Next, Ravana vowed to conquer Yama, God of Death, so he rode his chariot south towards the Land of the Dead.

Yama's soldiers attacked Ravana, but Ravana destroyed them all.

Yama himself then rode forth to face Ravana, and Ravana's soldiers fled in terror.

Alone on the battlefield, Ravana and Yama fought fiercely for seven days and nights. Then, as Yama was about to strike Ravana with the Death-Hammer, Brahma appeared.

"Halt!" Brahma shouted. "I gave Ravana my blessing; no deva can kill him, not even the God of Death."

So Yama vanished, and Ravana declared himself Conqueror of Death.

A king named Marutta was conducting a sacrifice. There were many priests in attendance, along with the devas Indra, Yama, Kubera, and Varuna.

Ravana showed up, and the terrified gods disguised themselves as animals: Indra became a peacock, Yama a crow, Kubera a lizard, and Varuna a swan.

Ravana then challenged Marutta to a fight, but the priests advised the king to surrender.

"I have won!" shouted Ravana. He then ate all the priests, drank their blood, and flew away.

Glad for their escape, the devas bestowed blessings on the animals whose disguises had helped them to escape Ravana's notice.

Kubera was appalled by Ravana's repeated attacks on the priests, on the devas, and on his own yakshas, so he sent a message to him, brother to brother. "Your deeds dishonor our father," Kubera's messenger told Ravana. "You need to stop your bad behavior."

Enraged, Ravana shouted, "I will kill Kubera for this! And I will kill all the other guardians of the world as well. Nobody speaks to Ravana this way!"

Then Ravana seized Kubera's messenger and sliced off his head.

"Come, rakshasas!" Ravana shouted, and he led his army in an attack on Kubera's home in the Himalayas.

Kubera rallied his yaksha soldiers to defend their mountain home from Ravana's attack. Kubera and the yakshas fought bravely, but they were no match for the rakshasas. Soon the battlefield was littered with yaksha corpses lying in rivers of blood that streamed bright red in the snow.

The surviving yakshas all fled, and Kubera alone confronted Ravana on the battlefield.

"Someone will finally send you to hell," Kubera said, "and then you will understand the consequences of your actions."

The half-brothers fought until Kubera fell, wounded but not dead.

Ravana then stole Kubera's flying chariot and returned, triumphant, to Lanka.

One night Ravana found the apsara Rambha wandering in the woods.

She was very beautiful, and Ravana burned with lust. He grabbed her and whispered, "How lucky for you we have met!"

"Stop it!" she shouted, fighting back. "You are my elder relative, my uncle-in-law! My husband Nalakubara is the son of Kubera. He's your nephew. Let me go!"

But Ravana knew no shame, and he brutally raped Rambha that night.

When Rambha told Nalakubara what Ravana had done, he cursed his uncle. "If Ravana ever touches another woman against her will, his head will split into a thousand pieces."

As Ravana wandered the woods, he saw a beautiful woman practicing austerities at a fire-altar, clothed in a deer-skin, her hair twisted in jatas.

"Lovely lady," he said, "you should be wearing silks and jewels, not this ascetic garb. Be my wife!"

"I am Vedavati," she replied, "and I am dedicated to the god Vishnu; I will marry no other."

Ravana grabbed her hair, but Vedavati magically cut herself free.

"With my dying words I curse you, Ravana!" she said, throwing herself into the flames. "I will be born again for your destruction."

Vedavati would later be reborn as Sita.

Ravana was sacrificing to Shiva on a riverbank, singing and dancing in Shiva's honor.

Meanwhile, Kartavirya, Thousand-Armed King of the Haihayas, was relaxing in the river with his wives. As Kartavirya splashed, the waters rose and the flood carried away Ravana's offerings.

Enraged, Ravana fought with Kartavirya in a ferocious battle. Finally, Kartavirya knocked Ravana to the ground, and the devas watching from heaven rejoiced.

Ravana's grandfather Pulastya pleaded with Kartavirya to let Ravana go. Out of respect for the great rishi, who was a mind-born son of Brahma, Kartavirya agreed.

Ravana was strong, but there is always someone stronger.

Ravana went looking for Vali, the monkey-king, wanting to fight him. He found Vali on the ocean's shore, engaged in worship.

He planned to sneak up on Vali from behind, but Vali grabbed Ravana and shouted, "Got you!" He then tucked Ravana under his arm and soared up into the sky.

Down below, the rakshasas saw their king struggling to get free. They chased Vali but could not catch him.

After flying around the world, Vali landed and let Ravana go.

"I want to be your friend, great monkey!" said Ravana.

Vali laughed and agreed; thus Vali became Ravana's ally.

Ravana defeated the kings of the earth, one after another.

He then marched on Ayodhya, where Anaranya was king.

King Anaranya led his army into battle, but Ravana incinerated them in a blast of fire, leaving only Anaranya alive.

Anaranya fought on, firing hundreds of arrows at Ravana, but Ravana's armor repelled them all.

Ravana then struck Anaranya on the head, knocking him to the ground.

As he lay dying, Anaranya cursed the rakshasa king. "An avenger will arise from Ayodhya!"

Thus Anaranya's son Khatvanga had a son, Dilipa. His son was Raghu whose son Aja had a son: Dasharatha.

King Dasharatha of Ayodhya married Kaushalya, princess of Koshala. She gave Dasharatha a daughter, Shanta, but not a son.

Dasharatha then went to King Ashwapati of Kekaya and asked to marry his daughter Kaikeyi, for he had heard a prophecy that a princess of Kekaya would give birth to a great son. "I will make your daughter's son king after me," Dasharatha promised. But Kaikeyi did not give Dasharatha any children.

Dasharatha then married Sumitra, hoping a woman who was not of royal birth would give him a son, but Sumitra likewise could not give Dasharatha a child.

Dasharatha despaired.