Ravana
Ravana (Devanagari: रावण) is the principal antagonist of Rama in the famous Hindu epic, the Ramayana. In the epic, occuring many thousands of years ago, Ravana is the king of Lanka, as well as overlord of the Rakshasas or demons. By kidknapping Sita, the wife of Rama, he sets in motion a chain of events which culminate in a cataclysmic battle between he and Rama.
Mythology
Early Life
Ravana was born to the Brahmin sage known as Vishrava, and his wife Kaikesi, the Daitya princess. 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. Sumali rejected the other kings of the world, since they were less powerful than him. Kaikesi searched among the sages, and finally chose Vishrava. Vishrava warned her that because she had approached him at an inappropriate time, their children would tend towards evil, but accepted her request for marriage nevertheless. As such, Ravana was partly Daitya, and partly Brahmin. Ravana was the eldest of Kaikesi's children, including his brothers Vibhishana and Kumbhakarna. The name which he was given at birth was Dashanana/Dasagriva, referring to the fact that he was born with ten heads.
While Ravana proved to be aggressive and arrogant in nature during his youth, he was also an exemplary scholar. Under Vishrava's tutelage, Ravana mastered the Vedas and the holy books and also the arts. Sumali, his grandfather, worked hard in secret to ensure that he retained the ethics of the Daityas. Ravana was also devoted. Following his initial training, he performed an intense penance lasting several thousand years to Lord Brahma. Pleased with his austere penance, Brahma offered Ravana a boon. Ravana asked for immortality, a request which Brahma refused. Ravana then asked for absolute invulnerability and supremacy before the gods and heavenly spirits, as well as the demons, serpents and wild beasts. Contemptuous of mortal beings, Ravana did not ask for protection from humans. Brahma granted him these boons, and also provided him with great strength by way of sorcery and knowledge of divine weapons.
Conquests
After winning these boons, Ravana sought out his grandfather Sumali and assumed leadership over his army. He then set his sights upon Lanka, an idyllic island society 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 in it's entirety from him, threatening to take it by force. Vishrava advised Kubera to give up the island to Ravana, who was now virtually invincible. Although Ravana took Lanka by force to begin with, he was nevertheless regarded as a benevolent and effective ruler since life on the island flourished under his rule.
Following his conquest of Lanka, Ravana encountered Lord Shiva at his abode upon Mount Kailash. Unknowingly, Ravana attempted to uproot and move the mountain on a whim. Shiva, annoyed by Ravana's arrogance, pressed his smallest toe on Kailash, pinning Ravana firmly underneath. Once Ravana was informed of whom he had crossed, he became penitent. For several years he sang songs praising Shiva, until the destoyer god released him from his bondage. Pleased with his bravery and devotion, Shiva granted Ravana further strength, awarding him the Chandrahas (or "Moon-blade"), an immensely powerful sword. Ravana in turn became a lifelong devotee of Lord Shiva. It is also during this incident that Ravana officially acquired the his name, which was given to him by Shiva and means "(He) Of the terrifying roar", referring to the fact that the earth is said to have quaked with Ravana's cry of pain when the mountain was pinned upon him.
Ravana's abilities were by now truly awe-inspiring, and so he set out confidently on a series of campaigns upon which he conquered human and celestial beings alike. After 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, to which Ravana responded by invading the heavens and defeating the devas, singling out his half-brother Kubera for particular humiliation. By the time of the Ramayana, set several hundred years later, Ravana is shown as dominating all human and divine races, to the extent that he can dictate when the Sun rises and sets.
Wives and Womanizing
Ravana was known for his aggressive conquests of women. Ravana had several wives, foremost of whom was Mandodari, a woman often compared to Sita for her wisdom, grace, beauty and chastity. Ravana's wives bore him seven sons: Indrajit, Prahasta, Atikaya, Akshayakumara, Devantaka, Narantaka, Trishira. In addition to his wives, Ravana maintained a harem of incredible size, populated with women whom he captured over the course of his many conquests, many of whom lived happily under Ravana's captivity on account of his virility and wisdom. Nonetheless, Ravana often forced himself upon any woman who did reject his advances.
It was just this type of rambunctious sexuality that lead Ravana into a number of compromising situations. 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 first eyed her while she sat in her hermitage, her beauty enhanced by the austerities she had performed. Vedavati rejected his advances, so Ravana proceeded to forcibly take her, during which time she prophesied that she would return to the mortal world as the cause of his death. She then created a pyre and threw herself upon it. She was re-born as Sita, thus becoming Vishnu's wife in his incarnation as Rama, the cause of Ravana's defeat. Another example of Ravana's unmitigated lust was his encounter with the apsara Rambha, another female upon whom he forced himself. Rambha was betrothed to Kubera's son, and so she pleaded to Ravana that she was essentially kin to him, but this did not deter him proceeding. Angered at this, Kubera's son cursed Ravana, stating that his ten heads would fall off if he forced himself upon any woman from that point on.
These acts of sexual impropriety culminated in Ravana's decision to kidnap Sita, an act to which all his previous transgressions pale in comparison. After Rama was banished to the jungle, Sita chose to accompany him, asserting that it is an essential duty of a wife to be at her husband's side at all times. One day when Rama had gone away from his ashram in the forest, Ravana crept up on a vulnerable Sita and kidnapped her. The discovery of Sita's absence prompted Rama and Lakshmana to partake on a hazardous search to find her again. Sita remained under the captivity of Ravana for one year, all the while protecting her chastity at all costs, completely unwavering in her resolve despite Ravana's courting, cajoling and assorted threats.
Defeat at the Hands of Rama
After overcoming numerous arduous challenges, Rama entered into Lanka in order to confront Ravana and rescue his wife. Rama offers Ravana a final chance to make peace, suggesting that he immediately return Sita and apologize to both he and his wife. As a minister and brother of Ravana, Vibhishana also advised Ravana to return Kidnapped Sita. Ravana rejected these attempts to avoid battle, going so far as to banish his brother from his kingdom. Vibhishana immediatly sought protection from Sri Rama, which was granted without hesitation, allowing him to become a great devotee of Sri Rama; in turn Rama was assisted by Vibheeshana, whose knowledge of Ravana's proficiency with black magic and mystical weapons allowed Rama to gain a strategic advantage in the ensuing battle. In the battlefield, Rama slayed the most powerful rakshasa commanders, along with hundreds of thousands of rakshasa soldiers, aided by the Vanaras, a race of monkey-men who fought alongside him. In an attempt to create divisions in Rama's ranks, Ravana attempted to convince the Vanaras that Rama considered them to be no more than lowly, expendable animals. However, the faithful monkeys dismissed Ravana's claims and continue to fight.
With his rakshasas neutralized, Ravana is forced to square off one on one with Rama. In their initial battle, Ravana was severly injured, and his chariot and weapons were destroyed. Due to this injury, Rama allowed Ravana to live and return to fight another day. In their next meeting, Ravana unleashed the full extent of his his magical abilities while making full use of the boons given to him by Siva and Brahma. After a drawn-out battle, Rama successfully decapitated Ravana's central head, and a revolting head promptly arose in its place. Rama went on to decapitate this head, only to find yet another growing in its place. This regrowth occurred because of a vessel of amrit, the nectar of immortality, which Ravana had stored in his stomach. This cycle of decapitation and regeneration continued on until twilight, when Ravana's magical powers became even more pronounced. At this point, Vibheeshana informed Rama of why Ravana's heads were regenerating. Rama then invoked the brahmastra, a weapon of mass destruction, and fired the great arrow into Ravana's midsection, destroying the cache of amrit. With the amrit no longer in effect, Ravana met his demise and Sita was freed.
Depiction
In congruence with his mythological descriptions, Ravana is depicted in art with up to ten heads. His ten heads earned him the names Dashamukha (दशमुख, "The ten-faced"), Dashagriva (दशग्रीव, "The ten-necked") and Dashakantha (दशकण्ठ, "Ten Throats"). Ravana is also pictured with up to twenty hands, signifying his greed and never-ending want. To illustrate his military might, each and every one of his hands contains a weapon, including the trident, the conch, and the chakra (discus), among others. His skin is typically blue in colour. As the personification of all evil, Ravana has been a popular subject of folk art and sculpture throughout India and Sri Lanka, as well as many other regions to which the Ramayana has spread. One of the most famous is a 45-foot idol of Ravana located in Khonpura in Madhya Pradesh, where Ravana is actually worshipped as a benevolent diety.
Legacy
Ravana's malevolent spirit is not exhausted with his death at the climax of Ramayana; rather, his legacy of evil has been reiterated and revisited mythologically and theologically in many later Hindu texts. In the Bhagavata Purana, for instance, Ravana and his brother, Kumbakarna were said to be reincarnations of Jaya and Vijaya, gatekeepers at Vaikuntha, the abode of Vishnu and were cursed to be born in Earth by the Sanatah Kumara monks after refusing these holy men entry. The all-merciful Vishnu agreed that they should be punished but agreed to mitigate their curse. He asked them whether they would want to undergo seven births as devotees of Vishnu or three births as enemies of the Lord. Since they wanted to get back to Vaikuntha as soon as possible, they agreed to be born in three births as enemies of God. In their second of these births, it is said that they were born as Ravana and Kumbhakarna.
Despite his villanous behaviour, Ravana is still commonly acknowledged as a great and noble man due to his venerable character. He is considered to have possessed several important virtues, the foremost being his knowledge of the sacred books, medicines and sorcery. Ravana was also a great devotee of Shiva, and is supposed to have composed the dance known as the Shiva Tandava Stotra, according to legend. Further, his skillful leadership is often noted; although Ravana initially took Lanka by force, he was nevertheless an effective ruler, bringing times of great prosper to the island during his rule. With this in mind, citizens of Khonpura worship their Ravana idol during the Dussera festival, an occassion wherein worshippers everywhere else burn his effigy.
His successes notwithstanding, Ravana was a tragic figure who engendered his own demise with his unfettered sexual desire and his imperious militarism. As could be expected, he continues to endure as the archetypal villain in the Hindu tradition, and is still identified as such by Hindus today.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Blank, Jonah. Arrow of the Blue-Skinned God: Retracing the Ramayana Through India. New York: Grove Press, 2000. ISBN 0802137334
- Menon, Ramesh. The Ramayana: A Modern Retelling of the Great Indian Epic. North Point Press, 2004. ISBN 0865476608
- Pattanaik, Devadutt. Indian Mythology: Tales, Symbols and Rituals from the Heart of the Subcontinent. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions International, 2003. ISBN 0892818700
External Links
- The Village that Worships Ravana Retrieved August 9, 2007.
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