Nalakubera is one of the two sons of Kubera. He is also named as Nalakuvera, Nalakuvala, Mayuraja, Kamayaksha, Kuberaputra or Natakuvera. His mother is Bhadra.
Nalakubera had a god, Kubera (god of wealth), as his father and his grandson were Visravas—in his dark, or demonic, lineage. Nalakubera’s grandfather (Prajapati) was Pulastya (a progenitor) in a lineage that seemed to recognise more of Kubera’s divinity.
Rambha and Priti are his love partners and Somaprabhā and Ratnamala are wives. His children are Sumita by Rambha and Chitrangadata by Priti.
Ramayana:
The demon Râvana was Nalakubera’s uncle. Ravâna, the constant womanizer, raped Rambhâ, to whom Nalakubera was engaged. Rambhâ pleaded with Râvana that he was an uncle to her and should not do such an evil thing. But Râvana did anyway. Nalakubera was enraged and cursed Râvana: saying that his head would be split into pieces if he ever touched a woman again without her consent.
This was the reason that Ravâna could not touch Sîtâ when he abducted her to get even with Râma.
Bhagvat Purana:
Manigriva or Manibhadra was the brother of Nalakubera. One day the two brothers were playing with celestial damsels (apsaras) in a pond when the cranky old sage Nârada came by. When the damsels saw him, they put on their clothes and paid their respects to him. Unfortunately, Nalakubera and Manigriva could not see Nârada and continued playing in the buff. Nârada cursed them for their indecent behaviour: they would become two trees in their next birth. They could be released from the curse by Sri Krishna.
In their next birth, the two brothers became two trees in Ambâdi (Gokula) near the home of Sri Krishna.
Many years later, when Krishna was in his infancy, his foster mother Yashoda had tied him to a mortar to prevent him from eating dirt. Krishna dragged the mortar along the ground until it became wedged between two trees. These trees happened to be Nalakuvara and Manigriva, and upon contact, they returned to their original forms. The brothers then paid homage to Krishna, apologised for their previous mistakes, and departed.
Iconography:
Nalakubera’s weapons are Bow and Arrow. His mount is the parrot.
