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Raavan-9: Raavan's Life in Brief
1. Who was Raavan and Preamble to Raavan's Birth Raavan's Life in Brief
Lineage of Raavan On the other side, the
founders of two great dynasties Yaksh had two sons Heti and Praheti Sukesh married to
Devavatee and begot three sons from her - Maalyavaan, Sumaalee, and
Maalee. Yaksh Thus Raavan was the grandson of Pulastya Rishi (son of Vishravaa) on the paternal side and a grandson of Sumaalee. on the maternal side and that there was a mingling of the Yaksh and Raakshas blood in his veins. In Book V Canto 25 the Demons describe Raavan to Seetaa that Raavan is of noble descent. Heti, Praheti. --
Vidyutkesan -- Sukesh married to Devavatee -- Maalyavaan Sumaalee
Maalee -- Sumaalee's Daughter - Kaikasee , Raakshas were well versed
in the Ved and their Ang and in Vaidik rituals and also to their
morning prayers. So Raavan was also not only skilled in arms science as
he became the Lord of Lankaa but richly endowed with holy love. So said
he to Maya Daanav, his would-be father-in-law, when Maya, pleased with
his form and beauty, asked him who he was, and to what family he
belonged to, with a view to choose him as his daughter's husband.
Raavan knew Rig Ved and Saam Ved by heart and sang them beautifully on
occasions in a touching, pathetic or melting manner. Dashamukh or
Raavan was a great worshipper of Shiv who taught him the 5 Letters. By his austerities and penances' for years he obtained boons from Shiv, as longevity and a broad bright sword which gave him victory. An instance of the severity of his penance may be cited here. When Raavan promised his mother to equal his brother Kuber in splendor; he went to the hermitage of Gokarn or "the Cow-Eared" in the Kerala country in company with his brothers and performed austerity. After a long penance he plucked his heads one after another, so goes the legend, and threw them into the fire. When he was about to do it the tenth time, Brahmaa Jee appeared and offered him three great boons, indestructibility by all creatures above or more powerful than man, recovery of his lost heads, and power to assume any shape he pleased, like Milton's spirits or fallen angels. He was so learned that he seldom acted without consulting wisdom. II, 3. He knew the- arts of peace and w&r. He was proficient in music, vocal and instrumental. The six-stringed Veenaa was his forte. With it, made of his own nerves, he pleased God Shiv and won his Mercy and Grace, It means that the grant of the sword (weapon), which was so sharp and keen that it could not bear filing, was made by Shiv with his own hands on hearing his sweet strains or Kamara. He was so expert a musician that he had a Veenaa inscribed on his flag. The only person who is alleged to have excelled him in music (and magic) was the Sage Agastya A musical treatise by Raavana, entitled "Raavaneeyam" or the great Charmer is celebrated even today, and another, callecction "Raavan-bet" or "Raavan-patthiam" was compiled in later times. Raavan's
Marriage and His Children Raavan's
Family The beauty of her youthful face beamed a soft glory through the place, and Raavan fell in love with her. She became his favorite queen - Raavan's first favor. They lived happily as Indra and Shachee, and their son was Meghanaad or the "Roaring Cloud", who was afterwards called Indrajeet for his victory over the sovereign of the skies. In Kamban's Ramayana, or
rather in Otta-Koothan's Uttar Kaand, the father of this bewitching
queen who was pleased with the handsomeness and juvenescence of Raavan
asked the young man who he was, and what his ancestry, before he could
make them man and wife. Lest he should be thought rude and uncivilized,
he said that it was very hard to find suitable matches for the reason
that the kith and kin of the spouses held different views on the choice
of husbands. The members of the family of the bride desire that the
bridegroom should be equal in birth He had great warriors. Atikaaya and Akshan were two of them. Atikaaya, tall of stature, wielded his arms powerfully, and Akshan, the youthful, brandished his bow. till they fell in battle. The names of three more sons are mentioned in the epic : Naraantak, Devaantak, and Trishiraa (probably the ruler of the regions about Trichinopally or Thiri-sira-palli). His brother was the huge Kumbhkarn, who vied in mighf with Indra, the ruler of the skies. Neither Indra nor Varun equaled him in his strength. He was the strongest of the Raksha warriors and stoutest, hearted midst the brave, he was stalwart, stout and tall like a mountain's beetling turret. The legend about him runs as follows : When Brahmaa was about to offer him a boon in appreciation of his penance, the gods interposed and begged that, under the guise of a boon, stupefaction might be inflicted on him. Brahmaa thought of Saraswatee, who appeared, and, who, by his command, entered into Kumbhkarn's mouth that she might speak for him. Under her influence the Titan desired sleep for months together and became a veritable Rip Von Winkle. When he recovered his consciousness, he perceived the trick but could not help it. He used to eat a lot and quaffed plenty and sank in slumbers for six months at a stretch, with an interval of a single waking day every year - "He slumbering, free from pare and pain, by Brahma's curse, for months has lain. Strong Kumbhkarn slumbering deep in. chains of never ending sleep. He had to be roused from his drowsiness with war-drums thundering on all sides. His wife was Vachra swalai, who begot Kumbani, and Kumban. The youngest, of the male
trio was Vibheeshan, the reputed wise man. The Saatwik nature is said
to have reigned supreme in him. It is said that Truth and Virtue took
precedence in his heart, and he counseled his brother and monarch
against unrighteousness. Indrajeet called him "Traitor to thy king and
kinsman", false to usjn direst need. He took to wife, Sarabai, daughter
of Kai Dushanan, the Gandharv chieftain. Brahmaa offered him
immortality in addition to virtue. Vibheeshan is praised as possessing
the duteous mind, In needs unlike his giant kind. There is reason to
surmise from the paucity of the mention of any heirs of his to the
throne of Lankaa upon which the righteous Raksha was installed by Raam
that he was childless. He is dubbed or canonized as an Alwar by the
Raam - devotees or Vaishnavites. "The greatest of traitors, whom every
Dravidian that has in him a spark of patriotism ought to execrate has
been raised to the status and dignity of an Their only sister was Shoorpanakhaa, with nails like winnowing fans. Fierce Shoorpanakhaa of yore, The ten-necked tyrant's mother bore. The Raksha-maiden, described as poor in beauty and plain in face, was given in marriage to Vitthuru-singan or Vith-yucchavan or Kaal-Keyan. She called herself Kaamavallee. Her son was Sampu Kumaaran, who was born after his father's death. In a conflict with the brother Rakshas, Kaal-Keyan, Raavan killed his brother-in-law unaware. In her widowed state Shoorpanakhaa was given for her maintenance the vast empire of Jana-Sthaan and the Dandak forest and was made Vicerene of it. She was helped by the statesmen and warriors' Khar and Dooshan. She is depicted in the Epic as an ugly giantess. She fell in love with Raam in the forest and would have him as Lord and husband, and said that Seetaa was pale and mis-shapen, and was scarcely a warrior's worthy wife and prayed to him to consecrate his gallant life to herself, a nobler, lordlier female, so that they together might range the woodlands and prove the joys of dalliance. In response to her passion, the chivalrous young warrior Lakshman 'cleft her nose and both ears when she came alone, leaving on the way Khar and the doughty Dooshan, by Raam's Jove emboldened. Here follows a dark
picture of her by the poet, Vaalmeeki. her graciously She h,f ' cved
the dreadful Raavan f ,t me ' the moth of Shoorpanakhaa tafarfd O
ff h ^ \T K ba b rna, who was the ,' J ^ ^teous Voishanav, P m the
forest K",^? children grew Raavan's Victory over Tri-Lok Raavan Wins
Kuber, Yam, Varun, Kings etc Another exploit of
noteworthy was his invasion of the kingdom of departed spirits and his
terrific battle with King Yam, the Just, whom His two invasions of Ayodhyaa, once to subdue Anaranya, and the next time to check the pride of Maandhaataa, in which the former was vanquished and the latter entered into a treaty with Raavan, at the entreaty of Gaalav and Pulastya, are noteworthy. Passing by his victories
over Gaadhi (Vishwaamitra's father), Marutt in the hall of sacrifice,
Mayan, Dhuth-chandan and others and looking over his discomfitures in
the conflicts with Baali, Kaartveery Arjun and Nivaat-Kavavh and his
peace-makings with them at the instance of great men, we come to his
remarkable feat of trying to uproot Kailaash for having blocked the
passage of his marvelous aerial car. The legendary account is that Umaa
trembled at the mountain being shaken to its foundations and embraced
her Lord for safety, who pressed his foot on the mountain's crest, and
thereby crushed the head and limbs of Raavan. Immediately the hero
chanted Samarn and tuned his Veenaa, Raavan Abducts
Seetaa Though the prime mover and teterrina cause belli was the sister of Raavan, the abduction was made in due accordance with the rules of the Tamilian modes of warfare. It is ridiculous on the part of the Aaryan Chronicler to attempt to whitewash the acquiescence of Raam or the heinous action of Raam's brother's exile by saying that the Vicerene threatened to eat Seetaa, as if he were a cannibal. Who would believe the statement that, passion-ridden, she went to Raam, unaccompanied or alone, without a previous clandestine love with the prince of Ayodhyaa. It is very likely that Seetaa was shrewd enough to discover or detect the secret love and that Raam professed innocence to satisfy his wife and stand in her good graces. Whatever the cause, the carrying away of any object near and dear to the enemy with a view to give Siim an occasion for showing his valor and redeeming it was the practice in vogue in the Tamil country. So Raavan's procedure was suite in consonance with it. The wily Aaryan Prince, dragged into the conflict by the Braises and prayers of the ambitious Rishi in the first instance, sought the aid of the exiles, he wife-lorn Sugreev, and his warrior-in-chief Hanumaan, described in the epic as Beings endowed in contempt with caudalippendages, to make a quest of the ravished 3ifcu Would a love-sick Titan place Seetaa in the Ashok grove under the guardianship of women who were his kith and kin, and beg of her to requite his love and marry him? It seems extremely improbable that such was the case. Did Raam directly pursue Raavan to recover Seetaa? He indulged in meanings and mourning unworthy of a master archer. But for the Dravidian Hanumaan who played the incendiary and the medicine man and for the treacherous Vibheeshan who ran away from his brother, informed Raam of the vulnerable points of his foe and of the city of Lankaa, victory and wife-recovery would have been out of the question. The Aaryan mode of conquest was and is "Divide and Conquer". Raavan fought as a warrior and fell, and so did his brother Kumbhkarn, and his son Indrajeet. All honor to them. Raavan never can yield or bend, and be it vice or virtue, In the exploits of Raavan have been included some of his love escapades. for sinful acts committed by him. The Raakshas had the privilege of taking many wives and of maintaining a harem. In these circumstances rapes and ravishments would be unnecessary and uncalled for. In all countries poor women often throw themselves in the way of Kings for favor of acceptance and many are caught, like moths, by the glare of royal pomp and circumstance. Vedvatee. the young and beautiful but poor daughter of Rishi Kushdhwaj, had been dedicated by her father to Vishnu or Naaraayan. Raavan is alleged to have touched the hair of her head with the tip of his finger, she cut her hair with her hands and entered the blazing fire. Rambhaa, wife of Nal-koobar, was forced by Raavan, and her husband cursed him that his head should split should he take any woman by force. Enamored of Lakshmee, in Paataal, he went thither, but was driven away. Similarly, the wife of f&mban was approached by the Lord 'of Lanka, who, captured by her husband, was released at the intercession of his queen Mandodaree, who had the grace of Shiv. Government of
Lankaa The government of Lankaa
was in his own hands. He had an advisory body or council, composed, of
the ablest and most experienced statesmen and warriors, and consulted
it in times of need. He had ministers, ambassadors, and spies who were
true and loyal to him. Though he gave his Primogeniture governed the succession he throne. Eldest son of 'the eldest brother such the maxim we own, Worthy of his father's kingdom, doth ascend his father's throne. This ancient custom was ruthlessly broken by the Aryans who followed the principles of expediency and compromise. The installation of Raavan surviving brother in preference to his sons who were yet in the land of the living illustrates the statement. Sugreev was placed on the throne of Kishkindhaa rather than Angad, the son of Baali. This is another notable instance of the violation by the Aaryans of the law of succession which bound the Raakshas. Besides the island and
Janasthaan, Raavan held suzerainty over ten or more isles, which
contributed thousands of faithful and loyal fighters to him in times of
war (Yuddh Kaand. The whole military strength of Lankaa's Lord was a
thousand Vellara, Vellam being a myriad or a very The Raakshas government
of Lankaa had a short interregnum of Yaksh rule when Kuber bore sway
during the minority of Raavan. How long and when Raavan reigned is not
known; everything is pre-historical. Raavan, was the contemporary of
Raam. Subsequent to the fall of the Raakshas? the island seems to have
been occupied and ruled by the much civilized and heroic Naag, whose
kings were known as Naag-royar and who had held dominion all over India
up to the Himaalaya- The toxvns, Naagaapattinam, Nagapurani, Naagarkoil
etc testify to that WAR IN LANKA War has been described by the poet as
the last argument of noble kings. The
causes of the war in Ceylon have already
been adverted to. The 'missionary, merchant,
monarch' has been wittily said to form the Raavan could bear no more the insult added to the injury. He carried away Seetaa in accordance with the war practice in vogue in the Tamil land and expected that her life partner would pursue and redeem her instead of pursuing the ravisher himself. He sought the alliance of Sugreev who was wifeless and in like circumstances. He deputed parties of his men in quest of Seetaa. The Dravidian hero, Hanumaan, with Sugreev, an exile, volunteered his service, bent upon smashing the heroic Baali by hook or by crook. He made a long tour in the South and crossed the sea and set the City of Lankaa on fire at night. Was it a knightly deed? It was an act of the
knights of the highways. After the fire-devastation of the city, on the
advice of the brother of Raavan, a traitor, Vibheeshan, Hanumaan
escaped from the island with his skin and teeth safe but did not bring
Seetaa with him. After the city was in ruins, Raam had no great
difficulty in rescuing hen She was in the Ashok grove, well-guarded and
well-nursed. Rzam thought he could take an War in Lankaa
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Created by Sushma Gupta On 5/27/04
Contact: sushmajee@yahoo.com
Modified on 08/30/13