Interesting Lesser-known Facts About Ravana

Ravana is one of the most popular demon characters ever discussed in Hinduism. He was a great scholar, a learned Brahmin and a great warrior. The only reason that he was a demon was the huge number of demonic qualities that he possessed. Despite being learned and knowing all about the sins and virtues, he could not save himself from pride, which ultimately lead him to death.

Amongst the Brahmins, he was highly respected because of his knowledge. Even today, there are such Brahmin communities in India which do not celebrate Diwali and see it as an occasion when they lost one of the most powerful Brahmins ever born on the earth. There are a number of facts about Ravana that are worth knowing. Today, we have brought to you some of those facts which are unknown to many. Take a look.

Ravana In His Previous Birth

According to one belief, Lord Vishnu had two servants named Jay and Vijay. Both of them were cursed to become demons in their next four births. Hence, they became Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashyap in the first life, then were born as Ravana and Kumbhakarna, and in yet another life they were the Kansa and Shishupala.

Ravana Was The Great-grandson Of Lord Brahma

Pulstray was the human child of Lord Brahma. Pulastray's son Visrava and his wife Kaikasi were the parents of Ravana. Thus, Ravana was a Brahmin and Lord Brahma was his grandfather.

Mandodari's Father Was Impressed By Ravana's Power
His wife Mandodari was the daughter of a nymph from the court of Lord Indra. Mandodari's father was so impressed by Ravana that he decided to get his daughter married to him.

Ravana's Son

Ravana's son was named Meghanad. He defeated Lord Indra and therefore, was named Indrajeet, which means the one who had conquered Indra.

Ravana Got A Blessing Of Immortality

According to one belief, Ravana worshipped Lord Brahma and asked him to bless him with immunity against the attacks from all the life forms including the demons and the gods. However, under excessive pride, as is the quality of every demon, he did not mention humans and monkeys.

He believed they could not harm him, being weaker than him. This is what became the reason for his destruction. Lord Rama, actually Vishnu in the form of a human and accompanied by the army of monkeys, brought Ravana to death.

Ravana Gave Important Lessons To Lakshman

Ravana, while dying, gave Lakshman some lessons, who was sent by Lord Rama to learn from him. He gave him the reasons and the mistakes that often become the reason for the defeat of a person. The biggest amongst them was that one should never underestimate the potential of one's enemy.

He believed that a monkey could not cause him harm, but an army of them burned the whole of Lanka when Lord Hanuman attacked him.

Ravana Performed The Holy Yajna For Rama

According to one belief, Ravana was the most qualified for a yajna that Lord Rama wanted to perform. When Lord Rama had to cross the bridge in order to reach Lanka, the blessings of Lord Shiva were needed. Ravana was, undoubtedly, one of the greatest devotees of Lord Shiva.

Moreover, he was a Brahmin, who had almost all the knowledge about the scriptures and the holy rituals. Therefore, he came forward to perform the yajna, in order to display respect for the ritual of yajna, as is believed.

Ravana Tried To Interfere With The Positioning Of The Planets

It is believed that Ravana was so potent that he could interfere with the positioning of the flowers. When his son Meghnad was about to be born, he had asked all the planets to stay in the eleventh house as per the birth chart. But Lord of Saturn, Shani Dev rejected to do so and went in the twelfth house of the birth chart.

Ravana Was A Veena Player Too

Ravana was a wonderful veena player. Therefore, he is often depicted carrying a veena.