Previous Birth of Ravana

Lord Brahma created 4 sons from the power of his mind. They were called as "Sankadi". Once they decided to met Lord Vishnu at his abode. The abode of Lord Vishnu had 7 gates. The successfully cleared the six gates, but when the came across the last 7th gate, they were stopped by the two gate keepers, Jaya and Vijaya. They did not allowed them to enter the abode of Lord Vishnu. After a long debate the ,four saints, Sankadis were upset and cursed Jaya and Vijaya for their arrogance that the two would be reborn as demon on earth for hundred births. Jaya and Vijaya prayed Lord Vishnu for intervention to have mercy. But it was too late . On seeing Lord Vishnu, the 4 saints agreed to mitigate the curse. So instead of 100 births, they reduced the curse for three births. In the first birth Jaya and Vijaya were born as Hiranyaksha and Hirankshyapa. In the second birth they born as Ravana and Kumbhakarana and in the final birth as Dantavakra and Shishupal. In all the births they were liberated by Lord Vishnu.