Ravana has made his presence in the epic and also in this blog post:-)

This blog post begins from what Ravana was before he became Ravana. Sounds puzzling? Read on..

Lord Brahma’s grandson Visrawas was doing his intense meditation when Kaikasi the daughter of Sumali,  a rakshas, (who ruled Lanka along with two of his brothers) approached him to give her children through him. Visrawas knew what she wanted before she asked him, (due to the ability of foreseeing). He told her that though he understood why she was there, the timing at which she approached him was not an opportune moment; and hence the children she would beget would possess a physique and thoughts, that would cause fear in people. When she then rejected the idea of having such children, he told her that the youngest son she would have, will possess characteristics that are exalted. She agrees and soon after, a child is born with ten heads, twenty hands and fearing looks, to Visrawas and Kaikasi. They named him Dasagreevan as he had ten heads. His siblings were Kumbakarna, Soorpanakai and Vibheeshana, in that order. Dasagreevan caused a lot of harm to people and places, in his attempt to conquer them and to become the ruler. Once in an attempt to teach Lord Shiva a lesson, he tried to lift Mount Kailash (the abode of Lord Shiva). Lord Shiva knowing this, pressed Mount Kailash with his big toe. The Mountain then pressed Dasagreeva’s hand and he howled and cried loudly with pain.  On suggestions from others to seek pardon from Lord Shilva, he meditated upon him and sang hymns on him. Seeing the earnestness of his prayers , Lord Shiva softened and renamed him as Ravana (which means crying / sobbing / wailing). Being granted earlier a boon by Lord Brahma, which gave him the ability to change his form the way he wanted to, Ravana’s prayers to Lord Shiva got him another boon – a powerful sword using which he caused terror amongst people in various kingdoms. I have always been puzzled at how the mythological tales speak about harsh penances done by the asuras / rakshasas, and boons granted, making the rakshasas more powerful.  “Why would the almighty gods even give boons to the people, whose thoughts and actions are evil? Don’t they know that giving such boons that could be misused, will cause damage to people and places? So they can just pray hard and get what they want?” These were some questions I had. Though as the mythological stories unfold, these boons are thwarted, all the while ensuring that the committed boon is kept up (it seems wily but nicely so :-)). To keep up commitments is of paramount importance?

As I read the epic now and drew a parallel to daily life, I wonder if we also do the same across situations. Let’s keep aside the asura / rakshasa part aside and just look at us individuals. Taking the example of parents – Some of us parents commit to our children that we will get them what they want, if they get ‘good’ marks / if they are on their ‘best’ behaviour. So our children get ‘good’ marks / are on their ‘best’ behaviour and then ask us for something that we cannot refuse. Why? Because they made us ‘happy and proud’. What they want may not be what we wanted to give them, but then we are happy and they get what they want :-). So the children worked hard at something and got what they wanted, isn’t it? Aren’t we here behaving like the ‘almighty gods’ while our children are doing their ‘penance’ to get what they want? We may not have another plan to not give  our children what they want, for being ‘good’ and ‘best’; but we sure can think of the impact of our commitment, before we commit. 

Now that we know how Ravana became Ravana, let’s come to how he comes into the life of Rama. Soorpanakai (sister of Ravana, who belongs to the group of Rakshasas) comes to the forest that Rama, Lakshmana and Sita are staying in. She takes a liking to Rama and makes her moves to keep Sita out of the scene. Lakshmana seeing this, then cuts Soorpanakai’s nose and her ears. She then runs to her brothers who are in the forest. They come to fight with Rama and Lakshmana and lose their lives. Agambanan, another Rakshasa escapes from the war scene and goes to see Ravana to tell him the news. He advises Ravana NOT to fight with Rama as he (Ravana) will only lose the war; instead he tells Ravana, that the best way to defeat Rama is to abduct Sita (Agambanan also describes her beauty) and that without Sita Rama will NOT live. Ravana decides to go and see his friend Mareecha who lives in the forest, with the idea that Agambanan gave. Mareecha was also a Rakshasa, but over time had taken to a life in the forest, wanting to live peacefully. When Mareecha heard the idea of Ravana wanting to abduct Sita, he told Ravana that whoever gave him the idea was an enemy. He also stated that Rama was stronger and could not be fought with. He told Ravana to go back to Lanka and live happily with his family. Ravana, finding sense in this went back to Lanka. Soorpanakai bleeding all over, came to Lanka and spoke to Ravana in anger. She derided and condemned him for not being an able ruler. She compared him to Rama and told him how Rama was following his duty of guarding the saints in the forest, while Ravana is not doing his duty. She then gave an advice similar to what Agambanan  gave Ravana – of abducting Sita (all the while describing her beauty to Ravana). She goes on a step further to tell Ravana to abduct Sita, bring her to Lanka and marry her. Looks like both Agambanan and Soorpanakai knew what to say to Ravana, to go and abduct Sita. This epic is certainly one that has so many facets of influencing. Even in our own lives, we see people being influenced in different ways. Some get influenced, when we present them with numbers / logic.. Some get influenced when we counter them emotionally.. Some get influenced (like Ravana; influenced by Agambanan and Soorpanakai) when we are compared with someone else, and the other person is praised more. The need then to show our prowess and prove that we are better than the one we are compared with, is so high. What we many times fail to understand, is the motive behind the other person who is comparing us with another person (I am referring to people who have a motive that is NOT positive, behind this move to compare). We also DON’T see that the person who is comparing us, has understood us well enough to know what will provoke us, especially when they know that we are desperate to get what we want. It is so important for each of us to understand ourselves more, at every given opportunity. Handling situations and people then, can be done with mindfulness 🙂 

Ravana mulls over what Soorpanakai said and goes to see Mareecha again. He has decided what needs to be done to abduct Sita. He asks Mareecha to take the form of a deer and come within the vision of Sita. Sita besotted with the deer will ask for it. When Rama and Lakshmana follow the deer to get it for Sita, he could abduct her (as she will be alone). Mareecha, dreading what would happen if he follows what Ravana says, implores Ravana to drop the idea. He once again stresses on Rama’s strength. Ravana is furious and tells Mareecha that he did not seek his advice or suggestions and to just do what he was told to. Mareecha attempts once again to make Ravana see the futility of his plan. Ravana refuses to listen. Mareecha just agrees to what Ravana says. I have always thought that Mareecha was not a ‘nice’ person. Ramayana has just knocked me on my head as though to say ‘DON’t Make any assumptions’ :-). This conversation between Mareecha and Ravana gave me many a learning..

 – When we hear the same thing said by two different people, we tend to believe it (two is better than one).. It is better to explore the veracity, even if it is more than one person saying the same thing.. NO assumptions.. 

 – Give advice and suggestions when it is solicited.. Unsolicited advice and suggestions is an unnecessary expend of energy, effort and time..

 – To take a decision when there is a conflict of values, is certainly not easy to make.  The person who is taking the decision has their own reason, which is valid from their perspective. Well, if we don’t agree with their perspective, we may say so to them.. BUT remember, if they carry the cloak of their authority and power, they MAY NOT pay heed to our perspective; needless to say, they have their own conflicts, that they may be battling within them. 

This epic and the learnings from it is getting more and more interesting, and of immense value!!