Raavana an Unsung Hero

Since school days we have learnt ‘Good Triumphs Over Evil’. We have always been taught this proverb in Ram – Raavan story. My question is have we misunderstood Raavan or did we not bother to dig a little deeper.

From what I already know Ravana was a learned poet and a musician. Being a Brahmin, he was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. He is the composer of Shiva Tandava which is the most valuable work in praise of Lord Shiva. On becoming happy with Ravana’s devotion, Lord Shiva handed over Aatma Ling (the soul of Shiva) as a boon to Ravana.  His ten heads represent his knowledge of the six shastras and the four Vedas.

That’s not it; Ravana was a great ruler. Ravana was an efficient king, and under his rule, Lanka was called Sone Ki Lanka, which was the most prestigious period of Lanka in history. Under his rule, the best of all architects, Vishwakarma, built Lanka. In Sri Lanka, Ravana is considered as a God and is worshipped. Can such an educated man be so bad that we have to Raavan Dhan every dushera, or is he really that evil?

What is the actual story - According to Ramayana, Ravana’s sister, ‘ Shoorpnakha’ had fallen in love with Lord Rama. She wanted to marry him and threatened to kill his wife Sita. Lord Rama’s younger brother, Laxmana, cut her nose. This made Ravana furious to an extent that he ended up abducting someone else’s wife.  Sita was brought into the captivation of Ravana, and Lord Rama battled with him for 9 days to finally win back his wife.

So, yes he is wrong, he shouldn’t have taken his revenge for his sister or Sita. That is a very grave mistake. But, was Sita harmed? Did she face any discomfort? Did Raavan even “touch her”! When Ram finally got his wife, what was the first thing he did – Agni Pariksha – A Proof for her purity!

This is definitely food for thought – All our lives since we were in School we have been taught how bad Raavan was & how good Ram is! There is no explanation on what Raavan did – it was definitely wrong but wasn’t Ram the bigger culprit. When his wife Sita, leaves everything behind her to come & live in a forest, gets abducted for something that was not her fault. What does she get in return – Agni Pariksha – a proof for her purity! It was almost instilled in us that it was okay for a man to do that. I truly believe that the man-woman division has started from our mythology.

What do you thing – When Ram won the war was it actually ‘Good Triumphs Over Evil?’