Baal Kaanda
34 - The birth of Ravana and his brothers, their austerities, opulence and tyranny
Chaupais
Description
Having granted them boons Brahma went away, while they returned to their home rejoicing. The demon Maya had a daughter, Mandodari by name, who was exceedingly beautiful, a jewel of womankind. Maya brought and made her over to Ravana, knowing that the latter was going to become the lord of the demons. Delighted at having obtained such a good wife, Ravana next went and married his two brothers. On a three-peaked mountain called Trikuta in the middle of the ocean there stood a very large fortress built by Brahma himself. The demon Maya (who was a great architect) renovated it. It contained numberless palaces of gold and jewels, and was more beautiful and charming than Bhogavati (the capital of Patala, the nethermost region in the core of the globe), the city of the serpents, and Amaravati, the capital of Indra (the lord of paradise). It was known throughout the world by the name of Lanka.