The Rama and The Ravana are the opposite faces of the same coin. Both exist inside all human beings. The peculiarity of both of them resides in us. In genetics, we came across the terms dominating and recessive. The very same is happening here. The idiosyncrasy of evil and good co-exists. When evil dominates, the good deeds become recessive and vice-versa. It’s upto us to decide which trait will dominate us. Those human beings, who are considered ruthless and cruel, are human too from their inner being. They do possess feelings and emotions, but in a destructive sense. They are unable to bear the burden of society and thus became so. The psychology behind destructive human nature has been evident to us so many years ago. But there is still lots to discover, as to why two-person living in the same conditions can be so different. Think of Ravana and Vibhishana. Both were having the same genesis, same domain, but different ideologies.

The evilness knows no boundary. Think of Hitler, Idi Amin, Queen Mary (First), and Attila the Hun. Are they anyway less than that of The Ravana? The difference may arise based on the circumstances which led them to behave like this. History is full of such examples where the maltreated, when raised their voice, were termed as stony-hearted. But being an exception, what about the Ravana? He was not at all subjugated to any hardships. Then why he has been symbolized as a devil? Because he tried to disrupt the social systems by forcefully abducting other’s consort, The Sita?

Maybe the Ravana was the master of numerous virtues, as exaggerated by some of the devil worshipers, but this heinous misdeed can never be mitigated. The dominating traits of being superior even after such misdemeanor were deep-rooted inside him, which ultimately lead to his denouement. On the other hand, Vibhishana is criticized as being a traitor, but following the path of righteousness is not quisling. Vibhishana had the option of being with the evil or affinity towards morality. Obviously, his brother was not morally upright.

The evil inside us, remains hidden or suppressed – recessive, we can sustain our worth in the society, and else we will be compared with those merciless creatures. The need of the time is to bring out our best from ourselves. Some may still consider The Ravana far better than that of Vibhishana. But before arriving at any decision, just decide yourself, what do you want inside you – the virtues of Vibhishana or the callousness of Ravana? Put aside those theories who keep on proving Ravana as a great depository of surplus wisdom and knowledge, maybe he was a renowned king because of his father Saptrishi. But the dominating negative oddity brought him down to those lows which can never be compared with that of any devil in the mythology. Possession of Wisdom is different from being socially fit and hence is with the Ravana, for which he is still cursed of being burnt as an effigy every year. If ever the evil darkness of night becomes proud of being unconquerable, it can never stop the dawn to embellish.

Dr. R. K. Panchal

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