How Kubera Dev Became Keeper of Wealth and Lost Lanka to Ravana
Tirth editorial · 7 Nov 2026 · 7 min read
Kaikasi saw him arrive. Kubera Dev came in the Pushpaka vimana, blazing with splendour, to visit his father the sage Vishrava, and Kaikasi pointed him out to her own son Ravana and told him to become like his half-brother.
Ravana vowed to match him or do better. That is where the Kubera story turns, because the brother held up as the model would go on to lose his city and his vimana to the boy who was being told to copy him.
And he lost Lanka without a fight.
This is how the Valmiki Ramayana tells it, in the Uttara Kanda, where the sage Agastya narrates it to Bhagwan Rama. The Shiva Purana tells a separate Kubera story of its own, with Bhagwan Shiva at its centre.
Who was Kubera Dev before he had any wealth?
He was born Vaishravana.
Son of the sage Vishrava, and grandson of Pulastya Prajapati. At his naming, Pulastya said the boy would become a dhanadhyaksha, a guardian of wealth.
He still didn’t go chasing it. As a young man he took up tapas (penance) for thousands of years, until Brahma ji came to his ashram with Indra Dev and the other gods and offered him a boon. Vaishravana asked to be a lokapala. A protector of the world.
| Kubera Dev at a glance | What the texts say |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Vaishravana, son of the sage Vishrava, grandson of Pulastya Prajapati |
| Half-siblings | Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Shurpanakha and Vibhishana, born to Vishrava and Kaikasi |
| Role given by Brahma ji | The fourth lokapala, after Indra Dev, Yama Dev and Varuna Dev |
| Vimana | The Pushpaka |
| Cities | Lanka on the Trikuta mountain, then Mount Kailasa. Alaka is named in the Shiva Purana |
| Other name | Ekapingala, given by Maa Parvati in the Shiva Purana |
| Where to read it | Valmiki Ramayana, Uttara Kanda. Shiva Purana, Rudra Samhita, Srishti Khanda |
What Brahma ji gave him: the fourth lokapala’s post and the Pushpaka
Brahma ji made him the fourth lokapala, beside Indra Dev, Yama Dev and Varuna Dev, and keeper of riches, and handed him the Pushpaka vimana as well. Kubera Dev then asked his father for a place to live, and Vishrava pointed him to Lanka, on the Trikuta mountain by the southern sea.
Lanka stood empty.
The earlier Rakshasas had abandoned it for Rasatala out of fear of Bhagwan Vishnu.
Much later, when Agastya tells Bhagwan Rama all this, Bhagwan Rama is astonished to hear that Kubera Dev lived in Lanka before Ravana ever did.
How Kaikasi’s sons came for Kubera Dev’s Lanka
Kaikasi came into this through her father.
The Rakshasa Sumali was travelling the earth when he saw Kubera Dev in the Pushpaka, going to visit Vishrava, and Sumali offered his own daughter Kaikasi to the sage.
Four children were born to them. Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Shurpanakha and Vibhishana.
After that moment with the Pushpaka and the vow, Ravana left with his brothers for Gokarna to do tapas. After ten thousand years Brahma ji granted him invincibility against everyone except humans, gave Vibhishana firmness in dharma, and gave Kumbhakarna a long sleep. If you want the rest of that family in one place, here are the characters of the Ramayana.
Why did Kubera Dev give up Lanka without a fight?
Ravana sent a messenger.
Lanka had belonged to the Rakshasas, the message said, and it should be given back.
Kubera Dev went to his father.
Vishrava told him not to quarrel with the Rakshasas now that they carried Brahma ji’s boon, and to move to Kailasa instead, where gods, gandharvas and nagas roam and the Mandakini river flows.
So he left.
He settled on Mount Kailasa as his father had told him to, in a palace the text likens to Amaravati, the city of Indra Dev. Ravana was crowned in Lanka.
Kubera Dev is remembered mostly as the keeper of money. Here he is a lokapala holding Brahma ji’s own gift, and he listens to his father and walks away from the fight.
The day Ravana took the Pushpaka from Kailasa
Leaving did not buy him peace for long.
Ravana went on to torment the gods and the yakshas. Kubera Dev sent an envoy asking him to stop, and the message spoke of Bhagwan Shiva’s friendship with Kubera Dev and of how his left eye had turned tawny when he looked at Maa Parvati.
Ravana killed the envoy.
He marched on Kubera Dev at Kailasa next. The Yaksha host fought and lost many, and Kubera Dev took the field himself with his mace and was struck down. Ravana took the Pushpaka as the sign of his victory and left Kailasa in it.
The vimana turns up once more, near the end of the Uttara Kanda as the Kamakoti Peetham summary tells it. After Bhagwan Rama’s victory and his return, a voice from the Pushpaka says Kubera Dev has sent it to serve him. Bhagwan Rama welcomes it and tells it to come when he calls.
The Shiva Purana’s Kubera story and the eye that burst
The Shiva Purana tells how Kubera Dev met Bhagwan Shiva at far greater length. Keep the two side by side, not stitched into one life, because they are separate tellings.
In the Rudra Samhita (Srishti Khanda), the chapter on the friendship of Bhagwan Shiva and Kubera Dev agrees on the family line, Pulastya through Vishrava. Then it turns to Shrida, son of Yajnadatta, who in the Meghavahana Kalpa did penance at Kashi for 200,000 years, repeating the mantras of the eleven Rudras.
(The mantra texts themselves are on our Shiva mantras page.)
Bhagwan Shiva appeared with Maa Parvati and offered him a boon. Shrida looked at her with envy and wonder, the text says, and his left eye burst.
Bhagwan Shiva said Shrida was only describing her glory, and gave the gifts. Bhagwan Shiva made him master of treasures and of the Guhyakas, king of the Yakshas and Kinnaras, and promised him lasting friendship and to stay near Alaka, and Maa Parvati gave him two names, Ekapinga (written Ekapingala in many books) and the name Kubera.
The chapter before it tells of Gunanidhi, a gambler and thief who trimmed a temple lamp on a Shivaratri night and, reborn as Dama of Kalinga, became ruler of Alaka. The text never gives him the name Kubera and does not say how he joins Shrida, so the two stay separate here.
Kubera Dev between Dhanteras and Lakshmi Puja
Many families remember Kubera Dev beside Maa Lakshmi on these nights. Dhanteras is also the day families honour Dhanvantari, and why Dhanteras is celebrated is a story of its own. The steps of the Diwali night puja are in our Maha Lakshmi Puja vidhi, and the Dhanteras festival page is on the Spiritual Calendar.
The rest of the festival week, day by day, is in the five days of Diwali.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Kubera Dev’s father?
In the Valmiki Ramayana, Kubera Dev is the son of the sage Vishrava, who was the son of Pulastya Prajapati. His birth name was Vaishravana, and Ravana was his half-brother through Kaikasi.
How did Kubera Dev become the guardian of wealth?
In the Ramayana his grandfather Pulastya foretold it at his naming, and after thousands of years of tapas Brahma ji made him the fourth lokapala and gave him the Pushpaka. In the Shiva Purana, Bhagwan Shiva made him master of treasures after Shrida’s penance at Kashi.
Why did Ravana take Lanka from Kubera Dev?
Ravana claimed Lanka had belonged to the Rakshasas. Vishrava advised Kubera Dev not to quarrel with them while they carried Brahma ji’s boon, so he moved to Kailasa and Ravana was crowned in Lanka.
Who owned the Pushpaka vimana?
Brahma ji gave it to Kubera Dev. Ravana took it after defeating Kubera Dev at Kailasa, and in the Uttara Kanda as the Kamakoti Peetham summary tells it, Kubera Dev later sends it to serve Bhagwan Rama.
Where is Alaka?
Alaka is Kubera Dev’s city, named in the Shiva Purana, where Bhagwan Shiva promises to stay near it. In the Ramayana he settles on Kailasa after leaving Lanka, in a palace the text likens to Amaravati, the city of Indra Dev.
Why is Kubera Dev called Ekapingala?
The name comes from the Shiva Purana. After Shrida’s left eye burst when he looked at Maa Parvati, she gave him two names, Ekapinga (written Ekapingala in many books) and the name Kubera.