Raavan — Good or evil?

Anuradha Varma, TNN, Jul 4, 2010, 12.25pm IST Whether it’s burning his effigies during Dussehra, or watching Abhishek Bachchan’s machinations in Mani Ratnam’s film Raavan, the ancient villain of the epic Ramayana remains a metaphor for good against evil.


A scholar, scientist, musician and worshipper of Lord Shiva and Brahma, Raavan was the son of a Brahmin father and demon mother. According to Ranjan Singh, who directed the teleserial Raavan, “Raavan’s birth was a political ploy, as his grandfather wanted a child who would possess the intellect of a Brahmin and the might of an ‘asura’ to take over Lanka.” And while sage Vishrava taught his son the Vedas, Sumali, the demon grandfather, ensured the child didn’t forget his destructive roots. And, thus began the tussle of good and evil.

A child with 10 heads and 20 hands must have had a difficult time growing up, but Ranjan contends, “We found out during our research that he didn’t actually have so many heads and hands. It was a crystal necklace, a gift from his mother, which caused this reflection.”

As Raavan grew, he gained invincibility after a boon from Lord Brahma. Also a devotee of Shiva, as legend has it, Raavan once tried to uproot his abode Mount Kailasa and take it to Lanka for his mother. As an angered Shiva unleashed his wrath by trapping him under it, Raavan sang his praises till the God was appeased. He is also said to have torn a musical instrument out of the veins of one hand, using one head as the ‘resonator’. Says Delhi University lecturer Suneera Kasliwal, who has written a book on the subject, “This instrument is popular as the ravanhattha in Rajasthan and is considered the precursor of the violin.”

Research on the musical instrument and his book Finding the Demon’s Fiddle also took Amsterdam-based Patrick Jered to Sri Lanka, where the demon king is revered. He says, “During the course of my stay in India and Sri Lanka I came to have great respect for Raavan. The Raavan detailed in the Buddhist scripture, the Lankavatara sutra, is a wise and kind leader. He invited the Buddha to Lanka and learned from his wisdom. Among Mahayana Buddhists, Raavan is seen as a benign and wise king who attained enlightenment through the teaching of the Buddha.”

The evil despot and Rama’s bête noire, has books on medicine and science to his credit, presided over a contented and prosperous Lanka and had an army of ‘aeroplanes’, such as the Pushpak Vimana in which he abducted Sita, Lord Rama’s consort, sparking off the events leading to his death. He has even figured as the dark spirit, who may be resurrected to wreak destruction in the book Resurrecting Ravana in the American series Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. In the 19th century, poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta’s poem The Slaying of Meghnad portrayed Raavan as a hero.

Sri Lankan Neil Kiriella, who authored Historical Rawana doesn’t consider the Ramayan a mythology, but history, which occurred at least 7,500 years ago. He says, “Raavan is respected in Sri Lanka as he was our king. However, most Sri Lankans don’t appreciate the abduction of Sita. It should be noted that the Rakshasa clan were vegetarians and teetotallers.”

Actor Ravi Kissen, who played ‘Raavan’ Abhishek Bachchan’s brother in the film, says, “Raavan taught me what not to do. The lesson is of not coveting another’s wife and of not giving in to one’s ego and remaining humble.”

A split personality, he was someone power had corrupted. As theatreperson Jalabala Vaidya, who has staged several editions of the Ramayana over the years, says, “He was overwhelmed by power. He had attended Sita’s swayamvara, where he lost her to Rama and had an eye for her ever since. He believed that no woman could resist him, and that’s why he never tried to force himself on Sita.”

A case of brilliance gone wrong, he became an agent of his own destruction. Raavan also became Ram’s guru, when the latter sat at his feet and asked for his teachings as he lay dying. The demon king said, recounts mythologist and author Devdutt Pattnaik, “Things that are bad for you seduce you easily; you run towards them impatiently. But things that are actually good for you fail to attract you; you shun them creatively, finding powerful excuses to justify your procrastination. That is why I was impatient to abduct Sita but avoided meeting you. This is the wisdom of my life, Ram. My last words. I give it to you.”

And, thus, good finally triumphed over evil, even within the King of Lanka!

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Raavan-_-Good-or-evil-/articleshow/6127025.cms