Ravana: Lankesh, the Ten-Headed Scholar-King
Grandson of Pulastya, a brahmin scholar of the four Vedas and the sixty-four arts, conqueror of Indra, builder of the golden Lanka, Shiva-bhakta — Ravana is the Ramayana's most learned villain. The text never lets the reader forget that.
Ravana: Lankesh, the Ten-Headed Scholar-King
Lankesh · Dashagriva · Pulastya-vamsha · Vishravas-putra
Who is Ravana?
Ravana — Lankesh (lord of Lanka), Dashagriva (ten-necked), Dashanana (ten-faced), Pulastya-vamsha, Vishravas-putra — is the antagonist of the Ramayana and one of its most carefully composed characters. The text gives him brahmin lineage, Vedic learning, mastery of Shiva-bhakti, the Shiva Tandava Stotram in his own voice, and a kingdom so wealthy that Lanka had streets of gold. His fall is from the highest possible elevation.
Names
- Ravana — 'one who makes others roar.'
- Lankesh — lord of Lanka.
- Dashagriva / Dashanana — ten-necked / ten-faced.
- Pulastya-pautra — grandson of Pulastya (one of the Saptarishi).
- Vishravas-putra — son of sage Vishravas.
Birth and lineage
Sage Vishravas, son of Pulastya, married the rakshasi Kaikasi. Their children: Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Surpanakha, and the righteous Vibhishana. From Vishravas's first wife came Kubera, originally the king of Lanka.
Tapas and boons
Ravana performed terrible tapas for ten thousand years, cutting off his heads one by one as offerings; Brahma appeared and granted him invulnerability from devas, gandharvas, yakshas, asuras — but Ravana, contemptuously, did not ask protection from humans or vanaras. This loophole is the entire plot of the Ramayana.
Conquest
He drove out Kubera, took Lanka, and conquered the three worlds. He defeated Indra (his son Indrajit earned that name there), bound the dikpalas, defeated Yama himself in some accounts, and made the devas his servants. Vali, in Kishkindha, was the only one who could pin him under his armpit while doing sandhya — a humbling Ravana never forgot.
Shiva-bhakti
Ravana lifted Mount Kailasa to test Shiva, was pinned beneath it, sang the Shiva Tandava Stotram in praise — Shiva freed him and gave him the Chandrahasa sword. He composed the Rudra-Stotra, the Shiva Tandava Stotram, and the Shivanandalahari-style hymns; he is the patron of Shaiva hymnology in folk traditions.
Scholar of the Vedas
Ravana mastered the four Vedas, the six Vedangas, the sixty-four arts; composed the Lankesha-Samhita on astrology and the Arka Prakasham on Ayurveda; some Sanskrit grammar treatises are attributed to him. The Ramayana never denies his learning — Rama himself, after killing him, sends Lakshmana to take counsel from the dying Ravana on kingship.
The provocation
His sister Surpanakha, rejected and mutilated by Lakshmana, returned to Lanka demanding revenge. Akampana, a survivor, told Ravana of Sita's beauty. Ravana — already cursed by Vedavati (a previous Sita) and by Nalakubera — set out to abduct her. Vibhishana opposed; Mandodari, his queen, opposed; Kumbhakarna disapproved. He went anyway.
The war and death
After eighteen days, Ravana faced Rama directly. Rama cut off head after head; they grew back. Finally Rama loosed the Brahmastra Agastya had given him, fashioned of Vedic mantras, and pierced Ravana's navel — the only point of amrita in his body. Ravana fell. Rama said: 'With his death, his enmity with us is over.' He sent Lakshmana to learn from him; Ravana taught even as he died.
Symbolism
Ravana is the kama-krodha (desire-anger) self of every man — learned, accomplished, but unable to refuse one wrong impulse. He is also Vishnu's jaya-vijaya doorkeeper in his second of three asura births — Hiranyakashipu, Ravana, Shishupala — born to be killed by Vishnu (see Dashavatara). His death is moksha.
Worship
Ravana is worshipped at:
- Bisrakh, UP — said to be his birthplace; daily worship.
- Mandsaur, MP — Mandodari's birthplace; Ravana revered as son-in-law.
- Kakinada, AP — Shiva-Ravana temple.
- Jodhpur Ravana cult — Ravana married a local Mandodari.
- Kanpur — temple opens once a year on Dussehra.
- Sri Lanka — Sita Eliya, Ravana caves, Ravan Falls.
- Bali (Indonesia) — Rahwana in Wayang.
Regional retellings
- Adhyatma Ramayana — Ravana as a jnani who provoked Rama for liberation.
- Anand Neelakantan's Asura — Ravana's POV.
- Kambara Ramayana — sympathetic.
- Periyar's Ramayana Patiram — Tamil rationalist re-reading.
- Reamker (Cambodia), Ramakien (Thailand) — both treat him as tragic.
- Jain Paumacariya — Ravana as a Vidyadhara king who is reborn as a Tirthankara.
Legacy
Dussehra / Vijayadashami burns his effigy across north India. Diwali (Diwali origins) celebrates Rama's return after his death. Yet across the Deccan, Sri Lanka, and Bali, Ravana is honoured as a great king. The text holds both.
Related reading
Related articles in Itihasas (Epics)
Born to Ravana and Mandodari, master of the Brahmastra, Pashupatastra, and Vaishnavastra, the only warrior who defeated Indra and bound him in chains — Meghanada became Indrajit. His death by Lakshmana broke Lanka's spine.
Born a rakshasa, raised by a brahmin father, Vibhishana refused his brother's adharma, walked across to Rama's camp, was crowned king of Lanka, and became one of the seven chiranjivins — eternal models of *sharanagati*.
Found in the furrow of King Janaka's plough, married to Rama, abducted by Ravana, vindicated by fire, mother of twins, returned to the earth — Sita is the Ramayana's still centre and Indian culture's most elegant grief.
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