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तेन गन्धर्व यक्षाणाम् देवतानाम् च रक्षसाम् |

अवध्योऽस्मि इति वागुक्ता तथेति उक्तम् च तन् मया || १-१५-१३

"Ravana said while seeking boon that, 'I shall not be killed by gandharva-s, yaksha-s, or by gods, or by other demons...' and I also said 'so be it..." [1-15-13]

Looks like Ravana didn’t ask for immunity from the trimurtis who are not really devas.

When Ravana was attacking Devaloka, Indra asked Vishnu for help in fighting Ravana. But Vishnu refused, saying that Ravana had a boon that he couldn't be killed by any god, but that he would soon incarnate on the Earth as Rama to defeat him:

“Do not fear, hear what I have to say. He is invincible by virtue of the boon, and that vicious-souled one is incapable of being vanquished even by the celestials and Asuras. Irrepressible by virtue of his prowess, that Rakshasa, with his son, shall accomplish a mighty object. O lord of celestials, even if I am requested by thee, I shall not withstand the Rakshasa, Ravana in the conflict”

Vishnu seems to think Ravana had immunity from him.

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    Yes and u already answered ur Q.. If he was kill-able by any one of the Trimurtis then a human incarnation would not have been needed.
    – Rickross
    Apr 2, 2018 at 5:10

2 Answers 2

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Acc to Rāvaṇa’s boon of invincibility that he should not be vanquished by Devas, Daityas, Dānavas, Yakṣas, Nāgas, Gandharvas, Suparnas, Siddhas and other beings. He left out humans and animals as he thought they were too weak.

So that's why Śrī Rāma was incarnated as a Human. Śrī Rāma was the most ‘human’ and simplest Avatāra of Viṣṇu. Śrī Rāma, unlike Kṛṣṇa, didn't had all the 16 Kalās and 64 Guṇas of Viṣṇu, which makes him a Human.

Rāma was aware of his Jiva form and Turiya form but unaware of his God's form.

So that's why Śrī Rāma behaved like a common man to fulfil the boon that Rāvaṇa that no god would kill him, but could be killed by a man. (this has a reply to questions like why Rāma cried for his wife, why he took help from Vānaras, why he got unconscious by the celestial weapons of Meghanāda, etc etc).

So I guess Rāvaṇa's boon included ALL the gods.

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    Welcome to Hinduism StackExchange. Cite some sources.
    – Pandya
    Apr 2, 2018 at 1:20
  • Sri Rama is a Lila Avatara unlike Sri Krishna a Poorna Avatara. It doesn't mean one is greater than other, but gives insight into their "purpose". "Garga Samhita", the sacred Vedic text that extols the glory of Avatars, describes the Avatars in Canto 1, text 16-27. The great sage Narada explains that the Lord descends in six forms ... books.nithyananda.org/product/avatar-shastra refer to pg 16
    – Akhil
    Apr 3, 2018 at 20:28
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    @Akhil I know about that. When did I say that Rāma is less greater than Kṛṣṇa? Apr 8, 2018 at 12:46
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As per UTTARA KANDA of Valmiki Ramayana, Ravana had immunity from Lord Vishnu. Here is the story in short which was said by sage Agastya to Lord Rama:

Lanka was built by Vishvakarma. Malyavan, Sumali and Mali used to live in Lanka. Later they attacked Devas and Lord Vishnu came to fight with them. Lord Vishnu killed Mali. Seeing Mali slain, Sumali and Malyavan run away from battlefield towards Lanka along with their forces. But Lord Vishnu didn't stop killing Rakshas. Then, incapable of coping with Vishnu, leaving Lanka, they went to the nether regions (Rasatala) with their wives for dwelling there.

Later on coming to know that his daughter's sons, Ravana and his two brothers, got powerful boons form Lord Brahma, Sumali shed all his fear of Vishnu. He, with his ministers, Maricha, Prahasta, Virupaksha, Mahodara and other mighty Rakshasas came to see Ravana from Rasatala and said:

Dear Ravana! From fear of Vishnu, we are residing in Rasatala. Now we will all rally round you in our present prospirity and you will be the protector of all our race of Rakshasas from now on. (English translation source)

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The above narration answers your question "Vishnu seems to think Ravana had immunity from him". Ravana had no immunity that he was incapable of being defeated by Lord Vishnu, only immunity he had was incapable of being slain by Lord Vishnu.


Coming to your next question, Was Ravana capable of being defeated by Trimurtis?

The answer is Yes. The birth name of Ravana was Dasanana. When in pride he lifted Kailash mountain, Lord Rudra pressed the mountain with his great toe and Dasanana could not bear this. He started crying and due to this reason he got the name Ravana. He accepted his defeat and started praying Lord Mahadeva, and thereat that Lord Mahadeva, pleased, set free the hands of Dasanana.

But Ravana was incapable of being slain due to the boon of Lord Brahma. Whenever someone wanted to kill Ravana, either Lord Brahma or Ravana's grand father Pulastya came to save him in order to keep Lord Brahma's words true. Lord Brahma saved him from Yama and from the Danavas of Rasatala (this is explained in this answer). His grandfather saved him from king Mandhata (this is explained in this answer) and Kartvirya Arjuna (this is explained in this answer).


Footnotes: In general the term Gods means all Devas including Trimurtis. But specific terms like Adityas or Vasus doesn't include Trimurtis and other type of Devas.

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