Ravana: The Scholar King Undone by Pride

Who he is

Ravana was the son of the sage Vishrava and the rakshasi Kaikasi, and grandson of the great sage Pulastya. He is called Dashanan, the ten-headed, often explained as mastery of the four Vedas and six Shastras. He was a fearsome warrior, a master of the veena, a physician and astrologer by reputation, and a passionate devotee of Shiva; the Shiva Tandava Stotra is traditionally attributed to him. His brothers were Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana, his sister Shurpanakha, his chief queen the wise Mandodari, and his son the formidable Indrajit (Meghanada).

His rise

Through fierce penance he won from Brahma a boon of safety from gods, demons and celestial beings. He did not ask for protection from humans or animals, thinking them beneath notice. He took Lanka and the flying Pushpaka chariot from his half-brother Kubera, defeated the gods, and ruled a city of gold. The Uttara Kanda relates his earlier history.

His fall

Stirred by his sister's account of Sita's beauty, he abducted her by deceit from Panchavati. He did not force her, being under a curse that he would die if he violated an unwilling woman, but he held her for a year and would not return her. He ignored Maricha, Sita, Hanuman, Vibhishana, Kumbhakarna and Mandodari in turn. He watched his brother and sons die for his decision, and still would not yield. He fell to Ram's arrow in the Yuddha Kanda. The boon had a gap exactly the size of his contempt: a man, with an army of forest creatures.

How the Ramayana treats him

With respect for what was great in him. Ram orders a full royal funeral. A well-known later tradition has Ram send Lakshmana to the dying Ravana to learn statecraft from him, and Ravana's advice is to do good deeds at once and put off bad ones.

What he teaches

Ravana is the warning that brilliance is not character. Everything he had, Ram had less of; what Ram had and Ravana lacked was the ability to restrain himself and to listen. The effigies burned on Dussehra stand for the Ravana in each of us: desire for what is not ours, and the pride that will not turn back.

Read Victory over ego. Next: Valmiki, the poet who told it all.