Roshin Roy

I have always liked him ever since I knew him from comic books, folklore, epics, animated movies etc. I have always felt a kind of admiration and respect for his character, power and personality. Today, I have read a lot about him and I think I know quiet a lot about him. I would want to note down some cool stuff about this guy, a man of principles, a pundit, poet, great ruler, an art lover, a musician, a husband, a lover, a devotee, a warrior at his best, a king and a warlord. Ladies and gentlemen, gods, demons, immortals and mortals, I would like to introduce you to vishrava puthra (alias) dasakantha (alias) pankthigriva (alias) rakshasaraja (alias) lankeshwar RAVANA – king of demons, lord of the underworld, the mighty king of Lanka who feared none and earned respect of the three worlds.

Ravan, though accepted as a man of principles, a great ruler, a true brahmin and the greatest devotee of lord Shiva, is portraid as the lead antagonist in the great epic of Ramayana. This dude was so powerful, even the Gods feared him.

Now how does the story go? They say he kidnapped Sita, Ram’s wife and took her home with him to Lanka. Yeah right ! If he wanted her, he would have had her when her dad, King Janaka had arranged for her swayamvara. Ram just went up there and broke the bow that none of his competitors could do. Big deal! But did you know that Ravana was one of those elite people who had come for the swayamvara? Yes. He was there and his strength was beyond the strength of any mortal of that time. And why didn’t he break the weapon himself but instead bow in front of it with respect ? The iron bow was not just another weapon. Ravan had understood that it was the ‘shiv dhanas‘ which belonged to Lord Shiva and being a true Shiva devote, he refused to make a mockery of the weapon and disrespect his lord.

Besides Ravana was in a curse to be  “Eka-Patni-Vrathastha” by lord Bhrahma when he had abducted Sita, which means, no fooling around when he was married to Mandodhari his beloved wife.

Then why did he do it? It was revenge that made King Ravana do it. He was no God or saint. He was the leader of the Rakshasas. He could never forgive Rama and Lakshmana who had attacked his sister Shoorpanaka. And what was her crime? She had only expressed her love for him. He had vowed to bring Rama and Lakshmana to his court and punish them for their disrespect to his sister and the rakshasas.

Is that all? He respected Sita so much that he gave her a private space, a palace with all the guards, servants etc where she had her will. And how was King Ravana defeated? I would say he was cheated.. even by the Gods who were supposed to stand for truth and honor. You would be surprised to know what Ravan took to the battle ground in his arsenal. This dude had all the powers that was needed to end the battle. And why didn’t the great king of Lanka not defend himself against the Brahmastra that Rama had attacked him with? Its cuz he knew that he could defend the brahmastra only with a bramastra that he had in his arsenal. He also knew that the impact of such an action would be .. hmm .. err .. apocalypse .. Yes, it was like nuke missiles colliding and Lankeshwar Ravana took a call which can be compared to putting and end to .. err ..  a nuclear standoff. Thus, the lord of the underworld fell, inspite of his knowledge death defying ‘maha mriuthunjaya manthra‘ and his ultimate power of ‘kundali jagran’ – his command over his own fate.

Next time you hear about the deamon lord, king Ravana, you should know that he was one powerful being who worked hard and struggled to earn all the ultimate powers that the Gods could offer. Unlike, his assasin, Rama who was born privilleged and was bestowed on with all the powers that he had. And what did he do with it ? yeah .. well i hope to come back and write about Rama someday .. soon ..