I hope you didn’t miss my article on Da Ji.
Ravana, also known as Deshmukh, was a rakshasa (demon) and a great scholar. He was born and lived in Lanka (which is Sri Lanka today), though some say he was born in Bisrakh. He later became king of Lanka, and though he was a demon, he was a great ruler.
Ravana’s family was big. Vishrava, a sage and son of Pulastya, was Ravana’s father. His mother, a rakshasa and princess, is Kaikashi. Ravana had nine siblings, seven brothers, and two sisters. They are Kubera, who was the king of Lanka. His other brothers are Kumbhakarna, Vibhishana, Sahastra Ravana, and Shurpanakha are several of them. Two of his wives are Mandodari and Dhanyamalini. He had three, but I couldn’t find the third one. So with these three women, he had at least seven kids. Prahasta, Akshayakumara, Devantaka, and Meghnaad are just a few.
As a follower of Shiva, Ravana was well-versed in magic and medicine and had knowledge of just about everything. He was a fierce fighter as well.
Ravana had ten heads and twenty arms though he was only born with one head, two arms, and two legs. When Ravana tried lifting Mount Kailash, Shiva crushed him. Ravana felt bad for pissing off Lord Shiva because Ravana was a devoted follower of Shiva and chanted. Pleased by this, Shiva allowed Ravana to serve a severe penance. Ravana cut off his head repeatedly during this penance, only to regrow them ten times. This is how he received the name Dashmukh.
With each of the ten heads came the ten emotions, lust, anger, delusion, greed, pride, envy, mind, intellect, will, and finally, ego. When King Mahabali suggested Ravana lose nine of these, keeping only intellect, he thought he had it under control. After all, all of these emotions made him a complete man. He was dead wrong. He became ruled by emotions. He destroyed the kingdom of Lanka, which he stole from his brother, who was the rightful ruler. Standing in the ashes of Lanka, he regretted not heeding the warning. Ravana ultimately died by Lord Rama’s arrow for abducting Rama’s wife, Sita.
Have you played Ravana in Smite? What do you think of the play of Ravana? I know I wouldn’t want to meet him out on the streets. How about you? Let me know in the comments below. Until next time, have fun storming the castle!
