Don’t kill, but conquer the Ravana in you.” Isn’t that so true? We all have a Ravana within whom we need to defeat and be a better version of ourselves. That is one of the reasons we celebrate Dussehra. 

Dussehra is celebrated to mark the victory of Lord Ram over Ravana, the demon, Rakshasa king of Lanka. In Valmiki’s Ramayana, Ravana is portrayed as an immensely powerful and tyrannical demon-king.

Through his indomitable spirit and unconquerable powers, this gigantic demon posed a real challenge even to Ram, who was the divine incarnation of Vishnu. 

Mehar Mustaque

Ravana came from an impressive lineage. He is believed to be the grandson of Brahma, the creator. Through his severe penances, Ravana had secured several amazing boons. Except for an impractical demand of immortality and deathlessness, everything else he asked for was granted to him by Brahma. According to the boons he received, Ravana could grow his head ten times again and again even after it was severed from his body. 

His original name is Dashagriva (a monster with 10 heads). Ravana was well-versed with the art of astrology. It is said that he broke one of Saturn’s arms, when Sani deva refused to be in a perfect position which would have made Meghnad immortal.

While Ravana was dying, Lakhsman ran towards him so that he could learn the knowledge of diplomacy, since nobody on Earth had better knowledge and experience of administrative diplomacy than Ravana. His 10 heads represented a mammoth pool of knowledge and experience as a ruler, king and as a Brahman.

Ravana was a great Vedic scholar with great intellectual capabilities. His ten heads are a result of his knowledge of the six shastras and the four Vedas. These included the following:

Sankhyashastra (Mathematics), Yog Shastra (Yoga as a way of life, meditation), Nyayashastra (Law and administration), Vaisheshik Shastra (Physics, astronomy, mechanics), Purvamimansa (Philosophy, justification), Uttar Mimansa Shastrand, and the Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda and the Atharvaveda.

Some more negative traits that we need to banish

Mythological analysts interpret his ten heads as the emotional states Ravana experienced. They are kaam (lust), krodh (wrath), lobh (greed), moh (obsession), mada (vanity), maatsarya (envy), ahamkaara (ego), chitta (will), manas (heart), buddhi (mind or intellect). 

What these negative emotions are meant to convey is that by holding the absolute opposite thoughts and emotions is what leads to a balanced attitude that gives one a great personality. Everyone has these negative traits within themselves and so long as you can keep them in check, you are fine. If any one feeling or emotion increases, it can lead to the rise of Ravana within us. 

In the battle of the epic Ramayana, it takes seven days for Lord Rama to defeat Ravana. According to the legend, every time Ram cut Ravana’s head, another head appears.

In different ways, Ravana’s 10 heads symbolised his powers, capabilities, accomplishments, and knowledge. Mahabali advised Ravana to let his buddhi, intellect, rule over the other nine aspects so that he could walk the righteous path. But, this only angered Ravana and he did not pay heed to this good advice. Ultimately, his lust and arrogance paved the way for his own destruction.

Mahabali had suggested the right path. It is only with the help of our intellect that we can discriminate between good and evil, truth and lie. Using our intellect ensures that we keep our heart and soul in the right place. The head controls our destiny and the 10 heads of Ravana controlled his actions which ultimately led to his destruction. The king of Lanka became a slave to his senses and since he could not control his desires, he not only destroyed himself and his clan but the whole of Lanka was reduced to ashes. Having all this knowledge and yet not being able to harness his powers was one of Ravana’s biggest regrets as he lay dying. 

It is so relevant to our life, today. Everyone carries at least one of the emotional states that each of Ravana’s heads symbolised. Sometimes, people hide all their negative heads behind their beautiful and smiling handsome faces. Remember that even the most intelligent person in this universe did not make the right choices. He let his senses rule him, which blocked his understanding and eventually led to his death.

Every year, we burn Ravana to ashes, but all we need to do is to burn all the 10 characteristics of Ravana’s heads that each of us carry within. Let our intellect work for us, guiding us to the right path. Let us pray that today on Dussehra, we burn the Ravana within us into ashes. 

Mehar Mustaque is an MBA student in Human Resource Management in IILM University, Gurugram, Haryana

Photo courtesy: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:An_Ramlila_Actor_In_The_Role_of_Ravana.jpg