Vishnu’s defeat of the three Rakshasa kings is an embedded account of an earlier war between the gods and the brothers Mályavat, Sumáli, and Máli. Told by Agastya to Ráma after Ráma has returned to Ayodhyá and taken the throne, it explains why the Rakshasas were driven from Lanka and connects Vishnu’s ancient promise to destroy them with Agastya’s identification of Ráma as Vishnu in human form.

The history of Lanka and the Rakshasa kings

Agastya’s account begins with the Rakshasas’ origins. When Brahma created the waters, he formed beings to guard them; some came to be known as Rakshasas, whose first kings were Heti and Praheti. Through the generations, Heti’s descendant Sukeśa became the father of Mályavat, Sumáli, and Máli. After intense austerities, the brothers received invincibility and long life from Brahma. Their new power did not bring peace: they used it to harass the gods and the Rishis.

The brothers’ stronghold was Lanka, a city built by Viśvakarmá on Mount Trikūṭa beside the Southern Ocean at Indra’s command. This history gives Ráma a reason to question the familiar account of Lanka: he had understood the Rakshasas as descendants of Pulastya, and now learns that the city had also been their home before a divine defeat drove them away. The story therefore places the war against the three kings before the later history of Lanka under Kubera and, eventually, Rávaṇa.

The gods seek Vishnu’s aid

Unable to end the threat themselves, the gods and Rishis appeal first to Mahádeva. Because Sukeśa, the brothers’ father, was under his protection, Mahádeva says he cannot kill the Rakshasas. Instead, he directs the petitioners to Vishnu. Vishnu promises that he will destroy their enemies, giving the ensuing battle a stated purpose: it is the fulfillment of a commitment made in response to the gods’ appeal.

When the three kings hear of that promise, they consult one another and go to heaven to attack the gods. Vishnu prepares to meet them. The conflict is thus more than a contest between powerful rulers and their opponents: the brothers challenge the divine order after learning that Vishnu has pledged to stop them, and their assault brings that pledge into action.

Defeat and return to Lanka

Vishnu defeats the Rakshasa army with great slaughter. Máli is killed, and the surviving brothers are driven back to Lanka. As they flee, Vishnu attacks their retreating force. Mályavat protests that striking at the fugitives’ rear is not warrior-like and expresses a wish to renew the combat. His objection introduces a dispute about conduct in battle even as the outcome is already clear: the brothers have been defeated and their advance halted.

Vishnu answers that he must keep his promise to the gods and will destroy the Rakshasas even if they escape to Patala. The reply makes fidelity to the pledge, rather than Mályavat’s proposed standard of combat, the governing reason for continuing the pursuit. The survivors return to Lanka, while the death of Máli marks the cost of their defeat and the end of their attack on heaven.

The story’s place in Ráma’s history

Agastya emphasizes that these three Rakshasa kings were more powerful than Rávaṇa, yet could be destroyed only by Náráyaṇa, whom he identifies as Ráma himself: the eternal, indestructible god. This statement turns an account of Lanka’s distant past into an explanation of Ráma’s present role. Vishnu’s earlier promise to the gods and Ráma’s later confrontation with the Rakshasas belong to a continuous divine purpose in Agastya’s telling.

The episode also clarifies how Lanka changed hands. After the defeat, Sumáli and his family lived for a long time in Patala, while Kubera dwelt in Lanka. Agastya’s genealogy and account of the battle therefore supply the background to the later return of Sumáli’s line and the rise of Rávaṇa. Framed as an answer to Ráma’s questions, the tale connects the city’s changing rulers, the gods’ appeal, and Vishnu’s intervention in a single history.