Before we get started with clearing misconceptions about Ravana, let us start by knowing Ravana.
Vishrava was a great sage of that time. A rakshasi, Kaikesi, was sent by her father to persuade Sage Vishrava to marry her. She went to Sage Vishrava and tried to grab the sage’s attention. Little did she know that it was not an auspicious time when she was doing this. The sage agreed to get married, but said that because she approached him at an inauspicious time, her first 2 sons will become evil. She was disheartened. Which mother would want her children to be evil? She tried to convince Sage Vishrava to change her future sons’ destiny. Sage Vishrava, who was kind, said that he couldn’t change their natures after the curse, but her third son would become good hearted and noble. A few years later, 2 sons, Dashagreeva, who later went on to become Ravana, and Kumbhakarna, were born, followed by Vibhishana and Shurpanakha.
When Lanka was operated by Kubera, Kaikesi told Dashagreeva and Kumbhakarna, “Look! Kubera is your half-brother. And he has such a well established home. You should become more powerful and successful than him.” Dashagreeva already had that jealousy. This incident lit the fire inside him. All the 3 brothers started their tapas for Brahma Dev.
When Brahma Dev appeared, Dashagreeva asked for immortality, which was rejected. He then asked for a boon where no God, no demon and no other supernatural being could kill him. He had a sense of pride that he was the most powerful person on earth and no one could destroy him. Dashagreeva cut his head 10 times, and each time it regrew, in Tapasya to Brahma Dev, who was pleased with this action of Dashagreeva that Brahma Dev blessed him that he would have 10 heads and 20 arms.
Kumbhakarna wanted to ask for Indrasana (the position of Indra Dev). This was a really dangerous request. Brahma Dev predicted this request and asked Maa Saraswati to help Him. Maa Saraswati made Kumbhakarna ask for Nidrasana (eternal sleep) instead of Indrasana. And the wish was granted. Dashagreeva didn’t want his brother to sleep forever, so Brahma said that he would sleep for 6 months, wake up for 1 day and then sleep again for 6 months.
Vibhishana asked Brahma Dev to keep Vibhishana on the path of virtuousness and courage. Brahma Dev was happy with such a positive and selfless wish and made Vibhishana a Chiranjeevi (immortal man).
Dashagreeva went on to become an imperialist. He tried to conquer all other races. He even killed Shurpanakha’s husband, Vidyutjivha, when he was defending his race from Dashagreeva’s wrath.
Myth 1: Dashagreeva was a devotee of Shiv Bhagawan
One day, Dashagreeva wanted to show off his power by lifting Kailash Parvat. Shiva Bhagawan sent one of his Ganas, Nandikeshwara (who had a monkey face and not to be confused with Nandi, the Vahana) to convince Dashagreeva to not lift the mountain. Dashagreeva insulted Nandikeshwara when he came near Dashagreeva. So Nandikeshwara cursed Ravana that it will be monkeys (Vanaras) who will be the cause of his doom. Dashagreeva didn’t pay heed to this and Nandikeshwara gave up. (If you look carefully, you will see that Vanara and Ravana are anagrams of each other.)
When Dashagreeva used all his 20 hands to try to lift the mountain, Shiva Bhagawan pushed the mountain back with his toe and trapped all the 20 hands beneath the mountain. Dashagreeva cried and shrieked in pain. He made everyone cry from his shrill screams. Ravana means the one who makes others cry. And that is how Dashagreeva became Ravana. Ravana pleaded a lot to Shiva Bhagawan to stop the pain. And after that, Ravana never challenged the power of Shiva Bhagawan due to trauma and not due to devotion. It is true that Ravana composed the Shiva Tandava Stotram, however, Ravana never had real bhakti towards Bhagawan; it was just fear and Ravana’s defeat.
Myth 2: Ravana defeated Yamadev
Ravana was conquering human kings and their kingdoms using his powers and boons. Narada Muni told Ravana to fight against Yamadev, to prove his powers, rather than using them against relatively weak human kings. Ravana agrees to attack on Yamlok. After an intense fight, Yamadev decides to use Yamadanda against Ravana. When the Yamadanda is used, the opponent dies on the spot, no matter whichever boons they have received. Brahma Dev persuades Yamadev to not use Yamadanda as Brahma Dev’s boon will then become useless.
Myth 3: Ravana valued his principles and didn’t touch a different man’s wife
Once upon a time, Ravana sexually assaulted Nalakubera’s wife. Nalakubera, Kubera’s son cursed Ravana. If Ravana touched an unwilling woman ever again, Ravana’s head would burst into 1000 pieces. This is the real reason he never touches Maa Sita. Ravana never really cared about Sita Maa’s dignity.
Some more facts:
At first, it may seem to us that Rama, Sita, the Vanaras are random characters who played important roles in Ravana’s death. But if we look closer, Ravana himself had written his own destiny unknowingly. We already saw where the Vanaras had come from.
- Ravana was rampantly capturing kingdoms and abducting ladies. All of the captured ladies cursed that a lady would be the cause of Ravana’s death.
- During this time, one of the kings he killed was King Anaranya. The King cursed Ravana that it would be one of Anaranya’s descendants who would kill Ravana. King Anaranya belonged to the Suryavansham. And so did Rama, who eventually went on to kill Ravana.
- Vedavati, a learned and beautiful woman (avatar of Lakshmi Devi), was approached by Ravana, while she was meditating in the Himalayas. She rejected Ravana as she was really devoted to Bhagwan Vishnu and wanted to marry Him. Ravana got angry and pulled her hair, when Vedavati cursed that She, Herself, would be the cause of Ravana’s death and then jumped into a fire. She was reborn as Maa Sita.
- Ravana was rampantly capturing kingdoms and abducting ladies. All of the captured ladies cursed that a lady would be the cause of Ravana’s death.
- During this time, one of the kings he killed was King Anaranya. The King cursed Ravana that it would be one of Anaranya’s descendants who would kill Ravana. King Anaranya belonged to the Suryavansham. And so did Rama, who eventually went on to kill Ravana.
- Vedavati, a learned and beautiful woman (avatar of Lakshmi Devi), was approached by Ravana, while she was meditating in the Himalayas. She rejected Ravana as she was really devoted to Bhagwan Vishnu and wanted to marry Him. Ravana got angry and pulled her hair, when Vedavati cursed that She, Herself, would be the cause of Ravana’s death and then jumped into a fire. She was reborn as Maa Sita.
The Internet’s take on Ravana:
A lot of people still consider Ravana to be not so evil. Most of these ideas float around due to Westerners fueling these incorrect stories. The wrongdoings of Ravana are clearly mentioned with evidence in authentic stories like the Valmiki Ramayana.
Acknowledgements
I have taken most of the content from my Chinmaya Yuva Kendra Class, which is taken by Aravind Raghavan.