Ravana - Part 2 - திருத்த வரலாறு

06:53, 18 பெப்ரவரி 2010 இல் Hariki

2010-02-18T06:53:35Z

10:56, 7 பெப்ரவரி 2010 இல் Hariki

2010-02-07T10:56:18Z

10:40, 7 பெப்ரவரி 2010 இல் Hariki

2010-02-07T10:40:16Z

10:34, 7 பெப்ரவரி 2010 இல் Hariki

2010-02-07T10:34:56Z

10:00, 7 பெப்ரவரி 2010 இல் Hariki

2010-02-07T10:00:00Z

09:50, 7 பெப்ரவரி 2010 இல் Hariki

2010-02-07T09:50:25Z

09:49, 7 பெப்ரவரி 2010 இல் Hariki

2010-02-07T09:49:42Z

07:31, 6 பெப்ரவரி 2010 இல் Hariki

2010-02-06T07:31:43Z

13:41, 3 பெப்ரவரி 2010 இல் Hariki

2010-02-03T13:41:18Z

மாற்றங்களைக் காட்டு

13:28, 31 ஜனவரி 2010 இல் Hariki

2010-01-31T13:28:07Z

@@ வரிசை 35: / வரிசை 35: @@
 <br>Coming back to our scene. Vali sensed Ravana’s presence and his jungle instincts must have warned him of the impending danger, though he was meditating. ‘Both were conceited’ says Valmiki. “Each seeking to lay his hands on the other, the two warriors, the king of monkeys and the lord of ogres, both conceited by reason of their might, strove diligently to accomplish that end.” (Ibid, Sloka 19)<br><br>“(Vali said to himself:) ‘Pressing in my arm-pit the sinful-minded Ravana as soon as he approaches with intent to catch hold of me and leaving him hanging there, I shall visit the three (remaining oceans) (too). People will see my enemy, Ravana (the ten-headed monster), hanging from my arm-pit with his thighs, hands and raiment dangling, like a serpent in the claws of Garuda.” (Ibid, Sloka, 16 and 17)
 <br>Here are two warriors, each trying to outwit the other, and both resorting to stealthy ways. But Vali at least seems to be the better of the two, as he is only retaliating and not initiating!
 = Vali and Ravana - II<br>  =
@@ வரிசை 49: / வரிசை 49: @@
 <br>Charm, presence of mind, courage, valour and handsomeness that impressed even the wisest of his foes, Hanuman for instance. But. An enormous storehouse of power, penance and the fruits of penance. But. ‘One who subdued in early life all the senses and conquered all passions and did not yield to any temptation, stored up tapas and obtained boons,’ as Mandodari mentions when she laments over his body. But.
 <br>Here we go.
 = Off the beaten track<br>  =
@@ வரிசை 91: / வரிசை 91: @@
 The doubts expressed by Sri VVS Aiyar are acknowledged by Right Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastriyar too, though in passing.
 <br>Sri VVS Aiyar feels that there is a flaw in the bhavika and feels that this Sarga in question (Canto XXXI) shows so totally a different picture and interferes with the basic architectonics of the epic. “Here also we may note, in passing, Kamban’s just taste in the matter of the architecture of the epic. Those who have finally arranged and revised the Benares and Southern Recensions – which agree with each other very closely – of Valmiki’s Ramayana have not exhibited in this part of the story that apprehension of bhavika which they so generally exhibit in their recensions,” he observes.
 <br>The main charge that he levels is that this sounds somewhat laboured and also moves away from the main structure of the character that Ravana was. OK. Ravana listened to Marïcä and returned to Lanka. As he reaches there, his sister Surpanakha comes to him with severed limbs and Ravana is induced by her to abduct Sita, of course detailing her charms. Ravana flies back to Marïcä again, this time taking a totally different stance and threatening Marïcä to either come to his help or die a death at his hands. The two scenes do not gel as naturally.
@@ வரிசை 101: / வரிசை 101: @@
 <br>But as has been noted and accepted by both these giants, the sarga under discussion seems to be a ‘later contribution’ by unknown hands. Without going into the dispute, one is more appealed by what Sri VVS Aiyar says. Yes. That affects the dramatic element and the way the character of Ravana has been built. If the sarga, as Sastriyar says, merits its retention in the Ramayana because it contains ‘wonderful accounts of Rama by Marïcä,’ it should be remembered that the very same Marïcä once again pays even richer encomium to Rama in Canto XXXVI in much better and flowery words and extols his qualities to Ravana. Therefore, the absence of the Akampana incident would not in any way affect the main story.
 <br>I went into all this to show the superiority of Kamban’s art. While others have adopted the version of Valmiki with such duplications and obvious insertions, Kamban takes his own path. He builds the effect in his own way. He eliminates the Akampana incident altogether. His Surpanakha does a better work and blows the baser instincts of her brother to such proportions that one is able to justify the misadventure that Ravana undertook. But why he did not listen to anyone and send Sita back to avoid a war is a totally different question, to answer which we have to study this character threadbare.
 = A grand plan takes shape<br>  =
@@ வரிசை 153: / வரிசை 153: @@
 <br>‘I tried to take her from there in order to offer her to you, for you are the only person in all the three worlds to own her. I wanted to gift her to you. Who else has the right to own the very best on earth? Who else can even be thought of to own and enjoy such beauty, excepting the most valiant of all? ‘mILavum thigaippadhallaal thanith thani viLambal aatrEn.’ I am incapable of describing her beauty to you limb by limb. My mind is perplexed and boggled whenever I attempt to do so. ‘naaLayE kaaNdi andrE, naan unakku uraippadhu ennE!’ Why should I be wasting my energy on such an impossible task? See for yourself, going over there tomorrow!’ You are the fittest person my brother, to own her, to love her and to live with her.
 <br>‘baagaththil oruvan vaiththan.’ Shiva placed his consort as his own left half. ‘pangayathth irundha ponnai aagaththil oruvan vaiththan.’ Narayana placed Mahalakshmi on his chest. ‘andhaNan naavil vaiththan.’ Brahma enthroned Saraswati on his own tongue. ‘mEgaththil pirandha ponnai vendra nuN idayinaaLai, maagath thOL vIra, petraal,’ If at all you are able to capture her, whose waist is subtler than lightning, ‘enganam vaiththu vaazhdhi?’ where would you put her, preserve her, place her and what would be the heights of joy that you would be blessed with? <br>The scene takes an entirely different shape in the hands of the master craftsman.
 = The venom has its way II<br>  =
@@ வரிசை 167: / வரிசை 167: @@
 <br>When the baser instincts of Ravana are shaken out of their sleep from the innermost recesses of his heart and his shameless desire for the other man’s wife is stoked up sufficiently, Surpanakha drops the final bomb. ‘seethai ennum mann koNdu Udaadu nee.’ You play with the doe that is walking this earth by the name Sita. ‘yaan koNdu Udaadum vaNNam iraamanaith tharudhi en paal.’ And bring Rama to me, for me to play with to my heart’s content.
 <br>You take Sita and give my Rama to me. A nice deal indeed!
 = Where lies the difference<br>  =
@@ வரிசை 175: / வரிசை 175: @@
 – is worked up to its full potential by Kamban and stretched adequately and convincingly to place the emphasis on the last embers of lust lying deep in his heart are blown to forest-fire proportions, which alone can justify Ravana, the great connoisseur to decide to enrich his gynaecium with a beauty who, he has not seen as yet!
-<br>This has not been the main element that impels Ravana in the original. He is depicted as an indifferent and nonchalant brother who was blind to the bleeding wounds of his sister. (See: A callous brother) Ravana is shown as asking for intelligence on Rama, instead of expressing his shock at the way in which his sister is standing before him. He rises above from a robotic stature to a full-blooded, haughty and emotional person that he was in the hands of Kamban.
+<br>This has not been the main element that impels Ravana in the original. He is depicted as an indifferent and nonchalant brother who was blind to the bleeding wounds of his sister. (See: [http://www.heritagewiki.org/index.php?title=Ravana_-_Part_2#A_callous_brother A callous brother]) Ravana is shown as asking for intelligence on Rama, instead of expressing his shock at the way in which his sister is standing before him. He rises above from a robotic stature to a full-blooded, haughty and emotional person that he was in the hands of Kamban.
 <br>More. Surpanakha – in the sloka quoted above – is shown as inducing Ravana to abduct Sita only as a matter of revenge, as Akampana did. Kamban, while shifting the emphasis from revenge to lust – which alone can be the strongest of reasons for Ravana so willingly sacrificing his entire race and his own life at the altars of war – has carefully maintained the element of her tender feelings for Rama. If at all she was motivating her brother and pushing him from the precipice down the bottomless pit, it was after all because she had her own axe to grind. ‘You take Sita and bring Rama for me and make him marry me.’
@@ வரிசை 181: / வரிசை 181: @@
 <br>“The passion of Ravana for Sita, being the bija – the seed – from which grow all the subsequent incidents of the story, we should have expected Valmiki to have emphasised and elaborated it at the end of the conversation between Surpanakha and Ravana,” says VVS Aiyar. “But neither in Canto XXXVI where Ravana tried to persuade Marïcä to disguise himself as a deer in order to inveigle Rama and Lakshmana from the side of Sita nor in Canto XI, where he threatens Marïcä with death if he does not obey his direction, does the Sanskrit poet lay emphasis in Ravana’s passion for Sita.”
 <br>Lust was only a secondary reason for Ravana abducting Sita in Valmiki's version. It becomes the primary and in fact the only reason in Kamban. This shift vitalises the drama and enriches it while presenting a fuller and rounder character – that of Ravana – before us.
 = A tender feeling?<br>  =
@@ வரிசை 213: / வரிசை 213: @@
 Hari Krishnan<br><br>
 <br>
 [[Category:Ravanan]]

@@ வரிசை 181: / வரிசை 181: @@
 <br>“The passion of Ravana for Sita, being the bija – the seed – from which grow all the subsequent incidents of the story, we should have expected Valmiki to have emphasised and elaborated it at the end of the conversation between Surpanakha and Ravana,” says VVS Aiyar. “But neither in Canto XXXVI where Ravana tried to persuade Marïcä to disguise himself as a deer in order to inveigle Rama and Lakshmana from the side of Sita nor in Canto XI, where he threatens Marïcä with death if he does not obey his direction, does the Sanskrit poet lay emphasis in Ravana’s passion for Sita.”
-<br>Lust was only a secondary reason for Ravana abducting Sita Valmiki. It becomes the primary and in fact the only reason in Kamban. This shift vitalises the drama and enriches it while presenting a fuller and rounder character – that of Ravana – before us.
+<br>Lust was only a secondary reason for Ravana abducting Sita in Valmiki's version. It becomes the primary and in fact the only reason in Kamban. This shift vitalises the drama and enriches it while presenting a fuller and rounder character – that of Ravana – before us.
 = A tender feeling?<br>  =

@@ வரிசை 161: / வரிசை 161: @@
 <br>Now she drives Ravana into abducting Sita. ` Surpanakha saw Sita for the first time in Janasthana, when she approached Rama, after the passage of some time in conversation with Rama. ‘Unless she is eliminated,’ she concludes at that moment, ‘this man would not turn his eyes on me.’ It was for this reason that she attempted to carry Janaki away with the intention to gobble her up. And it is with that intention to move her away from her path that she is instigating Ravana to abduct Sita.
-<br>That is why, one can observe her remarks on either Rama are Lakshmana come out from her heart, suffused with tender feelings. ‘maarar iruvar uLarE,’ she would say. There are two cupids in Janasthana. ‘el ondru kamalach chengaN iraaman endru isaiththa Endhal,’ she would endearingly utter the name of Rama with chosen adjectives. The unparalleled person named Rama, who is as dark as the nigh and whose eyes are nothing but petals of lotus. As Sri VVS Aiyar mentions, “Kamban represents Surpanakha as still under the infatuation of her passion for Rama and Lakshmana, and makes her describe their beauty and prowess with extreme warmth, at the end of which description she gives out that their names are Rama and Lakshmana and that they are the sons of Dasaratha.”
+<br>That is why, one can observe her remarks on either Rama are Lakshmana come out from her heart, suffused with tender feelings. ‘maarar iruvar uLarE,’ she would say. There are two cupids in Janasthana. ‘el ondru kamalach chengaN iraaman endru isaiththa Endhal,’ she would endearingly utter the name of Rama with chosen adjectives. The unparalleled person named Rama, who is as dark as the night and whose eyes are nothing but petals of lotus. As Sri VVS Aiyar mentions, “Kamban represents Surpanakha as still under the infatuation of her passion for Rama and Lakshmana, and makes her describe their beauty and prowess with extreme warmth, at the end of which description she gives out that their names are Rama and Lakshmana and that they are the sons of Dasaratha.”
 <br>She is still under the grips of pangs of love for Rama and strongly believes that unless Sita is removed, she would not be able to get Rama for herself. Love is blind. But lust is brainless. And that is the reason why, the focus of the speech of Kamban’s Surpanakha is always on the beauty of Sita. She does not ask Ravana to avenge for the injuries done to her nor for the killings of Khara and Dusana.
@@ வரிசை 167: / வரிசை 167: @@
 <br>When the baser instincts of Ravana are shaken out of their sleep from the innermost recesses of his heart and his shameless desire for the other man’s wife is stoked up sufficiently, Surpanakha drops the final bomb. ‘seethai ennum mann koNdu Udaadu nee.’ You play with the doe that is walking this earth by the name Sita. ‘yaan koNdu Udaadum vaNNam iraamanaith tharudhi en paal.’ And bring Rama to me, for me to play with to my heart’s content.
 <br>You take Sita and give my Rama to me. A nice deal indeed!
 = Where lies the difference<br>  =

@@ வரிசை 151: / வரிசை 151: @@
 <br>Surpanakha does not mention anything about her advances to Rama, her jealousy for Sita, her attempt to harm her and the consequent punishment she suffered. She paints an excellent picture of the beauty of Sita, the beauty that the Poet is not tired of adoring, extolling and worshipping whenever he finds the least little reason for doing so. He flies high up in the skies on the ‘viewless wings of poesy’ as Keats would put it just at the thought of finding an opportunity to sing of her beauty. He does so first when Rama walks in the streets of Mithila and chances to see her for the first time. Rama describes her to Hanuman when the Vanara army is sent on a mission to spot her and Hanuman comes back from Lanka and pours his heart out so very reverently on the beauty of his ‘mother’. As though these are not sufficient, the Poet puts wonderful verses into the mouth of Surpanakha, though with an ulterior motive, delivered very dexterously to turn the mind of Ravana on her. Of course, Surpanakha has her own reason and purpose for doing so. We will come to that presently. The picture is continued to be painted throughout the rest of the epic by Ravana till Indrajit breathes his last.
-<br>‘I tried to take her from there in order to offer her to you, for you are the only person in all the three worlds to own her. I wanted to gift her to you. Who else has the right to own the very best on earth? Who else can even be thought of to own and enjoy such beauty, excepting the most valiant of all? ‘mILavum thigaippadhallaal thanith thani viLambal aatrEn.’ I am incapable of describing her beauty to you limb by limb. My mind is perplexed and boggled whenever I attempt to do so. ‘naaLayE kaaNdi andrE, naan unakku uraippadhu ennE!’ Why should I be wasting my energy in such an impossible task? See for yourself, going over there tomorrow!’ You are the fittest person my brother, to own her, to love her and to live with her.
+<br>‘I tried to take her from there in order to offer her to you, for you are the only person in all the three worlds to own her. I wanted to gift her to you. Who else has the right to own the very best on earth? Who else can even be thought of to own and enjoy such beauty, excepting the most valiant of all? ‘mILavum thigaippadhallaal thanith thani viLambal aatrEn.’ I am incapable of describing her beauty to you limb by limb. My mind is perplexed and boggled whenever I attempt to do so. ‘naaLayE kaaNdi andrE, naan unakku uraippadhu ennE!’ Why should I be wasting my energy on such an impossible task? See for yourself, going over there tomorrow!’ You are the fittest person my brother, to own her, to love her and to live with her.
 <br>‘baagaththil oruvan vaiththan.’ Shiva placed his consort as his own left half. ‘pangayathth irundha ponnai aagaththil oruvan vaiththan.’ Narayana placed Mahalakshmi on his chest. ‘andhaNan naavil vaiththan.’ Brahma enthroned Saraswati on his own tongue. ‘mEgaththil pirandha ponnai vendra nuN idayinaaLai, maagath thOL vIra, petraal,’ If at all you are able to capture her, whose waist is subtler than lightning, ‘enganam vaiththu vaazhdhi?’ where would you put her, preserve her, place her and what would be the heights of joy that you would be blessed with? <br>The scene takes an entirely different shape in the hands of the master craftsman.
 = The venom has its way II<br>  =

@@ வரிசை 91: / வரிசை 91: @@
 The doubts expressed by Sri VVS Aiyar are acknowledged by Right Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastriyar too, though in passing.
-<br>Sri VVS Aiyar feels that there is a flaw in the bhavika and feels that this Sarga in question (Canto XXXI) shows so totally a different picture and interferes with the basic architectonics of the epic. “Here also we may note, in passing, Kamban’s just taste in the matter of the architecture of the epic. Those who have finally arranged and revised the Benares and Southern Recensions – which agree with each other very closely – of Valmiki’s Ramayana have not exhibited in this part of the story that apprehension of bhavika which they so generally exhibit in their recensions,” he observes.<br>The main charge that he levels is that this sounds somewhat laboured and also moves away from the main structure of the character that Ravana was. OK. Ravana listened to Marïcä and returned to Lanka. As he reaches there, his sister Surpanakha comes to him with severed limbs and Ravana is induced by her to abduct Sita, of course detailing her charms. Ravana flies back to Marïcä again, this time taking a totally different stance and threatening Marïcä to either come to his help or die a death at his hands. The two scenes do not gel as naturally.
+<br>Sri VVS Aiyar feels that there is a flaw in the bhavika and feels that this Sarga in question (Canto XXXI) shows so totally a different picture and interferes with the basic architectonics of the epic. “Here also we may note, in passing, Kamban’s just taste in the matter of the architecture of the epic. Those who have finally arranged and revised the Benares and Southern Recensions – which agree with each other very closely – of Valmiki’s Ramayana have not exhibited in this part of the story that apprehension of bhavika which they so generally exhibit in their recensions,” he observes.
 <br>Sri Aiyar is somewhat carping in his observation here. “This is such an obviously faulty bhavika that we cannot understand how the commentators like Govindaraja and others did not correct the error and remove the incident of Akampana and the first meeting with Marïcä from the story. It is a still greater wonder that Bhaskara* copies even these re-duplications in his rendering of the Ramayana,” he says. (* Bhaskara is the Telugu Poet who wrote the Telugu version of the Ramayana.)
-<br>The doubts expressed by Sri VVS Aiyar are acknowledged by Right Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastriyar too, though in passing. “Unfortunately this sarga, where Akampana makes his report to Ravana, is considered to be spurious by most people,” he says. He has a different reason for the Sarga finding a favour with him. “It would be a pity to lose it on account of some academic considerations, because it contains some noble passages. It contains a wonderful account of Rama himself by an impartial witness, and it also bring out in an extraordinary way the attractiveness and the beauty of Sita and the glorious side of her character,” he feels.
+<br>The doubts expressed by Sri VVS Aiyar are acknowledged by Right Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastriyar too, though in passing. “Unfortunately this sarga, where Akampana makes his report to Ravana, is considered to be spurious by most people,” he says. He has a different reason for the Sarga finding a favour with him. “It would be a pity to lose it on account of some academic considerations, because it contains some noble passages. It contains a wonderful account of Rama himself by an impartial witness, and it also brings out in an extraordinary way the attractiveness and the beauty of Sita and the glorious side of her character,” he feels.
 <br>But as has been noted and accepted by both these giants, the sarga under discussion seems to be a ‘later contribution’ by unknown hands. Without going into the dispute, one is more appealed by what Sri VVS Aiyar says. Yes. That affects the dramatic element and the way the character of Ravana has been built. If the sarga, as Sastriyar says, merits its retention in the Ramayana because it contains ‘wonderful accounts of Rama by Marïcä,’ it should be remembered that the very same Marïcä once again pays even richer encomium to Rama in Canto XXXVI in much better and flowery words and extols his qualities to Ravana. Therefore, the absence of the Akampana incident would not in any way affect the main story.
 <br>I went into all this to show the superiority of Kamban’s art. While others have adopted the version of Valmiki with such duplications and obvious insertions, Kamban takes his own path. He builds the effect in his own way. He eliminates the Akampana incident altogether. His Surpanakha does a better work and blows the baser instincts of her brother to such proportions that one is able to justify the misadventure that Ravana undertook. But why he did not listen to anyone and send Sita back to avoid a war is a totally different question, to answer which we have to study this character threadbare.
 = A grand plan takes shape<br>  =

@@ வரிசை 21: / வரிசை 21: @@
 But this inglorious defeat never troubled Ravana. We will see later how he reacts when Vibishana corners him in the war council, quoting this incident, when he brags about his prowess, refusing to send Sita back.
-= Vali and Ravana<br>  =
+= Vali and Ravana - I<br>  =
 Vali sensed Ravana’s presence and his jungle instincts must have warned him of the impending danger, though he was meditating.
@@ வரிசை 35: / வரிசை 35: @@
 <br>Coming back to our scene. Vali sensed Ravana’s presence and his jungle instincts must have warned him of the impending danger, though he was meditating. ‘Both were conceited’ says Valmiki. “Each seeking to lay his hands on the other, the two warriors, the king of monkeys and the lord of ogres, both conceited by reason of their might, strove diligently to accomplish that end.” (Ibid, Sloka 19)<br><br>“(Vali said to himself:) ‘Pressing in my arm-pit the sinful-minded Ravana as soon as he approaches with intent to catch hold of me and leaving him hanging there, I shall visit the three (remaining oceans) (too). People will see my enemy, Ravana (the ten-headed monster), hanging from my arm-pit with his thighs, hands and raiment dangling, like a serpent in the claws of Garuda.” (Ibid, Sloka, 16 and 17)
 <br>Here are two warriors, each trying to outwit the other, and both resorting to stealthy ways. But Vali at least seems to be the better of the two, as he is only retaliating and not initiating!
 = Ravana and Vali II<br>  =

@@ வரிசை 211: / வரிசை 211: @@
 Hari Krishnan<br><br>
-[http://www.heritagewiki.org/index.php?title=Ravana_-_Part_1 Ravana Part I]
+<br>
-[http://www.heritagewiki.org/index.php?title=Ravana_-_Part_3 Ravana Part III]
+[[Category:Ravanan]]

@@ வரிசை 41: / வரிசை 41: @@
 Vali bundled up Ravana in his tail and tucked him under his armpit, bathed in all the other three oceans and jumped back to Kishkindha, with Ravana hanging from his tail all the way. On reaching Kishkindha, Vali released him from his hold. ‘I was so absorbed in worshipping my Lord and did not have time to enquire the purpose of your visit. Now tell me, what do you seek of you me?’<br>The answer of Ravana takes us by surprise. This is the only passage in the entire epic where Ravana sounds humble. “I am Ravana, the ruler of ogres, O king of monkeys, a compeer of the mighty Indra, come here seeking an encounter with you and I was (consequently) captured by you today. Astounding is the strength, marvellous is the prowess and wonderful is the profundity too in you, by whom, after seizing me I was taken like an animal round the four seas! What other hero would carry me so unweariedly and fast (as you did), O valiant monkey? Such (a marvellous) speed exists in three created entities alone – the mind, the wind-god and Garuda as well as in you; there is no doubt about it O monkey!” (Valmiki Ramayana, Uttara Kanda, Canto XXXIV, Sloka 36-39)<br>Ravana then sought the friendship of Vali. Sloka 44 of the above canto states that he ‘stayed with Vali for one full month, like Sugriva.’
-<br>What I have compiled till now is a short sketch of what the Uttara Kanda details of Ravana. I have skipped many a scene that is not directly related to our study and now we are all set to get into the main story and study him, his fortes and foibles. Despite everything, Ravana is a grand character. The Poets take extra efforts to depict the city that Lanka was and how it flourished under his rule. It was not without reason that an entire race – with the exception of Vibishana and a few others – happily gave their lives up in his service, though there was no common, right or just cause for them to do so.<br>From this point onwards till Surpanakha reaches Lanka, with her ears and nose severed by Lakshmana and describes the beauty that Sita is, Ravana was quite another soul, at least as far as his desire for women was concerned. This is testified by Hanuman in his soliloquy in the Sundara Kanda when he was scouring Lanka for Sita.<br>“Fallen a prey to lust, unmarried daughters of royal sages, Brahmanas and demons, as well as of Gandharvas (celestial musicians) and ogres had (chosen to) to become his wives. Many other women had been borne away by him because he was fond of war (since he through that their relatives would offer resistance); while (yet) others, who were drunk with passion, had come (of their own accord), infatuated as they were through love.” (Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kanda, Canto 9, Sloka 68 and 69)<br>And once again, Hanuman is very much impressed with Ravana when he is taken to his court by Indrajit. “What charm, what presence of mind, what courage, what splendour and what combination of all auspicious bodily marks is present in the king of ogres! Had this mighty lord of ogres not been antagonistic to virtue, he would have proved to be a protector of the realm of gods including Indra (the ruler of gods). Due to his cruel and ruthless deeds condemned by the world all people including gods and demons remain actually afraid of him. If enraged he can turn the world into one ocean.” (Ibid, Canto XLIX, Sloka 17 – 20 {Part})
+<br>What I have compiled till now is a short sketch of what the Uttara Kanda details of Ravana. I have skipped many a scene that is not directly related to our study and now we are all set to get into the main story and study him, his fortes and foibles. Despite everything, Ravana is a grand character. The Poets take extra efforts to depict the city that Lanka was and how it flourished under his rule. It was not without reason that an entire race – with the exception of Vibishana and a few others – happily gave their lives up in his service, though there was no common, right or just cause for them to do so.<br>From this point onwards till Surpanakha reaches Lanka, with her ears and nose severed by Lakshmana and describes the beauty that Sita is, Ravana was quite another soul, at least as far as his desire for women was concerned. This is testified by Hanuman in his soliloquy in the Sundara Kanda when he was scouring Lanka for Sita.
 <br>Charm, presence of mind, courage, valour and handsomeness that impressed even the wisest of his foes, Hanuman for instance. But. An enormous storehouse of power, penance and the fruits of penance. But. ‘One who subdued in early life all the senses and conquered all passions and did not yield to any temptation, stored up tapas and obtained boons,’ as Mandodari mentions when she laments over his body. But.
 <br>Here we go.
 = Off the beaten track<br>  =