Ramayana – What do we really know?

Now that the days have become shorter and the darkness prevails most part of the day, I was remembering the dark stories heard in the childhood. I remember my parents telling me Diwali as a festival of lights where brightness wins over darkness. It was then that I started to read Ramayana once again, only to realize how little did I knew of the great epic.

I am sure that when asked the question “Do you know Ramayana?” you shall promptly raise your head and would probably term me as a lunatic for having such a doubt! But trust me, many of us do not know or understand Ramayana! And yes, I shall go to the extremes and say that those who ask of “Ram Rajya” or the “Perfect Ideal Administration” also do not understand Ramayana.

Ramayana was written by Valmiki in Sanskrit and has been adopted in many languages and has spread to countries other than India itself. In fact, there are more than 300 variants of the Ramayana known today. Valmiki composed Ramayana into 2400 verses over 7 sections known as Kandas. Incidentally, the first letter of every 1000 verses makes the Gayatri Mantra. Valmiki dedicated Ramayana to celebrate the life of Lord Rama. The story shows the duties of relationships through portrayal of ideal characters – ideal father, ideal son, ideal brother, ideal wife, ideal servant and the ideal king.

The human mind is highly capable of imagination, yet it is limited by its capability to comprehend the situation through comparisons. It is easier for us to understand and remember the information provided to us in form of tables as compared to a long text. At the same time, to explain some good qualities of in a person, we need to create a character that contrasts the subject. This helps explain and prove the point. If you notice, most of the stories are also written in the same manner so that their message is well conveyed to the reader.  The storyteller plays an important role in depicting the characters in the good light and allow the audience to decipher the meaning of the story that suits their mindset. Valmiki wrote the Ramayana with a similar zeal.

Yes, the Ramayana is as much the story of Ravana as it is of Rama. It is unfortunate that in our quest and retelling of the great epic we have overlooked the qualities that Ravana possessed. Ramayana, just like Mahabharata, depicts the state of affairs at its time. The notions of good, bad and evil are constructs of the society at any point in time. For now, let’s look at a few things that we have overlooked!

Ravana was born to Kaikesi (a Rakshasa Princess) and a great Sage Vishrava (or Vesamuni). If we consider the patriarchal society, Ravana should have been considered a Brahmin just like his father. Yet, he is considered a Rakshasa due to his deed. This point in itself breaks the caste ideology of today. Ravana’s wife – Mandodari was the daughter of Mayasura, who belonged to the Asura clan. Even though, we consider both Asura and  Rakshasa clans as bad and evil, the philosophy classifies the population into multiple clans or Kula – Deva (Sura), Rakshasa, Asura, Manava, Yaksha, Gandharva etc and makes no distinction amongst them. Every clan is known to have individuals with good and not so good qualities. All these clans were spread out into multiple different parts of India. How can we today generalize if a sect of people is good or bad? Shouldn’t it be individualistic?

Interestingly, the word Rakshasa is pronounced as Rakkha in Sri Lanka. The word means “protector” or one who looks after the needs of the stomach. Extrapolating on the same, it meant that Rakshasa is one who protects a population by looking after the needs of their stomach and hence can be termed as a farmer or an agriculturalist! For the forest dwellers in the time of Ramayana, an organized farming is a major step of evolution. If Ravana moved his population towards this, he was a genius! Similarly, the word Asura meant some one who is neither a Sura (deva) or a Manava (human). They were supposed to be strng built people who could use their force to achieve whatever they wanted. Mayasura – the notable Asura is known to be a great engineer to have built the flying machines for Ravana. For the Persians of the Zoroastrian faith, who worship the holy fire, Ahura Mazada is their god. Since ‘Sa’ in Sanskrit is equivalent to ‘Ha’ in Persian, “Ahura” could also be “Asura”. There also happens to be a Babylonian divinity – Ashur.

Many historians considered Ravana a Brahmin and a Kshatriya. He was considered a Brahmin for his knowledge and literary pursuits until he mae a grave mistake of abducting another man’s wife. Him being the ruler of Lanka grants him the Kshatriya qualities. Ravana was  Sanskrit scholar and is known to have authored some of the classic literatures –

• Yuddhisha Tantra
• Prakrurti Kamadhenu
• Shivatandava Stotra

Ravana is known as an exponent of the Sama Veda and is known to have mastered the Pada Patha – the technique of oral recitation that has kept the Vedas alive till they could be written down.

Ravana is also known as a great Ayurveda practitioner. He is known to have pioneered the Naadi Vignana technique of diagnosis in Ayurveda. He is considered to be an Ayurvedic physician and an Ayurvedic pharmacologist. The art of distillink Arka and the preparation of Asava – the two forms of medicines in Ayurveda are acknowledged as his contribution to Ayurveda pharmacology. For the purpose of distilling Arka, he devised a yantra called Varuni. He also authored an Ayurvedic treatise – Arka Prakasha – describing his process and technique. His ayurvedic genius is also seen in his knowledge of vitaminizing rice balls to be used as refreshments during his journey in the various flying machines he had. Ravana’s vitaminized rice balls are known as Ravana Goli. He is known to have given the same to Sita while abducting her. Sita threw them by the wayside and those were known as Sita Goli. The hill tribes of Lanka have found these balls while digging or ploughing and have safeguarded them as part of their family heirloom. These golis are known to have preserved their medicinal value even today.

Ravana was a great administrator. He ruled one of the toughest kingdoms of its times. He displaced Kubera who was known to hoard wealth and managed the relations with Varuna well. His administrative skills were so highly regarded that Rama sent Lakshmana to learn the salient points of administering a kingdom from Ravana when he was mortally wounded. Ravana, though wounded, imparted the knowledge to Lakshmana without malice.

Ravana wasa gifted Veena player and is known to have played for the Lord Shiva’s dance. Combined with his ayurvedic knowledge of Nadi Vigyana, it is often said that Ravana was capable of playing Veena with his own nerves and that of others too!

The 10 heads of Ravana have been a point of curiosity for ages. Different perspectives have led to interesting discussions. One credible explantion found in Valmiki Ramayana and SriLankan Buddhist text – Mahavamsa says – Ravana governed over ten provinces or regions in his kingdom. The crowns of these ten provinces were placed behind his throne. For an onlooker, this would give an appearance of Ravana sporting ten crowns on his head.

Ravana’s kingdom was not limited to present day’s Sri Lanka. It most probably extended to Central India. Ramayana depicts the Dandakaranya forests to be occupied by Rakshasas. It was under Ravana’s control and he had appointed Khar and Dushan to oversee the region.

Ravana was a great king who was adored by his people and had applied his knowledge to great engineering marvels. However, his only fallacy was to abduct another man’s wife. The motive for such an act is again debatable – Ramayana stresses that it was Surpanakha’s jealousy, while Anand Neelkanthan’s “Asura: Tale of the vanquished” suggests it was a father’s love for her daughter!

CREDITS - 

1. Ramayana in Lanka - D.K. Hema Hari & D.K. Hari
2. Asura: Tale of the vanquished - Anand Neelkanthan
3. Ramayana - Valmiki
4. Ram Charit Manas - Tulsidas