Ravana is our first social reformer.. just to give an example he taught vedas to the so called " downtrodden" in society socially which was a pevilige of the few. He banned animal sacrifice , established a just rule
Ravan was a hero allegedly turned into villain because he disagreed. He disagreed to norms and practices of the then civilization. He developed enmity because he was not a diplomat. Ravan was a laureate, a warrior, a fighter and above all a social reformer. Ravan collected all together and formed “Rakcha Vansh” (Rakshas means protecting people). He gave downtrodden and discriminated a single voice, “Vyam Rakshamah” (the book in which ravana is decsribed as a true hero). Ravan gave the modern India’s concept of SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC. So Ravan was an educated rebel. He asked questions and that too right questions. And he had guts to argue and fight until the truth was revealed. So, sometimes he went out of his way too search answers and this shook the ego of people singlehandedly running the world at that time. Ravan questioned too much. Ravan had a mixed blood. His father was a Brahmin while his mother was from lineage of demons. So, he got the privilege to live in both the cultures. He could not find any difference between the two cultures except for the fact that demons were exploited and thought to be down trodden by Gods (people who read or wrote Vedas).
dears sir,
ReplyDeletethe ravana was a character in our mythology which is always treated with disgrace and as we have always known histor has always written by the winner, so is true in this case also.
i want to point out some anamolies of MARYADA PUROSSHOTTAM RAM's character.
1. he forsake MA Sita on being instigated by a peasent, which was unethical on the basis of indian culture and 7 promises of a marriage.
2. ravana was a mahapandit and a brahman by cast. according to your article , he was a reformer, ramayana also said he never tried to do anything irrational with Sita.
also going by some other prominent stories about ravana says that he was a very just ruler , and the fact lanka was made of gold indicates that his kingdom was prosperous and happy.
vishal mohal
dear sir
ReplyDeleteall that u stated about Ravana is very true and cannot be counter argued .he definitely was one amongst the most learned pandits of his time..was a man of ethics,and a great warrior but
i kind of do not agree to consider him a real hero ..for it was not that he questioned the system and tried to reform it that led to his end in history but it was his unability to win over himself...his unability to win over the power of his knowledge...that caused his end..the day a person starts considering himself to be unchallengable authority his end starts..same can be implied in the modern business world as the moment u start considering urself unbeatable ur decline starts....it was his "ahankaar" that led to what we call history teaching us that it is neither kmowledge nor power that creats heros but ur abiliy to win over urself fist and then others "doosro ki jai se pehle khud ko jai karo" & the right use of knowledge, power that makes u the real hero..Ram alhtough more powerful knew the best use of his power and never did any act that questioned his character...he won over himself as aresult won hearts of his followers...and thats exactly what a real leader does..a real HERO does....
shilpi.
I remember some years back there was a serial on Zee TV (I guess) which showed Ravana as a hero...not sure about the response or the TRP rating...however, it did generate a lot of discussion.
ReplyDeleteRavana was indeed a social reformer and had it not been for his personal greed (Sita as a matter of fact) would have been a great king…but not sure if anyone of us would have known him in that case...he would have been one of those countless kings we don’t know about. :( It’s said that he was the author of many stotras including the Shiva Thandava Stotra...in praise of Lord Shiva which he composed only after being crushed by the weight of a mountain.
Ravana definitely stood for his irrational behavior and was just but highly egoistic so much so that his brother’s plea not to go against Rama fell on deaf years...later everyone knows what happened. He could have actually hid his carnal desires under his evil sister Supharnika claim that her honour and that of Lanka had been abused by Rama and his brother Lakshman.
Hence I don’t really agree he can be depicted a hero in true sense however definitely does not need to be portrayed as the villain he has been made to. As a matter of fact he is not only worshipped in Lanka but also some parts of India including Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh).
Also a quick question to everyone...how many of us know anyone whose name includes Ravana...consumer perception is something we need to improve on.
I agree with most of you that Ravana was not a hero but I guess idea here is to learn leadership lessons from Ravana :-).I would say,there are many things to learn not just from Ravana but all villans including Laden :).I wish all such guys would have used their skills for some constructive work....
ReplyDeleteRavana was guilty of what the Greeks called 'hubris'... the greatest sin of overweening pride that manifested itself in both his public and private actions... But since the modern school of thought suggests that we can learn more from failure than success... Ravana has a lot to teach us on what 'not to do' even if you have ten heads and the might to rule the heavens, earth and netherworlds....
ReplyDeletesir,
ReplyDeleteramayana at its core is a story of clash of civilisations, aryan and dravidian. its a story masterfully told, with all the twists and turns that we can see even in the latest potboiler from bollywood inc. Ravana plays the anti-hero to perfection, and his character is in sharp contrast to Rama. while rama is born into royalty, with the proverbial silver spoon, ravana is born to a poor rishi who as been ostracised for taking a demoness as a consort. ravana toils hard and becomes the king of the rakshasas through merit. his exploits are renowned among his people, and he takes good care of them too (golden Lanka!!). the reason for his downfall was the reason common to all dictators- arrogance.
to anoop,
ReplyDeletethe epic mentions the reason why ravana didnt touch Ma Sita, it was because he was cursed by a 'gandharva' whose wife he had defiled. so it was not out of the goodness of his heart that he let sita be. otherwise there would've been no need to abduct her in the first place. the epic mentions that he kept trying to seduce sita by convincing her of his superiority over rama.
I gone through the article..but I have some question , If Ravana was such great king ,than why came to fight at the end of the war ? why he allowed all his relative including his son " Meghdooth" to die ? why he wake up his brother "kumbh karna " from half of the sleep and alow him to die ?Why has not lead it from the front? I guess you are aware of that Ravana was defeated once by " Bali" and once by " Mahiravana" , the only reson was his proudyness ; Every body asked Ravana to return Sita and avoid war, as you know war will effect economy, environment and loss of human life, but Ravana ignored all advice ,Can we consider him as a leader or visionary ?
ReplyDeleteSir,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on some points like people who interpret history are biased. They interpret what they want to show or what they can see only. History must be presented as a fact sheet, that's it. But whosoever write it, is a human being and come what may, he cannot put his heart aside while writing/interpreting such a sensitive issue. As a matter of fact it is not a balance sheet of a company. Therefore there will remain some bias. But history is also misunderstood by readers. Because an active brain will not directly accept the arguments of an interpreter.
Now, as much I know about Ravana, you may be surprised by knowing that Sita was the daughter of Ravana. How? Sita was born from the earth. The bloodpot was put in there by Ravana and this bloodpot is considered as the 'Karmafal' of Ravana. So by that relation Sita was his daughter. Now you may ask then why Ravana attended the 'Svayamvar' of Sita and kidnapped her afterward. Because It is written in our Shastra that A daughter should get married at her father's place. So ravana, being a 'Shastragya', went to bring her to Lanka. But that time he could not or you may say did not kidnapp her Because after seeing Ram, he thought that who else can be a worthy husband for her daughter. Later he kidnapped her because of another ritual- "A girl must come to her father's place at least once after the marriage".
He, being a Mahapandit, knew everything about what he was doing and what consequences will he face. He knew that what could be a better death than being killed by Lord Ram.
Actually the debate on' Who is the real Hero' is wrong. Why are we saying someone a hero and someone else as Villain. are we not being biased in doing so?
One point I disagree on is that Ravana was not a democratic. He was an educated rebel, but in his own way. His motive was to get Nirvana through violence. A true worshiper of Lord Shiva. He could have opted for some other practices. But the question why he did not opted for other way could be answered by saying that He never forgot which culture had he come from, what his Karma were. He had to follow the "Raksha Vansh parampara" and proved to be a worthy Rakshasa. He proved it. People worship him for what good he had. Ram is worshipped for what good he had. Both are Hero at the same time in some way.
this post on ravana has made me sit and wonder how most of the time we usually see the world as either balck or white, whatever has been instilled in our minds for years is so so easily accepted by us without any questions. all these years i did not even try to find why was ravana percieved as evil where as ram percieved as the ultimate good.
ReplyDeletei guess this article has awakened my mind to a new way of seeing things
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ReplyDeleteVisit me at http://abhayshridutt.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteSend me some nice stories, so that my mama & papa read it for me.
Its nice to say that a man should never abandon his wife atleast based on a washerman's gossip, but for once look at Ram not as a husband first but a king first. People have appointed him as a king and have vested full trust and leadership on him and as a king he has to lead and live by the subjects. The idealism in the king is that even if one of his subjects was unhappy about something, then he is responsible for his unhappiness. Some would say that the other option was to resign and stay with his wife. If we take account of the times, Ayodhya was not a democratic state but a princely state, where kings were apponted by the virtue of birth. With Ram not having a son, he could not disown the kingdom to be with his wife. A king was not made according to ones individual chice, he had a responsibility. And as we say, a public figure does not have a private life, and so was the state of Ram. Thats why I said a King is a king first and then a husband. If we do not take a feminist view of this aspect of Ram, then he has proven to be a just king, but in the modern times has lost to the feminist world.
ReplyDelete