, which he did, telling Shatrughna that it would be a sin to kill a woman, and that Rama would be furious with both of them if he did such a thing. He relented and the brothers left, while Kaikeyi attempted to comfort Manthara.
Slaying of Lavanasura
Although he played a relatively minor role in the
Ramayana, Shatrughna was important to the main story and goal of the epic. His chief exploit was the killing of
Lavanasura, the demon King of Madhupura (
Mathura),
[Pargiter, F.E. (1972). Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, p.170.] who was a nephew of
Ravana, the King of
Lanka, slain by Rama.
Lavanasura was the son of Madhu, the pious demon-king after whom the city of Madhupura was named. Madhu's wife and Lavanusara's mother Kumbhini was a sister of Ravana. Lavanasura was holder of the divine Trishula (Trident) of Lord Shiva, and nobody was able to kill him or prevent him from committing sinful activities.
Shatrughna requested Rama and his elder brothers to allow him the opportunity to serve them by killing Lavanasura. Shatrughna killed the demon with an arrow imbibed with the power of Vishnu. After Lavanasura's death, Rama crowned him King of Madhupura.
Death
Shatrughna divided his kingdom consisting of
Mathura and
Vidisha between his sons
Subahu and
Shatrughati.
After Rama, the seventh
Avatar of
Vishnu completed 11,000 years of perfectly pious rule upon earth, walked into the river Sarayu to return to his true and eternal
Mahavishnu form, Bharata and Shatrughna also followed him into the river and later merged into
Mahavishnu.
Assessment
Shatrughna was the youngest of the fourth brothers. He dedicated himself in the service of his brother, Bharata. When Bharata, decided to stay at
Nandigram, Shatrughan wanted to accompany him. But on his brother's request, he stayed in Ayodhya and looked after the state as an administrator. Shatrughan also looked after all his three mothers.
Worship
In the
Medak district of
Telangana, there is a temple called Sri Kalyana Ramachandra Sannadhi that is dedicated to Shatrughna and Shrutakirti. This temple is the only one in India that has installed statues of Rama's brothers and their wives.
In Kerala, Shatrughna temples are integral to the state's Nalambalam pilgrimages during the Malayalam month of Karkidakam which is dedicated to the reading of the Ramayana and thus aptly called Ramayana masam(Ramayana month). The temples are:
-
Payammal Sree Shatrughna Swami Temple, Thrissur
-
Methiri Sree Sathrughnaswamy Temple, Kottayam
-
Nedungaattu Sree Shatrugna Swami Temple(Mammalassery), Ernakulam
-
Naranathu Shatrughna Swami Temple, Malappuram
-
Payam Sri Mahavishu (Shatrughna) Temple, Kannur
-
Sree Shatrughna Swami Temple, Kalkulam, Kuthannur, Palakkad
Another temples dedicated to him are as follow:
-
Shatrughna Temple at Muni Ki Reti, Rishikesh
-
Shatrughna Temple near Kans-tila, Mathura, UP
In popular culture
Television
The following people portrayed Shatrughna in the television adaptation of
Ramayana.
-
Sameer Rajda portrayed him in the 1987 series Ramayan and the 1998 series Luv Kush.
-
Hitesh Kumar portrayed him in the 1997 series Jai Hanuman.
-
Amit Pachori portrayed him in the 2002 series Ramayan.
-
Lalit Negi portrayed him in the 2008 series Ramayan.
-
Harshad Arora portrayed him in the 2011 series Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev.
-
Shreshth Kumar / Nishant Kumar portrayed him in the 2015 series Sankat Mochan Mahabali Hanumaan.
-
Pratham Kunwar portrayed him in the 2015 series Siya Ke Ram.
-
Akhil Kataria portrayed him in the 2019 series Ram Siya Ke Luv Kush.
-
Samarthya Gupta / Purusharth Rawat portrayed him in the 2024 series Shrimad Ramayan.
-
Pushya Mitra portrayed him in 2024 DD National series Kakabhushundi Ramayan- Anasuni Kathayein.
YouTube
-
Sumukh Mehrishi portrayed him in 2024 YouTube series Valmiki Ramayan.
Books
-
Shatrughna Charit by Ravindra Shukla 'Ravi', published in 2014.
Further reading
-
, translated in English by Griffith, from Project Gutenberg
External links
