Márícha

Also known as: Marícha · Family: Rákshases · Role: giant · First appears: Book I, Canto 1 · Nárad

In the poet’s summary, Rávaṇ orders Márícha to aid his plot, and Márícha’s magic helps separate Ráma and Lakshmaṇ before Rávaṇ abducts Sítá. Book I, Cantos 26–27 tell of Márícha’s birth to Táḍaká and Sunda, and of Agastya cursing him to take a giant’s form. In Book I, Canto 32, Ráma strikes him with an arrow and hurls him into the ocean, but spares his life.

In Book III, Márícha recounts that Ráma later spared him again, and that he eventually left his former life to live as a humble hermit. When Rávaṇ asks him to help abduct Sítá, Márícha warns him against facing Ráma; Rávaṇ threatens to kill him if he refuses. Márícha agrees, transforms by magic into a beautiful deer near Ráma’s cottage, and lures Ráma away. Mortally wounded by Ráma’s arrow, he imitates Ráma’s voice and calls to Sítá and Lakshmaṇ before dying in his giant form.