Ravana, The scholar par excellance

RAVANA- A DEMON BUT A SCHOLAR PAR EXCELLENCE

This article is being posted in regard to the various illogical & blunt comments made & being made by certain people across the country with respect to the Delhi gang rape issue.

Ravana, the grandson of Sage Pulastya & son of sage Vishrava is well known as a demon & an arch rival of Sri Rama. This evidently makes him a negative character in the eyes of people. What we don't know about Ravana is his scholarship in the Vedas, shastras, Ayurveda, Jyotishya & so on.

¤Ravana, an expert in Ayurveda

In the Bisajjya Grantha and Nadi Shasthra, it is mentioned that King Ravana and his grandfather Pulasthya Muni had graced the world-famous medical conferences held in those ancient days, in Janasthan Pura near Pakistan.

Infact, Ravana himself is known to have authored these texts related to Ayurveda(medicinal sciences)

1) Arka Shastra:- A treatise in which he has compiled every herb its usage and dosage revealing cures to some complex diseases.

2) Arka-prakasa- A work on tinctures and extracts. It is one of the five medicinal preparations (dravyakalpa), the other four being kalka (paste), churna (powder), rasa (epressed juice) and taila (oil).

3) Kumara-tantra An incomplete poetical work in 201 verses, dealing with metals and their calcinations.

4) Nadi-pariksha A short work in 96 verses giving the details of pulse-examination

¤Ravana, a musician:-

Ravana was known to be a fine musician. It is said that even the gods would appear to listen to Ravana playing his Veena.

¤A great devotee of Lord Shiva:-

Ravana is known to be the composer of the Shiva Tandava stotram, one of the best stotras on Lord Shiva till date. Anyone who reads it can see the enormous bhakti in Ravana towards Lord Shiva, not to mention the grammatical expertise that can be seen in it!

¤Ravana, the able administrator

Ravana is also the author of Ravana Samhita which speaks about Niti Shastra. One can understand the knowledge Ravana had about maintaining law & order.

¤Ravana, a vedagna & shastragna

The 10 necks or dashakanta of Ravana is believed to be a symbolic of Ravana's mastery over 4 vedas & 6 shastras.

One of the biggest mistake that Ravana committed is Sitapaharana, that too being a daiva sankalpa. It was only due to the curse of the Sanatha Kumaras that Jaya & Vijaya, the door keepers of Vaikunta, the abode of Sri Hari, were born as demons.

Another thing to note is that Ravana did NOT touch Sitadevi as contradictory to the views of certain people. Instead, Ravana lifted the very ground beneath Sita devi & then carried her to Lanka. Even after reaching Lanka, Sita devi stayed in the Ashoka vana & not in Ravana's palace.

So, Ravana was not a rapist or any other nonsense as being said by certain people.

I do not mean to say that Ravana is a dharmatma or Purushottama like Lord Rama, or that he deserves to be worshipped. However, he is certainly not as cruel, retarded & inhuman as the Delhi rapists. My advice to the people making a comparision between the two is that, look at the good qualities of Ravana & ask yourselves as to whether you are equal to even the feet of Ravana! Don't play with our scriptures & beliefs for your political motives!