Ravana- A Genius

Shocked at the subjectline?? You think I am trying to glorify evil?? Decide after reading

I was about 6yrs old when the epic serial Ramayana was on air and captured the imagination of the entire nation..
And one which catapulted Rama into the forefront of the nation's imagination..Rama was being worshipped with a renewed vigour..

All these time one small question was swimming in a 6yr old mind..A middle class mind stuffed with the virtues of knowledge and cerebral muscle building..

Rama had one head..but Ravana had 10..Does it imply that ravana was much more brainy and intelligent than Rama??

Sacrilegous thoughts..Aint it??..Well the kid was castigated..and he never got the answer..But the question remained..Here is a small attempt at answering the same.

Yesterday was Vijaya Dashami..Everywhere Ravana's Ten Headed effigy was being burnt with great pomp and show..And as I saw the stoic figure of Ravana crumple to ground..A strange sadness engulfed me..The irony of it all..You might wonder whats ironical about it all?? I ll tell you in a while.

Story of The Killing Of Ravana:

According to mythology...Ravana was the favourite bhakt of Maa Durga..Nobody cudve killed him..He was blessed by Durga..Rama knew that..and hence Rama decided to perform the "Chandi Hom" to invoke the blessings of Durga..And performing that hom(yagya) was an impossible task..Needed a brahmin of the highest capabilities..And guess who came to Rama's rescue???

Ravana himself

Ravana was a brahmin and he knew the difficult art of performing the Hom and the Trisandhya jaap to please Durga and bring her to earth for a wish fulfillment..And Ravana came to the aid of Rama..performed the Hom for him..and finally proclaimed that "yajmaan's desires be fulfilled"..Durga wasnt happy with this and she had repeatedly warned Ravana not to do it..for it could have been fatal for him..But Ravana replied that he cannot turn down this kind of a genuine request from anybody..even if its Ram..and although he very well knew what Rama desired..

Well the mythological interpretations may be that Rama killed Ravana..But the fact is that Rama was only a medium..Its Ravana who killed himself..If it wasnt for Ravana's magnanimity..Rama wouldnt have been able to ever kill him

And it is during this Durga Puja time only that Ravana's effigy is burnt..Isnt it ironic??

Lemme share some more about the MAN.

Ravana's Lineage:

Ravana wasnt a demon or rakhshasa..he was infact a brahmin..Ravana was the son of the Brahmin Sage Visravas and grand son of Sage Pulastya Prajapati .who in turn was the son of Brahma himself..Ravana's mother Princess Kaikesi was the daughter of the Chief of Daithya clan. Thus Ravana had a mixed blood of a Brahmin as well as a Kshatriya!!And had the best of the qualities of both..
He is depicted as a demon..but the fact is he aint a demon

To some extracurricular stuff now

1) Ravana was one of the finest players of the instrument Veena..He is infact known to have made the Veena the instrument that it is today.

2)"Ravan Samhita" is a text or scripture narrated by lord Shiva and written by Ravana. By practicing it one can predict the future.Ravana was a great astrologer and it is said that there was nobody who could match his genius during his times. Ravan Sanhita is the testimony to his great astrological knowledge and is considered as the standard book of reference by astrologers even today.

3)So much fuss was made about the Rama Setu(the bridge to reach lanka)..So much commotion and chaos..Has anybody ever wondered how on earth did Ravana cross the ocean to reach Ayodhya and kidnap Sita!!!

Ravana was known to be an expert in aeronautics as well...He had a glider..He used this glider called Dhadu Monara and reached Sita.


4)Ravana was an authority on all the 4 Vedas and 6 Shastras..He knew them inside out..He was a man of considerable wisdom and spiritual intellect.

5)Ravana is said to have composed the Shiva Tandava Stotram, a hymn to Lord Shiva..

6)Ravana was an awesome administrator..He was regarded as a benevolent and effective ruler. Lanka flourished under his rule - it is said the poorest of houses had vessels of gold to eat and drink off, and hunger was unknown in the kingdom.

7)He was an authority in medicines and sorcery..He was infact a revered physician.

Here is a great warrior-king/scholar who terrorized his enemies, a genius in his day and age who bestrode his island kingdom like a colossus..Created a Golden,Swarna Lanka..A high priest of culture and devotion..Highlt talented individual..The story of Ravana, which became a folk-tale has been retold for perhaps, hundreds of generations in an oral tradition that goes back at least four thousand years.and thats a lot of time during which a tale could have been embroidered in the telling and re-telling as little details were added or forgotten according to the imagination and skill of the teller of tales.


Well..for me Ravana was perhaps the most intriguing and charismatic character in the whole of Ramayana..Yes he had negative qualities as well..He had a weakness for women..was highly immodest and had a big ego..But I decided to analyse Ravana as a MAN,the qualities of a man beyond his negatives..

And I dare say..as a brain and as an intellectual man,Ravana is far superior than anybody else in Ramayana, including Rama

And I think the 10 heads bear the testimony to the man's profound knowledge and multifaceted skills Aptly named Dashanana

PS-This article is not intended to hurt anybody's religious sentiments..Its just a thought..and totally open for criticism..

A very well written article
totally different perspective

It takes a minute to have a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone...but it takes a lifetime to forget someone...

totally agreed .....n too believe Ravana was more superior than other counterparts..

well i m not d BEST but not like d REST.......