Raavana - A ‘Human’ King lurked in shadow!

Lankan King, Raavana is portrayed as a ten-headed monster, a demon king, a womanizer, a knavish fox by our epics. I wished to comprehend his character map from my viewpoint, which will be contentious in most of the cases and the resultant product is this short article. 

Raavana is known to be the greatest ruler of Lanka in the ancient times. His regime is roughly calculated around 1000 B.C to 600 B.C. He is depicted in epics as a ten headed monster. But in reality, his ten heads are symbolic representations of ten indriyas or chakras present in our body. Most of us know that Raavana is the main antagonist in Ramayana. But, many don’t know the fact that there are several versions of Ramayana in Jainism, Buddhism etc. In such epics, Raavana is depicted as a man of mind. In Jainism, Raavana is known to be the first King who abolished animal sacrifices. He is widely acclaimed as a sincere Shiva devotee. He is known to be a veteran Veena player and a great musician. He is a great astrologer and claimed to have written an astro-book in the name of ‘Ravana Samhitha’. In fact, this so-called womanizer king (as depicted by Valmiki Ramayana) is a person who took oath that he will never touch another man’s wife without consent. He is known to be the greatest art-lover ever ruled our continent. Under his aristocratic and diplomatic measures, Lanka cherished with all the affluence.

Raavana is an orthodox Tamizh ruler who placed his pride before everything else. So, when his sister is defamed by Lakshmana, he played the situation and decided to avenge against the defamer. He acted upon his sister’s version of the tale. When he confronted love in front of Sita, with his artistic nature, he fell in love with her. As per Ramayana, he captured her with his foxing techniques. But as per the Veda Upanishads, Raavana acted according to the rules of dharma. Those rules state that if you win a woman with your eloquence, it is not considered as a beguiling act. Sita defied the rules set by her brother-in-law and fell for Raavana. She doubted the capabilities of Rama, crossed the borders and paid the price for her arrogance. Raavana, on the other hand never snubbed his oath. He never touched Sita and never kept his presence when she liked no longer.

Unlike Rama, Raavana never indulged in Guerilla warfare (e.g. cunning assassination of Vaali). He always defeated his foes face to face. Unlike Rama, he never used his friendship as an exchange rate in the market of favors. Unlike Rama, he never sent his spies to the enemy territory. Unlike Rama, he placed his love for Sita in front of his Kingdom. (Later, Rama sacrificed Sita for the people of Ayodhya! Whatta husband? After all the hardships??? Shame on you Rama!!!)

Raavana always believed for what he is. An action is christened as guilt only if there is a bearer for it. In that purview, Raavana never bore any guilt for his actions. In the final battle, he marched his troops even after his precognition of his demise. He merely played his part in his life drama and achieved a brave death. It is this same reason for which Greatest Greek emperors of our generations are hailed for. In Iliad, it is known as the greatest virtue of a true martyr; in Bhagavad Gita, it is praised as the definition of Karma; but it is depicted by us as the characteristic of a demon. One should never forget that history is man’s refracted version of truth!

Alchemist, the bestselling book of our generation taught me the following things:

1. Chase your love.

2. Chase your dreams.

3. Never give up, how impossible your goals might be.

4. Always stand by your word.

5. Always support your relations.

If these are the characteristics we need to make our soul an elite one and if these are the same things which act as a differentiator for a man from other species, then I’m overwhelmingly proud that I came from the same Tamizh clan as that of Raavaneswaran - The Human King of ancient times buried by our darned epics!

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