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Rahwana
/ Ravana
Ravana
sometimes transliterated as Raavana
or Ravan or Revana
is the principal antagonist of Rama
in the Hinduepic, the Ramayana.
In the epic, he is the king of Lanka,
and of the Rakshasas or demons,
many thousands of years ago.
Origin
Ravana is depicted
in art with up to ten heads, signifying
his knowledge of Vedas and Shastras.
His ten heads earned him the names
"Dashamukha" (The
ten-faced), "Dashagriva"
( The ten-necked) and "Dashakantha"
( Ten Throats). He also
had twenty hands, signifying greed
and never-ending want. Ravana was
born to the Brahmin sage known as
Vishrava. His mother was the Daitya
princess Kaikesi. Kaikesi's father,
Sumali, king of the Daityas, wished
her to marry the most powerful being
in the mortal world, so as to produce
an exceptional heir. He rejected
the kings of the world, as they
were less powerful than him. |
Kaikesi searched
among the sages, and finally chose Vishrava.
Vishrava warned her that as she approached
him at an inappropriate time, their children
would tend towards evil, but accepted
her nevertheless. As such, Ravana was
partly Daitya, and partly Brahmin. Ravana
was the eldest of Vishrava's children,
given the name Dashanana/Dasagriva
at birth - he was born with ten heads
(Some say the ten heads were due to the
reflections of a crystal necklace gifted
to him by his father at the time of his
birth or he had the mental strength of
10 people).
His brothers were Vibhishana
and Kumbhakarna. Through
his mother, he was related to the daityas
Maricha and Subahu. Kaikesi also produced
a daughter, meenakshi
(meaning: girl with fish like eyes), although
later she was dubbed the infamous Shoorpanakha
(the one with sharp fingernails). Nakha
means nails in sanskrit.
His father Vishrava noted
that while Ravana was aggressive and arrogant,
he was also an exemplary scholar. Under
Vishrava's tutelage, Ravana mastered the
Vedas and the holy books and also the
arts and ways of Kshatriyas.Ravana was
also an excellent veena player and the
sign of his flag had picture of veena
on it.Sumali, his grandfather, worked
hard in secret to ensure that he retained
the ethics of the Daityas.
Tapas to Brahma
Following his initial
training, Ravana performed an intense
penance to Brahma, lasting several years.
Pleased with his tapasya Brahma offered
him a boon. Ravana asked for immortality,
which Brahma refused. Ravana then asked
for absolute invulnerability and supremacy
before gods and heavenly spirits, other
demons, serpents and wild beasts. Contemptuous
of mortal men, he did not ask for protection
from them. Brahma granted him these boons,
and additionally great strength by way
of knowledge of divine weapons and sorcery.
King of Lanka
After winning these boons,
Ravana sought out his grandfather, Sumali,
and assumed leadership over his army.
He then set his sights on Lanka.
Lanka was an idyllic city,
created by the celestial architect Vishwakarma
for Kubera, the treasurer of the Gods.
Kubera was also the son of Vishrava, and
had generously shared all that he owned
with Kaikesi's children. Ravana however,
demanded Lanka wholly from him, threatening
to take it by force. Vishrava advised
Kubera to give it up to him, as Ravana
was now undefeatable.
While Ravana usurped Lanka
to begin with, he was nevertheless regarded
as a benevolent and effective ruler. Lanka
flourished under his rule - it is said
the poorest of houses had vessels of gold
to eat and drink off, and hunger was unknown
in the kingdom.
Devotee of Lord
Shiva Following
his conquest of Lanka, Ravana encountered
Lord Shiva at his abode in Kailash. Unknowingly,
Ravana attempted to uproot and move the
mountain on a whim. Shiva, annoyed by
Ravana's arrogance, pressed his little
toe on Kailash, pinning him firmly (and
painfully) under the same. His ganas informed
Ravana of whom he had crossed, upon which
Ravana became penitent. He composed and
sang songs praising Shiva, and is said
to have done so for several years, till
Shiva released him from his bondage. Pleased
with his bravery and devotion, Shiva granted
him further strength, culminating in his
gifting him the Chandrahas (Moon-blade),
an immensely powerful sword. Ravana in
turn became a lifelong devotee of Lord
Shiva. Ravana is known for his dance worship
Shiva Tandava Stotra (a form of Stuti)
to Lord Shiva.It is during this incident
that he acquires the name 'Ravana', meaning
"(He) Of the terrifying roar",
given to him by Shiva - the earth is said
to have quaked at Ravana's cry of pain
when the mountain was pinned on him
Emperor of the Three
Worlds His abilities
now truly awe-inspiring, Ravana proceeded
on a series of campaigns, conquering humans,
celestials and other demons. Conquering
the netherworld completely, he left his
brother Ahiravana as king. He became supreme
overlord of all asuras in the three worlds,
making an alliance with the Nivatakavachas
and Kalakeyas (two clans he was unable
to subdue). Conquering several kingdoms
of the human world, he performed the suitable
sacrifices and was crowned Emperor.
Kubera at one point chastised
Ravana for his cruelty and greed, greatly
angering him. Proceeding to the heavens,
Ravana fought and defeated the devas,
singling out his brother for particular
humiliation. By force he gained command
over the gods, celestials and the serpent
races.
At the time of the Ramayana,
set several hundred years later, Ravana
is shown as dominating all human and divine
races - so much so that he can command
the Sun as to his rising and setting.
Women Ravana
was known for his virility as well and
his aggressive conquests of women. Ravana
had several wives, foremost of whom was
Mandodari - daughter of Mayasura and an
apsara named Hema. Mandodari was renowned
for her wisdom and grace as well as beauty
and chastity. She is often compared to
Sita, one of the most beautiful woman
described in Indian mythology, for her
beauty. In addition to his wives, Ravana
maintained a harem of incredible size,
populated with women whom he captured
in his many conquests, many of them accepted
and lived happily in his harem for his
great manhood, power and knowledge in
every direction. Ravana forced himself
upon any woman who rejected his advances.
Two significant encounters occurred that
would shape the course of the Ramayana.
The first was the molestation
of the sage-woman Vedavati. Vedavati had
been performing penance with the intention
of winning Lord Vishnu for a husband.
Ravana met her at her hermitage, her beauty
enhanced by the austerities she had performed.
She, however, rejected his advances. Ravana
proceeded to forcibly take her, upon which
she prophesied that she would return to
the mortal world as the cause of his death.
She then created a pyre and let herself
be consumed in it. She was then born again
as Ravana's and Mandodari's daughter.
However, Ravana was foretold before his
marriage with Mandodari that his first
child would be the cause of his death.
In order to save himself, he sent Subahu
to kill the child as soon as it was born.
Subahu was unable to kill the baby girl,
and lied to Ravana that he had killed
the baby. The baby was then found. Sita
grew up and married Rama thus becoming
Vishnu's (as Rama) wife, and the cause
of Ravana's defeat.
The second was his encounter
with the apsara Rambha, upon whom he forced
himself. Rambha was betrothed to Kubera's
son, but her plea that she was like a
daughter to him did not deter Ravana.
Angered at this, Kubera's son cursed Ravana,
stating that his ten heads would fall
off his head if he forced himself upon
any woman from that point. This curse
is said to have protected Sita's chastity
while she was Ravana's captive for nearly
a year.
Assessment
Ravana serves mainly as
an antagonist and villain in the Ramayana,
though sometimes he was shown as a great
noble man. Nevertheless, he is considered
to have possessed several virtues, the
foremost being his knowledge of the sacred
books, medicines and sorcery. Ravana was
a great devotee of Shiva and is supposed
to have composed the Shiva Tandava Stotra.
Legend says that being
a Brahmin, Ravana performed the necessary
vedic rituals (pujas) for Rama a Kshatriya
before the war between himself and Rama.
This was done as no other Brahmin was
available at that time in Lanka.
There were occasions where
Ravana has been humbled. For example,
the encounter with Lord Shiva Himself
as mentioned earlier. Once, Ravana is
also said to have got himself tied into
the tail of the mighty Vanara king Vali
(while he was meditating), and Vali flew
in all four directions performing his
meditation, completely unaware that Ravana
was stuck in his tail. When he reached
his palace, he realized that Ravana was
stuck there and released him. Another
incident was when the king Kartavirya
Arjuna (who had 1000 arms) was bathing
in the river Narmada (where Ravana was
also bathing). Arjuna's wives challenged
him if he could hold the waters of Narmada,
and he did it. Hence, the flow of water
stopped at the place where Ravana was
bathing and this made him angry. So he
challenged Arjuna to battle and lost it.
Arjuna then took him prisoner, until Ravana's
grandfather came and asked Arjuna to release
him. It is to Ravana's luck's credit,
though, that he came out of all these
three incidents much richer in alliances
and friendship. Ravana also met his match
when ne encountered Vali.Once Ravana called
Vali for a fight when vali was doing his
regular shiva puja. He took Ravana in
his tail and took around all worlds. Another
version holds that since vali derived
half the power of the enemy he Vali accepted
the compromise offer of Ravana in spite
of Ravana being the enemy of his father
Indra.
Ravana having know that
Vali had the boon according to which anyone
who came before him lost half his/her
strength to Vali,Ravana caught hold of
Vali from behind.At this time, Vali was
performing his scared ablution.Such was
the might of Vali that he clasped his
arms around ravana's .Vali, holding ravana
, completed his sacred bath in all the
seven oceans. |
