The burning of Ravana on Dussehra has become a trend. People don’t learn from this. Increasing the number of Ravan Dahan will not help in any way. People have started taking it as a means of entertainment. We should take inspiration from our religious ancestors. With the burning of Ravana, the bad qualities should be discarded. The meaning of showing Ravana Dahan is to show the end of evil. We should resolve to shun evils instead of effigies. The Ravan of crime and evil is increasing continuously in society. In this, the blood of relationships is happening the most. Mother, father, brother, sister, and even children are being murdered. Rape cases are also increasing continuously.
Every year on Vijayadashami, if we see Ravana’s slaughter, then there is hope in the mind that there will be less Ravana settled in the society. But it is like Raktbeej. The number of Ravanas is increasing exponentially. One cut hundred are being born. He was great nonetheless. He was a scholar, a policy-keeper, brave, conscientious, a true ruler, a good husband, a good brother, was a worshiper of Lord Shiva. Abducted Sita, but did not see with evil eyes. Requested marriage but did not forcibly marry. Made a mistake for which he had to face punishment, but in today’s era, even after committing thousands of crimes, Ravana is roaming freely on the streets, no shame, no shame.
The burning of Ravana on Dussehra has become a trend. People don’t learn from this. Increasing the number of Ravan Dahan will not help in any way. People have started taking it as a means of entertainment. Ravana’s popularity and crime graph in the country is increasing continuously. Every year three times more effigies of Ravana are burnt in different parts of the country as compared to the previous year. Despite this, there will be a crime reduction, seeing its increasing figures, but it does not seem so. We should take inspiration from our religious ancestors. With the burning of Ravana, the bad qualities should be discarded. The meaning of showing Ravana Dahan is to show the end of evil. We should resolve to shun evils instead of effigies. The Ravan of crime and evil is increasing continuously in society. In this, the blood of relationships is happening the most. Mother, father, brother, sister, and even children are being murdered. Rape cases are also increasing continuously.
Ravana was all knowledgeable, he used to realize everything because he was a knower of Tantra Vidya. Ravana abducted Sita by staying in his dignity only to prove his power and himself as the best. He didn’t even let his shadow fall on him. Today’s Ravana is cunning, ignorant, adulterous, burns his wife for dowry, and kidnaps women with the intention of marriage. If this misdeed fails, then rape too. He kills in the name of religion, he does not have the power to fight, so he runs with a gun on the shoulder of another. He has nothing to do with policies, he has no reverence for a foreign woman. Seeing his benefit, the king serves the public. Today’s Ravana is crueler than that Ravana, dangerous, omnipresent. He lives in palaces. Lives in the street Kucho. Also in the village. Also in the city. He is also a proud man. He has also read and written. But Ram is not there that his neck can be twisted. There is only one hope that the ravananess will go away from society itself one day. No one was the cause of Ravana’s sorrow, humiliation, and death.
The main cause of Ravana’s death was lust, which was the reason for his ultimate destruction. History is witness to the fact that sensual men (and women too) have never been happy. Many powerful kings lost their kingdoms because of their passion for the opposite sex. Ravana heard about Sita’s physical beauty, then began to ponder over her, and eventually acted on that wrong desire. And in the end, lust became the main reason for the death of Ravana. Lankapati Ravana was a great scholar but due to his ego, he was destroyed. Ravana was also a great devotee of Shiva. On the strength of penance, he had acquired many powers. Like Ravana, his other brothers and sons were also strong. But due to poor conduct, their atrocities were increasing continuously, after which God incarnated as Rama and killed Ravana. In Valmiki Ramayana, Ravana is described as unrighteous. Because even after being knowledgeable, Ravana did not follow any religion. This was his greatest demerit. When Ravana dies in the war, Mandodari lamented saying, “Whoever destroys many yagyas, breaks religious systems, abducts the demigods and the daughters of human beings, today you have committed these sins.” Slaughter has been achieved only because of karma.
The lesson we should learn from the life of Ravana is that we should never allow lust to flourish in our hearts. We should constantly check our hearts for any kind of lust. If it is, nip it in the bud. Because if left unchecked 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 are increasing in the world. To give the message that the practice 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 are so bad in this world that even Ravana started appearing as a deity in front of him. If such bad people burn Ravana in the name of evil, then it is an insult to Ravana. As well as goodness.
The author is a Research Scholar in Political Science. She can be mailed at priyankasaurabh9416@gmail.com
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