Glossary of Names and Places

Agastya a great sage with many divine powers

Agni god of fire

Ahalya wife of the sage Gautama; famous for her beauty

Akampana name of a rakshasa

Aksha Kumara Ravana’s youngest son

Anasuya wife of sage Atri; famous for her piety and chastity

Angada son of the monkey king Vali

Anjana Hanuman’s mother

Arjuna the middle Pandava (son of Pandu) to whom Lord Krishna gave the advice of the Bhagavad Gita

Atri great sage, husband of Anasuya

Ayodhya capital city ruled by Rama; Rama’s birthplace

Ayomukhi a rakshasi who solicited Lakshmana

Bhadra friend of Rama’s

Bharadwaja great sage who lived at the confluence of three rivers: Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati

Bharata Rama’s brother, son of Kaikeyi

Brahma the Creator; grandsire of the gods

Chitrakoota hill where Rama and Sita lived early in his fourteen-year exile

Dandaka forest where Rama and Sita spent his exile

Dasaratha Rama’s father

Dhumraksha one of Ravana’s generals

Dhushana one of Ravana’s generals

Dundubhi a demon in the form of a buffalo

Durvasa sage noted for his bad temper

Dwapara Yuga third age of the Hindu calendar

Gandharva musical heavenly beings; powerful warriors who had their own kingdom

Ganesha son of Shiva; the elephant-faced god

Ganga the holy river

Garuda the eagle vehicle of Lord Vishnu

Gautama a great sage; husband of Ahalya

Godavari river by which was situated Rama’s and Sita’s hermitage during the last two years of his exile

Gokarna where Maricha had his ashrama

Gomati a river near Ayodhya

Guha chieftain of a tribe who helped Rama to cross the Ganga

Hanuman minister of Sugriva; monkey god; one of Rama’s greatest devotees

Himavan lord of the great mountain—the Himalayas; father of the goddess Parvathi

Ikshvaku son of Manu and progenitor of the Solar race

Ilwala name of a demon

Indra king of gods

Indrajit Ravana’s oldest son

Jambavan king of the bears

Jambumali son of Ravana’s general, Prahastha

Janaka king of Mithila; Sita’s father

Janaki another name for Sita, meaning daughter of Janaka

Janasthana part of the forest of Dandaka where Ravana’s garrison was stationed

Jatayu an eagle who tried to help Sita

Jayanta son of Indra who came in the form of a crow

Kabandha a headless demon

Kaikeyi mother of Bharata; youngest wife of Dasaratha

Kailasa peak in the Himalayas; dwelling place of Shiva

Kala the spirit of time

Kausalya mother of Rama, eldest wife of Dasaratha

Kekaya Kaikeyi’s native land

Kesari Hanuman’s foster father

Khara a demon; brother of Dhushana

Kishkinda name of Sugriva’s city

Kodanda name of Rama’s bow

Kosala name of Rama’s country

Krishna The supreme incarnation of Vishnu

Kshatriya the ruling and warrior caste; second highest of the four castes

Kubera god of wealth; Ravana’s stepbrother

Kumbha Kumbhakarna’s son

Kumbhakarna Ravana’s younger brother, noted for his outrageous eating and sleeping habits

Kurukshetra battlefield of the Kurus, where the Mahabharata war was fought

Kusa one of the twin sons of Rama

Lakshmana one of the twin sons of Sumitra; Rama’s brother and close companion

Lakshmi consort of Narayana

Lanka Ravana’s city, home of the rakshasas

Lankini goddess of Lanka

Lava one of the twin sons of Rama

Madhavi goddess of the Earth

Madhuvana wine garden of Sugriva

Mahabharata the great epic composed by Vyasa

Mahalakshmi goddess of wealth; wife of Lord Vishnu

Mahaparashva one of Ravana’s trusted generals

Mahendra mountain on which Parashurama meditates

Maheswara another name for Shiva

Mahodara one of Ravana’s best generals

Mainaka a mountain under the sea

Maithili another name of Sita; princess of Mithila

Malaya name of a mountain

Mandavi Bharata’s wife

Mandodari chief consort of Ravana; daughter of Mayan

Manthara hunchback maidservant of Kaikeyi

Maricha rakshasa who took the form of the golden deer

Matali the charioteer of Indra

Matanga a great sage

Mayan father of Mandodari; architect of the demons

Mayavi a demon who fought with Vali

Meghanatha eldest son of Ravana; later known as Indrajit

Mithila capital city of Videha; Sita’s city

Naimisha forest where Rama conducted the ashvamedha yajna

Nala architect of the vanaras; built Rama’s bridge to Lanka

Nalakubera one of the sons of Kubera

Nandana a celestial garden

Nandi bull vehicle of Lord Shiva

Nandigrama village where Bharata stayed for fourteen years

Narada celestial sage

Narayana one of the many names of Lord Vishnu

Neela one of the monkey generals

Nikumbha one of the sons of Kumbhakarna

Pamba name of a lake

Panchavati grove of five trees in which Rama built an ashrama

Parashurama the sixth incarnation of Vishnu

Parvathi wife of Lord Shiva; daughter of Himavan

Prahastha commander-in-chief of Ravana’s army

Prashravana hill where Rama spent the four months of the rainy season

Punchikasthla name of a celestial nymph

Pushpaka Ravana’s aerial flower chariot

Raghava name of Rama

Raghu one of the famous kings of the Solar race; great-grandfather of Rama

Raghunandana name of Rama, which means one who is dear to the race of the Raghus

Raghuvamsa race of Raghu

Rahu one of the nine planets that cause the eclipse of the sun and moon

(Sri)Rama seventh incarnation of Vishnu

Ramabhadra another name for Rama

Ramachandra another name for Rama

Ramayana the way of Rama; the first poem to be composed in the world

Rambha one of the divine nymphs

Rameswaram name of the temple to Shiva that Rama founded

Ravana demon king of Lanka

Rishyamukha the hill on which Sugriva took refuge

Rishyasringa famous sage who conducted the yajna for Dasaratha

Ruma wife of Sugriva

Sachi wife of Indra

Sagara name of the ocean; one of the kings of the Solar race; ancestor of Rama

Sampati eagle; brother of Jatayu

Samudra lord of the ocean

Sarama wife of Vibhishana

Sarasa mother of the serpents

Saraswathi name of a mythical river; wife of Brahma the Creator

Sarayu river that goes around Ayodhya

Satya Yuga golden age

Shabari very old female ascetic

Shambuka a shudra who was practicing austerities

Sharabhanga a great sage

Shatrugna brother of Rama; Lakshmana’s twin

Shiva one of the trinity; also known as Maheswara

Shurpanekha demoness; sister of Ravana

Sita wife of Rama; princess of Videha

Srutakirti wife of Shatrugna

Subahu demon; brother of Maricha

Sudheekshna sage

Sugriva monkey king who helped Rama to rescue Sita

Sumantra charioteer and minister of Dasaratha

Sumitra second wife of Dasaratha; mother of Lakshmana and Shatrugna

Surya the sun god

Suyajna son of Vasishta

Swayamprabha a beautiful woman guarding the cave that the monkeys entered

Tamasa river near Valmiki’s ashrama

Tara wife of Vali

Tataka demoness

Thrishiras one of the demons guarding Ravana’s garrison at Janasthana

Treta Yuga period that followed the golden age

Trijata demoness who helped Sita

Tulsidas famous poet who composed the Hindi version of the Ramayana

Urmila wife of Lakshmana; Sita’s sister

Vaidehi another name for Sita; princess of Videha

Vaishravas father of Ravana

Vaivaswatha Manu progenitor of humankind

Vajradamstra demon warrior

Vali king of Kishkinda; brother of Sugriva

Valmiki sage; author of the Ramayana; the first poet

Vanamali name of Lord Vishnu; Krishna; one who wears the garland of wildflowers

Varuna god of the waters

Vasishta great sage; preceptor of the family of Ikshvaku

Vatapi demon; brother of llwala

Vayu the wind god

Vibhishana half brother of Ravana; a noble demon

Vidyudjihva magician in the court of Ravana

Vinata Sugriva’s general; mother of Garuda

Viradha demon

Virupaksha Ravana’s general

Vishnu the Preserver in the trinity of Brahma; Vishnu; Shiva

Vishwakarma architect of the gods

Vishwamitra great sage who was born a Kshatriya

Vyasa great sage who wrote the Mahabharata

Yadu progenitor of the Yadava race

Yama god of death

Yamuna river that is closely associated with Krishna

Yogavasishta the advice of Vasishta to Rama

Yudhistira eldest of the Pandavas; noted for his adherence to dharma

Hari Aum Tat Sat