Burning Ravana on Dussehra has become a trend. People do not learn from it. Increasing the number of Ravana burnings will not be of any benefit. People have started taking it as a means of entertainment. We should take inspiration from our religious Puranas. Bad habits should be abandoned along with Ravana burning. Showing Ravana burning means showing the end of evils. We should take a pledge to leave evils instead of effigies. Ravanas of crime and evil are increasing continuously in society. In this, the blood of relationships is being shed the most. Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, even children are being killed. Rape cases are also increasing continuously.
Every year when we see Ravana’s killing on Vijayadashami, there is a hope in the mind that the Ravanas living in society will decrease. But this is like Raktabeej. The number of Ravanas is increasing immensely. One is killed and a hundred are born. He was still great. He was a scholar, a follower of principles, a brave man, a dutiful ruler, a good husband, a good brother, a worshipper of Lord Shiva. He kidnapped Sita, but did not look at her with evil eyes. He proposed marriage but did not marry her forcibly. He committed a mistake for which he had to suffer the punishment, but in today’s times, even after committing thousands of crimes, Ravana is openly roaming the streets, no shame, no shame.
Burning of Ravana on Dussehra has become a trend. People do not learn from this. There will be no benefit in increasing the number of Ravana burnings. People have started taking it as a means of entertainment. The graph of Ravana’s popularity and crimes in the country is constantly rising. Compared to the previous year, three times more Ravana effigies are burnt in different parts of the country every year. Despite this, looking at the increasing figures, it does not seem that there will be any reduction in crime. We should take inspiration from our religious Puranas. Bad habits should be abandoned along with Ravana burning. Showing Ravana burning means showing the end of evils. We should pledge to leave the evils instead of the effigies. The Ravanas of crime and evil are increasing in society. The bloodshed of relationships is the most in this. Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, even children are being killed. Rape cases are also increasing continuously.
Ravan was omniscient; he could sense everything because he was an expert in Tantra Vidya. Ravan kidnapped Sita only to prove his power and to prove himself to be the best, staying within his limits. He did not even let his shadow fall on her. Today’s Ravana is cunning, ignorant, adulterous, burns his wife for dowry, kidnaps women with the intention of marrying them. If he fails in this evil deed, he also rapes. He commits massacre in the name of religion; he does not have the strength to fight, so he puts the gun on someone else’s shoulder and fires. He has nothing to do with policies; he has no respect for other women. The king serves the people looking at his own benefits. Today’s Ravana is crueler than that Ravana, dangerous, omnipresent. He lives in palaces. He lives in the streets. He lives in the village. He lives in the city. He is uneducated. He is also educated. But he is not Ram that his neck can be twisted. There is only one hope that Ravana-ness will disappear from society on its own one day. There was no reason for Ravana’s suffering, humiliation, and death.
The main reason for Ravana’s death was lust, which was the cause of his ultimate destruction. History is a witness to the fact that lustful men (and women too) have never been happy. Many powerful kings lost their kingdoms because of their obsession with the opposite sex. Ravana heard about Sita’s physical beauty, then started thinking about it and eventually started acting on that wrong desire. And finally, lust became the main reason for Ravana’s death. Lankapati Ravana was a great scholar, but due to ego, he was destroyed. Ravana was also a great devotee of Shiva. He had acquired many powers through penance.
Like Ravana, his other brothers and sons were also powerful. But due to his bad conduct, his atrocities were constantly increasing, after which God incarnated as Ram and killed Ravana. In Valmiki Ramayana, Ravana is described as adharmi. Because despite being knowledgeable, Ravana did not follow any religion. This was his biggest flaw. When Ravana dies in the war, Mandodari laments and says, you who destroyed many yagyas, broke the religious systems, abducted the daughters of gods, demons and humans from everywhere, today you have been killed because of these sinful deeds of yours.
The lesson we should learn from Ravana’s life is that we should never allow lust to flourish in our hearts. We should constantly check our hearts for any kind of lust. If there is, then nip it in the bud. Because if left uncontrolled, it will destroy us completely. Everything starts with contemplation. Today’s people have become so educated and intelligent that everyone knows what is good and evil. But still the evils in the world are increasing. The message for which the tradition of burning Ravana was started, no one wants to take that message today. Then what is the use of burning Ravana every year. Many people in this world are so bad that even Ravana starts appearing like a god in front of them. If such bad people burn Ravana in the name of evil, then it is an insult to Ravana. And also to goodness.
