Mandodhari-Ravana's wife
Mandodhari-
Many of us know Ramayana, But howmany if us know about Mandodhari, a Great Kanya who held Pativrata in her early stages of her life. She was a pious, beautiful, righteous lady, who also helped Mata Sita a lot.
The Beginning-
As per some sources in the legend, Apsara Madhura comes to Kailash , to visit Lord Shiva in the absence of Mata Parvathi. She , who comes there involves in immoral activities. Mata Parvathi , who arrives there , sees Bhasma all over Madhura, and gets enraged(angry). So she curses madhura to become a frog and stay inside a well for 12 years. Parvati convinced by Lord Shiva, then said that Madhura would get rid of the sin after 12 years.
Mayasura and Hema's tapasya, Birth of Mandodhari-
Mayasura ,the king of asuras and wife Hema had two sons, Mayavi and Dundubi, But they wanted a girl child. So they decided to do a penance to obtain a girl child. After Madhuri regained her original form after 12 years, she cried for help, Mayasura and Hema who were observing a penence heard this voice, and came to her rescue. Thus they adopted Mandodhari and raised her like their own child. Then she was forcefully married by Ravana. and thus Ravana and Mandodhari had 3 sons, Meghanath, Akshayakumara, Athikaya.
Death of Ravana-
Mandodhari warned Ravana about his mistakes and what blunders these could lead to. But he never listened. Even on the day of Battle, though Mandodhari knew about the consequences, she bid him farewell, with a smile, wishing he would come back safely. But Ravana died in the battle.
Later she realized that Rama was no mortal , but he was Lord Maha Vishnu himself.
Vibhishana marries Mandodhari-
Then Lord Rama blesses Vibhishana, and tells him to Rule over Lanka and marry Mandodhari. After sometime Vibhishana and Mandodhari got married, for the sake of Lanka.
Mandodhari Gives Birth to Maha Lakshmi-
Some sources say that Ravana used to store the blood of all sages he used to kill, in a pot. So that he could one day drink it to Gain the power of the sages. Meanwhile, sage Gritsamada, stored the milk from the Darbha Grass , in a pot, so that he could preserve it and obtain Maha Lakshmi as his Child. But Ravana furious about this, took the pot of milk and mixed it with his pot of Sage Blood. Mandodhari furious about this, took the pot mixed with blood and milk and drank it, as a suicidal attempt, but to her surprise later she gave birth to Sri Maha Lakshmi. Scared by this , Mandodhari hides this news from everybody. So she walks far away and buries the child deeply, which is later found by King Mithila. Though some sources tell this story, there is no legendary sources telling this story.
