The Legend Of The Dark Lord

Anukriti Arora

“To rule over a million demons, you have to show them you are more demonic than them all.”

Anukriti Arora

Journey from Ayodhya to Lanka

AyodhyaDandaka villageDandaka forestNashikRameshwaramLanka

Prologue

Prince Rama was the eldest of four sons and was to become king when his father retired from ruling. His stepmother, however, wanted to see her son Bharata, Rama's younger brother, become king. Remembering that the king had once promised to grant her any two wishes she desired, she demanded that Rama be banished and Bharata be crowned. The king had to keep his word to his wife and ordered Rama's banishment. Rama accepted the decree unquestion-ingly. "I gladly obey father's command," he said to his stepmother. "Why, I would go even if

you ordered it."When Sita, Rama's wife, heard Rama was to be banished, she begged to accompany him to his forest retreat. "As shadow to substance, so wife to husband," she reminded Rama. "Is not the wife's dharma to be at her husband's side? Let me walk ahead of you so that I may smooth the path for your feet," she pleaded. Rama agreed, and Rama, Sita and his brother Lakshmana

all went to the forest.When Bharata learned what his mother had done, he sought Rama in the forest. "The eld-est must rule," he reminded Rama. "Please come back and claim your rightful place as king." Rama refused to go against his father's command, so Bharata took his brother's sandals and said, "I shall place these sandals on the throne as symbols of your authority. I shall rule only as regent in your place, and each day I shall put my offerings at the feet of my Lord. When the fourteen years of banishment are over, I shall joyously return the kingdom to you." Rama was very impressed with Bharata's selflessness. As Bharata left, Rama said to him, "I should have

known that you would renounce gladly what most men work lifetimes to learn to give up."

Later in the story, Ravana, the evil King of Lanka, abducted Sita in duisguise of a priest. To save Sita from the clutches of the evil Ravana, Rama mustered the aid of a monkey army, built a bridge across to Lanka. Once in Lanka, he fought with the demon King and defeated him. Sita was safely rescued. Rama, Sita and Lakshman went back to Ayodhya where Rama right-

fully ascended the throne.

It was a joyous day for both Mithila and Ayodhya. Marriage ceremony of Prince Rama with princess Sita, none had seen a more beautiful couple. Everybody from Ayodhya was present there King Dasaratha, his three queens Kausalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra along with his three fifty concubines and the rest of the state. The queens though aged, were looking beautiful, clad in silk and gold from head to toe. All of them excited for their eldest son. But something was amiss with the second queen kaikeyi, she was feeling a litle off, different from anyhting she had ever felt before. But how did she start feeling like this, she was fine till a while ago. Manthara even gave her sharbat to drink then why, was she feeling uneasy? It was

hard as it is remembering day’s events.

There was a loud cheer from the crowd present, the newly weds were at the entrance of the palace of Mithila climbing on to the elephant and were to proceed to Ayodhya on it.

Slowly as if she was an actor in a nightmare dreamed by someone else, she stumbled out of the chaukhat, towards the gate of the palace, towards the sounds of celebration outside.When she came to Kaikeyi was running after the marriage procession. Queen Kaikeyi had never been seen in such a sight. Her long lustrous hair flying behind her as she ran towards Rama, she had to warn him. She absolutely had to warn her son before the dark power took control over her body. As she ran she hoped to make it in time before he had complete

control over her. It was already too late.

1

There was a dark, gloomy air surrounding the fortress. Once occupied by the Kuber, a deva in Lord Indra’s court, was taken over by Ravana, Kuber’s half - brother many years ago. Since then many changes had been made in it. Ravana created a maze outside the fortress, with the passage of time many had gotten lost in the maze to never return again. Even inside fortress was no less than a maze. Ravana for reason known best to him had only had

the Kumbh - rakshas know the way inside the fortress.

The air was still and the room silent. It had been three days since Ravana came out of his sleep chamber. His chamber was ten feet under the ground, which directly connected him to the temple of Nikumbhila, the only deva that Ravana worshipped and was truly scared of. Ravana was in a meditation pose and had not moved a muscle for three days. All of Ravana’s ten pair of eyes were shut. It was a rare sight, ususally only two or three of his heads would be in meditation, which would mean mental telepathy while the rest of them

having a debate with each other.This time it was different. He had to concentrate. Till now everything was going according to his plan. Manthara had been succesful in feeding the second queen the drug. Manthara, a lowly demon that Ravana had appointed to go to Kosala and serve the second queen, at the

same time serving as a secret agent for Ravana. She had done well, so he could see.

“The fool of a queen, in order to warn her step - son running like a mad person on the streets of Mithila. Nothing can save her now. She will serve as a useful puppet, when the

time comes.” He thought to himself, while looking at the scene in his head.

He could feel a presence in the room. A very frieghtened presence so as to say. He had always found ir amusing how people were easily intimidated by him. Mostly his enormous

head or heads.

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The palace of Ayodhya was in a state of a turmoil. It had hardly been three days since the four princes of Ayodhya came back with their young brides and suddenly this. Queen Kaikeyi had locked herself up in the Koshghar (the anger room) and was not ready to come out. There was a rumour going on in the palace about how the second queen, since a very long time had been taking undue advantage of the King’s fondness towards her. This reason had

been the cause of friction between the third queen Sumitra and Kaikeyi.Again, something seemed to have stirred the queen’s heart and everyone in the palace knew

that only the King can calm this uproar. Kaikeyi was lying on the floor with her hair and sari around her in a dishevelled manner.

“It is a big issue this time.” King Dasaratha wondered as he approached her. Kaikeyi felt a hand on her bare shoulders. After a years of togetherness, she could guess that it was her husband. Cautiously Dasaratha started talking, not to offend her in any way. After what

seemed like a lifetime Kikeyi spoke.She asked Dasaratha if he remembered the two boons that he promised Kaikeyi when she saved his life. The King desperate to please her asked her if she wanted anything, he would grant it, anything. After hearing her demands, Dasaratha wished she had not spoken, he

regretted asking her.The second queen had asked the King to order Rama to into exile for fourteen years, not to enter the state before the end of the term. Secondly, crown Bharat (son of Kaikeyi) as the

King of Ayodhya.

***

4

All of Ravana’s head were talking at the same time. They were discussing the situation at Ayodhya. “Servant Manthara had done a good job, it was clever to use Kaikeyi as a pawn” said one head.” What should we do with her now?” asked another. All the rakshas used to find it interesting how one head of Ravana was always in control. The reason for all of that was because Ravana’s ten heads were not active all the time, they were occupied

elsewhere. Sometimes, even if in a room Ravana himself was elsewhere.

Vibhishan, the Brahmacharya brother of Ravana entered his chamber then. Being brother to the Demon Lord, Vibhishan according to himself had his brother sorted out to most extent. many a times Ravana even offered Vibhishan a own state of his own to rule. But

Vibhishan never showed any inclination towards the idea. Ravana’s heads turned to look at him. Vibhishan was suddenly aware of the situation and kept the questions to a minimum. He knew that his brother was busy handeling certain

circumstances related to the Devas or humans, natural enemies of the rakshas clan.

Although Vibhishan did not agree with the methods used by his brother, he now had no guts to say it. He still remember the time, when he had taken the liberty of indulging into

a heated conversation with Ravana about his brutal ways. Ravana had said to him,“To rule over a million demons, you have to show them you are more demonic than them all.” This stopped Vibhishan from arguing any further. He knew it for a fact that few times Ravana had to act in a cruel manner just to keep his appearance infront of his

citizens, the people of Lanka.Also, Ravana had never, even when he was a child denied the fact that he is a rakshas and tried living or doing things against it. He knew that being a demon was his destiny and not

fighting it is the only right thing to do.

5

“Once made, the arrow must fly, the sword cleave, the typhoon rage. I exist to destroy and strike terror. It has been this way ever and it must continue even more.”

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Lord Rama along with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman had reached Panchvati. It was a long and tiring journey. King Dasaratha had passed away, barely after a week they had left for exile.It was a sad period for not only Ayodhya but the neighbouring countries as well. He had

been a great King to his people. Queen kaikeyi had regained her conscious self. She had a hard time facing the reality, specially when King Dasaratha divorced her before taking his last few breaths. Even Manthara had accepted her sins rather willingly, as if she had done some great deed. But shocked everyone by

suddenly committing suicide.The trio travelled from village to village. All of them together had fought many battles against the

rakshas. One major battle that they won was against the rakshas of Chitrakut. The battle had claimed the lives of many of their brahmin friends but it was all lost for a good cause. They had completed thirteen years of exile, four more seasons and they would be able to return to

their home. Now all that they wanted to do was to stay in peace in Panchavati.

It was early in the morning, when Sita went to the nearby lake to conduct her morning prayer. After she was finished with her ritual, she heard something move behind the enormously huge banyan tree, it was deer. Sita had never seen a more beautiful deer in entire life. This would have been the third time she had seen the deer. She had previously tried to capture it but had been

unsuccesful. She thought to herself that this time she would capture him for sure. Rama pushed the the branch of the tree with his hand. Sita had never been this late before. He

reached the lake but there was no sign of Sita. Where had she gone?This had never happened before. panic was taking over him, and just then he noticed a slender

figure crouching on the ground.

8

Ravana could feel the warm breeze on his faces as he flew past Lanka towards Panchvati in his Pushpak. The time was right for him to make a move. Mareech was succesful in

distracting Rama away from the Sita. He loved how rakshas were able to change their form into beautiful, harmless beings of the Earth. Mareech had always been his most loyal servant.

Now all that was left for Ravana to do was to abduct Lady Sita. “Everything else was already covered by Mareech. He already had Rama chase after him, he

just needed to make a fake call to Lakshman in Rama’s voice. Lakshan being the oidient brother that he is will run to his brother’s aid. Then, I will take control of things.

“Hopefully, in my absence nothing will go wrong in Lanka” one oh his heads said. Ravana had always found it handful to rule over a country of rakshas. “You need power and force to convey it to them that, everything is not always achieved through violence alone” one of his heads had said to Vibhishan, a few decades back. Yet, Ravana was unsuccesful in getting it through his sons heads. Indrajit and Akshay Kumar were brilliant warriors on field. Often they had made Ravana proud. Indrajit, Ravana’s eldest son had defeated Lord Indra in his own

court, hence recieving the name. Though togther, they had won many battles and claimed victories, Ravana had never allowed

them to take part in the discussions of the court. A few times he also had those brief moments when all hi heads debated about his sons. Once,the third head from the right rack wondered if they have turned into brainless brutes those, more - muscle - than - brain rakshas

you found on the streets of Lanka.m.“Great warriors do not always make grat leaders. My sons are brilliant on field, but duffers at court. That is why, they are not permitted to set foot in this hall, by own orders” said the

central head during one of these discussions.

Ravana was suddenly pushed back to the present. Although it was nostalgic but he had other pressing matters at hand. The Pushpak increased its speed as they crossed the ocean

seperating Lanka from other state

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Sita woke up with a start. How many times was it that she had dreamed of Rama in her sleep? She had lost count of the days spent in Lanka. It had been hard controlling her tears, but she managed to do it. She was adamant about one thing, to not show any

sort of weakness to the Demon Lord.

“Princess Janaki”, said a voice. It startled Sita to hear her formal title being used here of all places. She turned to face an intimidating figure, with ten seperate yet attached heads It was amazing how everytime Sita faced Ravana, she couldn’t help but feel fascinated looking at the ten heads, each which a expression different from the other. Sita realised that she was staring at Ravana and immediately looked down. It was too late to do that

since a head or two of Ravana already caught her looking a him.“Send me back to my husband and his brother” said Sita in a tone that she could barely be recognize as her own. “You will die for this”, she continued. “You are a fool to have abducted me.” Sita thought that this might get an outrageous response out of him. She was surprised when three of Ravana’s heads sighed in response to her while the rest just had a grave expression on their face. This she had definately not expected out of the one

who was most feared on this land, where she was a captive.

***

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Ravana, pushed away the anger that had crept in him at Sita’s words. Though a head or two did betray him and had a disgusted look.

He said, “Your response is understandable Princess. As is your anger and hostility. But i did not come here to have words with you, there will be enough time for us to talk later, when

you are wll rested and nourished.”He found Sita’s reaction interesting. She was dumbfounded. Ravana could tell from just one look on her face that the way he reacted now was no where close to what the Princess had expected. He continued, “I came here only to ascertain your condition and to see to to your

needs. I will ensure that you are provided nourishment and the opportunity to cleanse yourself and don fresh apparel. Then , when you have rested and recovered sufficiently from your ordeal, we shall meet once more. Perhaps, at that time, I may persuade you to see the

error of your assumptions. Sita was visibly confused at Ravana’s last statement. It was hard to figure out Ravana

completely, people who had been with him for ages had difficulty understanding his moves and plans, then Sita was just a mere human female.

Still Ravana admired the the determination she had in her. She had never once broken down infront of him or shown any sign of weakness.

Ravan thought it was good that it was this way. Princess Sita had to be strong. She was a very important person for his master plan to work.

***

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Sita raised her voice and adressed not just Ravana but the entire asembly. “I was abducted by deciet, stealth and force. I was brought here against my power, against my will. I have been subjected to inhumane treatment, tormented and taunted, threatened and badgered. I am starved and neglected. And when a rakshasi wiser than all the rest of them combined attempted to give me some little nourishment, she was struck down and brutally

killed by her own so called companions.”She had taken it all in silently. But this was about it. No more. She started again.

“You can kill me tonightas your Lord has decreed. You can rip my flesh and tear me apart and eat me like a meal for demons. But know this: retribution is coming. A great and terrible vengeance is upon you all. That end approaches fast. And when that day comes, there will be an accounting for all these wrongfull doings, and everyone of you will be called upon to pay the

butcher’s bill.”She let the ends of the chains drop from her hands. They fell with a clattering that was very

loud in the silent, stunned hall.“Now you do with me as you will. As you act, so shall you be judged.”

Ravana, sitting on his throne conducting the assembly was visibly bored. He was already aware of the fact that Sita was not guilty, but a victim of circumstance, created by,

Mandhodari, his wife, who had displayed a very well thought out plot, infront of him. But, she was a hundred years too early to pull of a stunt like that. Very cleverly placing all her

palace rakshasis in charge of Sita and then when one rakshasi started caring for Sita’s nourishment, Mandhodari, commanded the others to kill her. She tried her best, Ravana

13

acknowledged his wife’s attempt. He also pitied the state Sita was in right now. “There are things you are not given to understand Sita devi. What seems obvious is not always the truth. Often satya lies concealed in the shadows, just out of reach of our keenest gaze. Your outrage is understandable. As is your anger and resentment. Yet there is much you have to learn, knowledge that will alter your thinking irrevocably, dispel the foolishly naive notions

you have grown accustomed to ragarding as absolute truth” he thought to himself.

***

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There was an uproar in the fortress of Lanka. A vanar had infiltrated Lanka. He was thought to be an ally of Rama. In the cat chase to catch the vanar. Akshay Kumar,

Ravana’s youngest son lost his life. The atmosphere in Lanka was obviously enraged with fury. The assembly, after capturing the vanar was discussing the execution of the

vanar. When Vibhishan spoke, “My Lord, Ravana on what grounds do you demand the execution of the vanar? It is

neither moral nor sanctioned by the rules of war.”Vibhishan went on, “The vanar surrendered gracefully, and put himself in our hands, so he could del.iver his misive to Rama. Infact he made it clear from the very outset that he had no wish to fight, but none would heed his entreaties and bring him hear to be heard.

So he fought on as any warrior would.”“Do not let this travesty of justice be implemented. Do what is just and fair.”

It was after a very long time when Ravana had heard his younger brother Vibhishan speak with such conviction. Two - three of Ravana’s heads turned to face each other. They were having a mental conversation. Again the same thought crossed their mind that Vibhishan was not meant to be here. Many a times, one of his heads would tell the otheras to kill Vibhishan and be done with him once and for all. But he reasoned it by saying, “I can’t kill my own brother. Whatever he says or does, he is still my flesh and

blood. It would be dishonourable.”“My brother was born wishing he was a mortal instead of a rakshas.” Even though Ra-vana knew it can’t be helped but he couldn’t help but wonder sometimes that, Vibhishan

would turn traitor on him. The time was appropriate to let go of Vibhishan. He wanted his brother to be able to live

freely as a brahmin, which he definately could not do living in Lanka.“Vibhishan I order you to leave my land and never to show me your face again” stated

Ravana in a cold voice.

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Ravana had turned Lanka into a fortress. The entire island had been overrun by the rakshas lord’s devilish sorcery. From this vantage point, he could see a pattern of thousand - foot

high walls running along the coastline for as far as could be seen. It was finally time to battle. Rama had mustered up his army and had reached Lanka. The last

act of Ravana’s play was left. Finally, it was time for Ravana to be face to face with Rama.

The people of Lanka were all, ready to fight for their lord. Ravana had been a great King to his people. Even though his ways were grotesque, none could deny the fact that he was a

great leader.

The terrible, near silent slaughter raged on all dayand well into the evening. Above the sorcer-ous fog cloud that enveloped the island, the sun traveresed the sky and dipped into the west, the denizens of the ocean lived and loved, mated and nursed, and wondered at the carnage that was evident even to the people, for all knew of Rama’s war and Ravana’s reign of terror. That

was the way it was supposed to be. Ravana knew it better and clearer than anybody.Many had lost their lives on the field. The number of casualties on either side had been huge.

“How long before the battle is lost and won?” Ravana wondered.

***

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Ravana was watching the battle proceeds from the Pushpak that flying amidst the clouds. He could see that neither side was ready to give up. From the very outset of the battle, Indrajit was a menaceof sizable proportions. Although a gifted sorcerer, he had clearly been ordered

by Ravana not to employmagics and asura maya on the battle field. For, Indrajit like his father, was possessed of abilities granted to him by the devas them-selves, whom he had help conquer once, and who served him even now. Ravana had been very precise about winning the battle with Indrajit’s own merit. And he had to win it, he was

Ravana’s son afterall.

***

Everything was going acoording to Ravana’s plot. Although there were a small disturbance, when Indrajit with the help of the Losrd of snakes created maya which made

people to belive that Rama was dead.Ravana could not forget the look on Sita’s face when she saw the lifeless body of Rama on the battle field. He had genuienly felt sympathatic towards her. Not even one of his heads

had his trademark evil grin on them. It saddened him to see the Princess suffer like this.Her voice from that time still echoed in his head.

“It is another of your tricks. Sorcery! Rama cannot be killed. He is a champion of dharma. I am not fooled. Rama is still alive, and he will rise up again and resume this war.”

Until then even Ravana was fooled by Indrajit’s trick. In mental discussion of his heads he did agree that Indrajit was a fierse opponent on field. Next, it was his turn to go fight the

war that he started.

***

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Ravana howled in rage and anguish. He felt the pain of Indrajit’s wound in his throat, as if the arrow had passed through his flesh and severed his neck. decapitating him. He felt the blood gush out of the open wound, the heart still pumping in disbelief, the arms, those arms that had once wounded devas and hel the sword to the throat of the mighty Indra himself, jerking spasmodically and dropping their weapons, the head rolling in the dirt and mud of the city avenue, its open eyes staring blindly, filling with debris and grit.

Ravana whipped his team so hard, the lashes not only drew blood, but gauged out strips of flesh as well. The horses, for he used the finest Kambhojha stallions, shrieked in pain

and galloped even faste, risking breaking their legs and toppling the whole chariot. He did not care. He only wished to reach the spot where Indrajit had fallen and avenge his death. For the pain he felt was a father’s pain and it was genuine. This was one of the rare occasions whenthe lord of Lanka was not acting or performing for effect: he was

being himself.

It was an angry, anguished father that turned the corner on two wheels and started down the avenue at a pace that should have been too swift for even Rama to retaliate.

But this was not to be the moment of Ravana’s death. For even as the arrow that Rama shot sped towards him with unerring accuracy, the lead horse of the team of Ravana’s chariot toppled over Indrajit’s decapitated head and the arrow hit him at the muscle of

his right arm.Ravana stared up at Rama with all his eyes.

***

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Mandhodari came in search of her husband. She fornd him reclined on his throne.“Is Lanka is a lost cause?” asked Mandhodari in a soft voice.

“Do you think it is a lost cauuse my queen?” he asked. All the lives lost just over you lust for a mortal woman, said Mandhodariin a cold voice.

“Is that what you think this war is all about? My lust?”“What else could it be? What else is this war about if not Sita, the wife of Rama?”

He shook his head, rising slowly to his feet. “This war is not about any woman, and never was. This war had been waged forever. It is the eternal war, the mother of all wars. It is not merely about me, or Rama, or our differences. In other time he and I were friends and much beloved of each other; in another time, we may be so again. We shall be so. Yet in this age, and in this place we are at war. And, neither of us if pressed hard can honestly and truly answer why. For the reason goes to the very soul of ‘itihaas’ past itself. There is no logic, no rationale, no justification, no moral side to choose, no

right or wrong, no good or evil, or even shades of grey... There is merely an event, a relationship, a war or the end of a war.

Someday, perhaps you will be shown, why thisparticular war happened, and why it end as it did, why it had to end as it did. But now, today I cannot explain it ot you in any terms that you can understand. I cannot keep Rama waiting that long. For it is approching the hour when I am bound to meet him on the field for our final encounter and it would not be seemly for me

to be late for my appointment with my own death.”

***

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Ravana stepped down from his chariot. The lord of Lanka was clad in traditional garments of civilized Arya everywhere. He wore no crown on any of his heads, and eve-ryone of his foreheads had been annointed with the red ochre marks that signified that he

had performed his acamana ritual this morning and offered suitable prayers. When Ravana was approximately fifty yards away, he stopped and faced Rama.

Rama, after facing the first blow from Ravana, pulled back his arm and prepared to loose it upon him. With shloka on his lips, he loosed the arrow os Shiva. The missile flew across the field, blazing with blue flames clearly visible in the morning light. And struck one of Ravana’s heads, the one on the extreme left side. The head was decapitated and fell with a dull thud to the ground. Rama repeated the same procedure till only one head remained.

Everybody on the field including Lord Rama wondered as to why Ravana was simply standing there. Why wasn’t he retaliating? Rama being a true warrior gave Ravana some time to respond. Ravana flexed his muscles as if gesturing some sorcery spell, and at once

Rama unleashed the tenth arrow and decapitated his last head.

For a long time Lanka naresh was stood on the field. And then slowly, almost majestically, with an illusion of dignity and grace, the demon lord’s body pitched forward and fell on

the ground lifeless.

Ravana was dead.

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Every hero must have a villian to destroy, in order to pprove himself a hero.But not every villian needs a hero in order to prove himself a villian.

Afterword

This was my interpretation of Ravana in the epic Ramayana. My reason of choosing this particular character was no different from those who have written about him over the years. It was to understand him and try to get sense out of his moves, specially the

means used to achieve those. He has always been portrayed as the perfect example of a villian, used for examples like good against evil but behind his deeds there was an aim that people either don’t know about or would not like to think about. Ravana was a learned man, but this fact with time seized to be mentioned in the revised versions of Ramanyana. Though it was unintentional, the later Ramayana’s completely stereotyped him as a bad guy, who in order to achieve what he wants

will use any means possible. This was how his character was masked. People who tried unmasking him had their own interpretations of him, which dwelled out of their point of views. Even I had my own perspective about Ravana that I wanted the

people to know, hence I wrote this book. My only intention through this book was to make people realize that Ravana had as many sides to him as he had heads on his neck. Many sides that we are not aware of and will never

be aware of because what was going on his head only he can say it best.He was not all black and neither his destroyer all white. They were a lot of greys in the

middle that were conviniently kept locked away.

I hope this book opens up a perspective that is worth giving time.