Ravana 3

I had said in the post before the last that I would narrate a story about Ravana. This is the sthalapuraanam of a place called Gokarna in Karnataka. A film called Bhookailas was made in Telugu starring N T Rama Rao, which forms the basis of my narration.

Ravana's mother Kaikasi used to make a linga out of sand and worship Siva. Indra was told this was the source of Ravana's power and hence he made the sea destroy the linga when she made it. Ravana was infuriated when he heard his mother's complaint and decided to get the aatmalinga which is said to be inside Siva himself. He went off to perform penance. However when Siva finally appeared in front of him Vishnu subjected Ravana to the effects of his maaya. In that state Ravana fell in love with Parvati and asked Siva to grant her to him. Siva agreed and Parvati had no other option but to follow him. Parvati came to know that it was because of Vishnu that she was separated from her Lord and cursed him to suffer the same fate (we see this happening once in the uttara kaanda of the Ramayana). Finally Ravana came to his senses after some time and resumed his penance. He finally appeased Siva who granted Ravana his aatmalinga. 

Narada egged Vinayaka to take back the linga, who takes the form of a young boy grazing his cattle. Ravana was a brahmin. So he had to perform the sandhyaavandana ritual. When Siva gave Ravana the linga he had told him that under no circumstance was it to touch the ground. If it did, the earth would attract it with so great a force that nothing would be able to move it. Mindful of this, Ravana gave the linga to the disguised Vinayaka and told him not to let it touch the ground. Vinayaka agreed on the condition that if he found it difficult to hold he would call out for Ravana thrice and then put it down. As Ravana was performing his ritual VInayaka called out twice. Hearing that Ravan came running back but by the time he could come back, Vinayaka called out for the third time and kept it on the ground. Unable to move the linga Ravana decided to end his life there and started dashing his head against the linga. Finally Siva appeared in front of him and blessed him saying that this place would become famous as bhookailaas or Kailaasa  on the earth.

Thus, even if it was unwittingly, Ravana was responsible for the establishment of a holy place of pilgrimage which is said to house Siva's aatmalinga itself.

Ravana 2

I come back to the story about Jaya and Vijaya. They opted for three births as enemies of Vishnu. They were born as Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashipu, Ravana and Kumbhakarna, and Sisupala and Dantavaktra. So Ravana was in a way looking for liberation from his birth so that he could progress to the next one and thus come closer to his Lord.

Now Ravana was a brahman by birth. If not for his lust for women and power Ravana was an eminent personality. He was a great devotee of Siva, an exponent of the Veena (which was in fact the symbol on his chariot's flag, the way Hanuman was on Arjuna's flag). Ashok Banker (who in my opinion has been seriously influenced by the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter) in his Ramayana series says that the meaning of Ravana is "he who makes the universe scream". In fact I believe it is the other way round. Once Ravana tried to lift the entire Kailasa mountain with Siva and his retinue on it. Siva pressed down his toe crushing Ravana's hands under the mountain. The roar of pain that Ravana let out was supposed to have been the reason why he was named so. He was probably born as Kaikasi Brahma (I am most probably wrong about the name, if anyone knows his birth name, please tell me).

As he was a brahman Rama incurred brahmahatyaapatakam and had to perform some ceremonies to compensate for the sin. Rama is said to have worshipped Siva and hence the term Ramalingeswara. The temple at Rameswaram is the place where Rama is said to have performed his pooja.

In the next post, I shall write about a story from Ravana's life. The source is a Telugu movie. By the way, Wikipedia has a nice article on Ravana.

Ravana 1

A reader is apparently a fan of Ravana and has asked me to write something on him. So this post is an attempt in that direction. First of all, I wish to narrate a story about Ravana's origin. Most of you might know this already, but anyway...

Jaya and Vijaya are the gatekeepers of Vaikuntha, the abode of Vishnu. One day some sages came to visit the Lord when they were barred entrance. Angered they cursed the duo that they would lose their positions (I am not sure about the exact curse). When the duo approached Vishnu for deliverance he said that he could not go against the curse of the sages but then gave them two options. They could either be born as his devotees for a hundred births and then return to Vaikuntha at the end or they could be born as his enemies for three births and then return to him. As the duo could not bear to be separated from their Lord for a very long time they opted for the latter course. Here I shall narrate a different story (a story inside a story inside a story :)).

The story I am narrating now is from the Telugu movie Mayabazar. There is a magical chest in the story. When one opens it the chest is supposed to show the person who thinks of the person the most. When Krishna opens it against everybody's expectations Shakuni's face appears. Everyone is shocked. The explanation is that even though Shakuni keeps thinking of Krishna in order to plot ways to work against him, he is by that very act itself keeping the Lord continuously in his thoughts. Thus not only a devotee but an enemy (if one may use that word) of God also keeps Him in mind always. The rest of the narration shall continue in the next post(s).