The twins, Jaya and Vijaya, are the gatekeepers of Vishnu’s heavenly abode – Vaikuntha
Once, while they were guarding the door, the four manas-putras (mind-born sons) of Brahma, the Sanat Kumaras, came to meet Vishnu
The four Kumaras were blessed with eternal youth, so they were like little children, even though they had the wisdom of the world
Jaya and Vijaya did not allow them to enter
The four sages were enraged by the insult, and cursed them that they would lose their divinity and live on earth as human beings
Realizing his mistake, Jaya-Vijaya pleaded with the Kumaras to reverse the curse
Jaya-Vijaya told him what had happened and also asked him to remove the curse
Why did they choose to become Vishnu’s enemies?
Vishnu tells them that he can only change the curse and give it to them
They could take seven births on earth as devotees of Vishnu or three births as his enemies
After completing these births, they can regain their divinity
The thought of being away from their beloved Vishnu during their seven births was unthinkable to the twins and hence they chose to be reborn as his enemies in their three births
In the Satya yuga, Jaya and Vijaya were the first to be born on earth to die
Jaya was born as Hiranyakashyap (or Hiranyakashipu), a powerful and tyrant asura
He had a young son named Prahalad, a great devotee of Vishnu
He even tried to kill his son several times, but he never succeeded!
Once, he pointed to a pillar in the palace and asked his son if his god would be in it, because he was considered to be ‘everywhere’
Enraged by the reply, he broke the pillar at once, and Narasimha avatar of Vishnu (half-lion, half-human) emerged from it and killed him with his claws in the evening , by placing it on the thigh on the thigh The entrance door of the demon’s house, therefore he carefully passed his boon to Brahma who said that no man or god or animal could kill him, day or night, on land, or water or sky, certainly not in it house or outside, or on the earth, or in the sky, or under the earth, or in weapons
The story of Vijaya’s first birth
Vijaya took his first birth as Hiranyaksha, an asura and brother of Hiranyakashyipu
Hiranyaksha was an ardent devotee of Brahma, and performed severe penance to please him
Seeing his sincerity in doing the penance, Brahma was very happy and appeared before him
Hiranyaksha asked for a boon that would make him super powerful, which was granted by Brahma
Then, drunk with his power, Hiranyaksha started chasing the devas In the battle with the devas, he also plunged the earth deep into the cosmic ocean!
Since only Vishnu could match his power, he took the avatara of Varaha (bull) Using his mouth, Varaha dived deep into the ocean and brought the earth back to its original place
Second birth of Jaya
In his second birth, Jaya was reborn as Ravana, the great rakshasa
Vishnu in the mortal world
To achieve his destiny, he ended up kidnapping Rama’s wife Sita, an avatara of Vishnu, becoming his enemy
Rama came all the way to Lanka in search of his wife to free her
Ravana, selfish at first, opposes the plans of Rama and his army and does not waver in his decision to keep Sita, even though he is wrong
Many days have passed since the beginning of the war between Rama and Ravana
Even after having such a huge army, at one point in the war, it was obvious that he would be defeated
Finally, Rama kills Ravana and thus he completes his second life as Vishnu’s enemy
Second birth of Vijaya
Vijaya was born as Kumbhakarna, Ravana’s younger brother in his second birth
He was very powerful and had even defeated Indra in a power struggle
Later, along with his brothers Ravana and Vibhishana, he practiced austerities and tried to please Brahma, for his own benefit
Ravana asked Brahma to help correct the fate, so Kumbhakarna was changed to sleep for six months of the year and awake for the remaining six
During the battle between Rama and Ravana, Kumbhakarna wakes up and is invited by his brother to fight Rama
Kumbhakarna was good-natured because he knew that Ravana was wrong, and even told his brother what he felt
But his loyalty to Ravana was the most important thing to him, so he proceeded to fight, and was killed by Rama in the end
Last birth of Jaya
In her last birth, Jaya was Shishupala, the son of Srutashubha (Krishna’s aunt)
He was born with three eyes and four arms, and it is said that the person who will cure him of this disease will kill him in the end
When Krishna took the child on his lap, the extra eye and arm immediately disappeared!
It was also clear that Krishna would kill him in the future
Srutashubha, defeated as a mother, begged Krishna to forgive her son for his hundred mistakes which Krishna accepted
When Shishupala was growing up, he had a friend Rukmi, Rukmini’s brother
When Yudhishthira performed the Rajasuya yagna, (a method of enthronement of the king), Shishupala, among many others, was invited to the event
Seeing this, Shishupala lost his composure and started insulting not only Krishna but also Bhishma
So when he insulted Krishna again, he broke his promise to Srutashubha, and killed him instantly with the Sudarshan Chakra
Last birth of Vijaya
Vijaya took his last birth on earth as Dantavakra, king of Karusha
Dantavakra was an ally of Jarasandha, king of Magadha and enemy of Krishna
He was also a friend of Shisupala, whom we now know, and was also killed by Krishna
When Yudhishthira performed the Rajasuya yagna, Dantavakra was defeated by his brother Sadeva
Many of his friends including Shisupala and Salva were killed attacking Krishna during the yagna
When Dantavakra got fed up with Krishna and taking revenge on his beloved friends, he immediately went to Dwarka with the intention of killing him
Krishna, with one swift movement, struck him in the chest, killing him instantly
And in this way, Vijaya was also freed from the curse of Kumara