Years have gone by, Centuries
have passed- A story lives on, enacted and recreated every year, almost in a
seasonal fashion, each end marks the beginning of the new one. Told over the
span of who knows how many years, by the old to their young ones, and they all
- no matter what words are chosen, what scenes are recreated and what narrations
have been made - end in the same fashion, rendering the end almost a historical
cliché.
I am referring to the story of
the one Ravan Vishrava, said to personify the evil in the great fight against
righteousness, the story that provides moral to many other works signifying how
one’s own alter ego and almost obnoxious arrogance can lead to ones’ own
downfall. I shall not get into the what’s, Whys and How of this story, we have
all grown listening to them, seen them enacted on our televisions and on some occasions
on the stage as well. What follows is a description of the man who over the
years in his life - and after -has taught mankind lessons that even great
scriptures failed to convey, whose story sadly has been always marked as a one-
on-one battle of good versus sheer evil and the lesson lost upon those feeling
proud and justified without for once understanding the real purpose and symbolism
behind the ten-headed effigies they alight every year.
Born to a devout Brahmin whose
lineage sprang from none other than the creator Bhrama himself, Ravan was half
a Brahmin and half Daytiya(or Rakshas), his knowledge surpassed that of any
mortal being and even that of his Great counterpart, Shri Ram himself, so much
so that while he lay broken on the battle field, centuries ago on this very day
that we celebrate as Dusherra, Rama Urged his younger sibling, Laxman, to kneel
down to the great man barely holding on to his life, and acquire from him the
lessons in political science that Ravan was considered to be the master of.
The Ten heads of Ravan, as
depicted in the Scriptures have signified many a things, however, they truly
symbolized his knowledge of 4 vedas and 6 upnishads, basically in simple words
the amalgamation of all the knowledge in the universe. So let us take a moment
before we compare our present day politicians to Ravan, and realize that these
are the people who I doubt can spell their own names –just saying.
Just how many times do we hear a
kingdom made of gold really, a kingdom- not a palace, which we have all heard
of being bejeweled in gold in recent times. Kingdom of gold, though it might
have been just a symbolic mention – then again it might very well have been so
in all practical senses, one never knows- to the prosperity of his kingdom, the
great administration and care that Ravan took of his small kingdom. Ironically
the only real battle he fought was never for any piece of land or the riches,
it was only to satisfy his pride and famous ego that he carried in addition to
his crown.
The Scriptures say that in his
famous Ashok Vatika -a garden which defied the periodic cycles of Season and
bore all fruits in every season- where Sita was held captive, on one occasion when
Ravan came over to Sita, she placed a twig between her and the king, daring him
to cross the line symbolizing her devotion to her husband. Legend has it that
Ravan could never cross it, to touch Sita. In all probability considering the fact that he himself kidnapped her in the first place, he could have crossed
the line yet again; a twig could never have stopped him. We see the lines
crossed around us every day , in the most heinous acts that not only shames
humanity, but when we truly comprehend the stories of Ravan, shames the asuras
too.
Ravan, apart from the great demon
that he is portrayed as was a great musician too, just why did his battle flag
has a veena on it is attributed to this fact; imagine a battle flag with a
music instrument. Incidentally veena has
come to symbolize and closely associated to knowledge as well, - confused? Check
out a portrait of Goddess Saraswati-goddess of knowledge and art. Legend has it
that once while playing his veena, during one of the most complex notes, the
string of his veena broke; Ravan pulled out one of his vein from his hand and substituted
the broken string with it. A music instrument popularly seen in Rajasthan even
today, Ravanhattha, is his own creation.
So what led a man so
knowledgeable and great, to be a pawn of the great game called destiny, his
flaws as depicted in Ramayan, were his ego, his arrogance; it was this
intoxication of power that led to his kidnapping a woman and his subsequent
downfall.
Stories and scriptures explain that
Ravan, once the doorkeeper of Vishnu by the name of Jaya and his brother Vijaya
were cursed to be born thrice as enemies to Vishnu. They say he knew Ram was
Vishnu himself, but the only way he chose to meet him was by drawing Ram to a
battle. In perspective we can say the cards were dealt way before the game
unfolded, but it left behind a lesson to be learnt for generations to come.
But what have we learnt from it really?
It hurts to see many beings that hurl the fiery bow towards the ten headed
effigies and burn down the Demon, with so smug a look on their face, as if they
themselves have defeated the mighty Ravan, never for once looking into their own
charred reflection. The acts we do, in our race to better our lives, the self
centered actions, our egos that prevent us from accepting others success, and
our battle to outsmart them, or if not belittle their achievements, somewhere
within us lies a Ravan, both the great and the vile one. Sadly there will come
no Ram to relieve us from our evil side, this is the battle that we have to
fight ourselves.
Lastly I wish if there won’t come
a Ram to save our nation, let’s hope there comes a Ravan, the great ruler and
hope he doesn't lose his way in the end this time around….!!
