VIEWPOINT
AMITABH SHUKLA
A belated Dussehra, Durga Puja
and Vijaya Dashmi greetings. Though this column was written on the day of the
festival, it obviously appears the day after being written, so belated.
As I sat on computer to write
this column after watching Ravana going down in flames amid bursting of
crackers like every year, I was forced to introspect and think afresh. Three
decades ago, when I was a kid, I had asked a learned person, my teacher, “Why
do we burn Ravana every year?” His reply was simple, which still remains the
standard answer to the query. “Ravana symbolises evil”. Since time immemorial,
every year, the day is celebrated as the triumph of good over evil.
Evil… he indeed was. Ravana
kidnapped Lord Rama’s wife Sita by deceit and forcibly took her to Lanka. But
there are different interpretations why he did so. A section of the scholars
say that Sita was kidnapped to take revenge from Rama’s brother Laxman who
sliced his sister Suparnakha’s nose. Ravana kept the kidnapped Sita in forceful
confinement in Ashok Vatika but never ever touched her. There is another
interpretation that Ravana wanted to win Sita over and had kidnapped her.
Whatever, the interpretation and reasons, obviously no kidnapping is acceptable
in any society. But the point is whether the offence is so despicable and
unheard of in Indian society to be termed as an evil.
There are people roaming around
with much more serious crime. Why don’t we burn their effigies as well along
with Ravana? As compared to these modern days “Ravanas”, the actual Ravana of
Ramayana looks like a saint. Kidnapping of course is a serious offence. But
what about the incidents of gang-rapes and murders taking place with alarming
regularity? Isn’t it time we burnt the effigies of the Delhi
gang-rapists and other rapists either languishing in jails or roaming scot
free? Isn’t crime much more serious that what Ravana did happening with
alarming regularity in and around us?
The Lanka king whose effigy is
burnt with much fanfare was also accused of being arrogant. Well, if that is
the criteria of terming someone evil, then I am afraid there is an evil lurking
in most of the human beings and we need to cleanse ourselves from arrogance and
anger. Then, Ravana was extremely
egoist. Again, don’t we all suffer from this? most of us are unable to let go
of ego even if it remains a stumbling block for personal development. Ravana
usurped the kingdom of his brother Kuber. But don’t we see politicians out of
power plotting to dethrone those in power all the time by all means under their
command—fair or foul?
Watching a popular television
serial recently, I learnt a lesson — a lesson which is now deeply ingrained in
me. The protagonist in the serial donates a hefty amount as donation for the
local Ramleela management committee and gets the honour of shooting the arrows
which would eventually burn the demon king of Lanka. The protagonist is in a
joyful mood and waiting for the D-Day as he had emerged as the hero of his
colony, given the opportunity to shoot arrows at the effigy of Ravana. But he
had a sleepless night a day before Dussehra. Ravana appears in his dream and
asks him bluntly, why was he so excited to shoot arrows on the effigy the next
day? “Because you have evil qualities,” replies the protagonist. “But do you
have qualities like Lord Rama to shoot arrows at me?” asks Ravana in the dream
of the protagonist. The poor fellow has no answers and awakens in sweat as he
himself is trying to overcome anger, aggression, ego, possessiveness, etc.
As I watch politicians firing
symbolic arrows at the effigy of Ravana in the live evening television news,
the protagonist of the serial comes in mind. In Delhi ,
one finds politicians of all hues trying to be the chief guest at the final day
of Ramleela when the effigy of the demon king is burnt.
This is not limited to Delhi
alone but even in Chandigarh ,
Dehradun, Shimla and smaller district and mofussil places. In the bigger
events, you find the big politicians and at the colony level, you find local
and aspiring politicians. People should now ask them bluntly, “You are welcome
to shoot the arrows, but first answer one question honestly. Can you tell us if you do not have the evil
qualities which Ravana had — anger, aggression, ego, possessiveness, lust for
power and authority?” A majority of them would go away if they are honest to
themselves.
The story of the protagonist on
TV serial was taken from the life of Jesus Christ. A woman, caught committing
adultery, was brought before Christ. Those who brought her to the Christ said
the punishment was stoning till death. “Whichever one of you has committed no
sin may throw the first stone at her,” was the reply of Jesus. When the crowd
heard this, they all left, one by one, the older ones first.
Lord Rama had more qualities than
Ravana and that entitled him to slay the demonic qualities of the Lankan king.
Obviously the slaying is of demonic qualities of a person and not the person
himself. As a person, Ravana had a great lineage, performed intense tapasya to
please Brahma and Lord Shiva, was an exemplary scholar, a very good ruler, an
accomplished Veena player said to have composed the hymn known as Shiva Tandava
Stotra. Above all, he was one of the greatest devotees of Lord Shiva.
Some scholars even say that his
description as a ten-headed person is a reference to him possessing a very
thorough knowledge over the four Vedas and six Upanishads, which made him as
powerful as 10 scholars. But his evil qualities did him in. Though his skills
far outweighed his negative qualities, still the message is that if you possess
even a single quality which is evil in nature, this would lead to your
downfall. If this could happen to a person of tremendous qualities like Ravana,
it could happen to anyone else. According to my understanding, this is perhaps
the greatest lesson from the Lanka Kand of Ramayana. (October 14, 2013)
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