Thread by @pallavict

Was disturbed yesterday by #AdipurushTeaser projecting Ravana as Khilji rather than the talented but arrogant Brahmin who created Rudra Veena to appease Prabhu Shiva

See this song “Ramya hi swarga huni Lanka” sung by Pt Bhimsen Joshi; it shows the talent & arrogance of Ravana

Part 2

The lyrics mean-

Lanka is even more beautiful than the Heaven itself

It's fame is spread across the oceans

Lanka is like a golden lotus that has bloomed and is floating on the blue ocean

The moon-god flowers blessings on this lotus with his own hands

Lyrics continued-

Laxmi (Goddess of wealth) & Lanka are like sisters who have come up from the seas

Would Goddess Laxmi consider being a maid in Lanka,for it is also very rich & rewarding? 

These lyrics by wordsmith GD Madgulkar capture so beautifully the arrogance of Ravana👌

Now coming back to the story of Ravana

Ravana was a brahmin scholar

He is the son of the sage Vishrava with the daitya princess Kaikesi, grandson of Pulastya (one of the original saptarishis) and great-grandson of the creator Brahma🙏🙏

He is said to be a great scholar (having studies the 4 vedas & 6 shastras), a master of the 64 ancient vedic arts, and the creator and master of the Rudra Veena

His knowledge & mastery gave him the name “Dasamukha”

Ravana grew up during the time that the asuras were defeated in battle by the devas, where his mother marries the sage Vishrava just to have powerful children who could challenge the devas and restore the asuras to their previously lost splendor

Ravana was constantly overshadowed by his older step-brother Kubera (the God of wealth) and how he would see his mother constantly crying over the pitiable state of the asuras, making him take a vow of vengeance against the devas who put his mother and family in this position

It’s said that, to get boons of power, he plucks off his own heads to create a new form of veena and uses his own veins as strings to play devotional songs in praise of Shiva, hoping to win the gods favor & thus came into being the Rudra Veena

Another story is that Rudra Veena was created by Prabhu Shiva himself inspired by beauty of Maa Parvati

It’s said that Ravana was such a consummate musician that Prabhu
Shiva chose him to set Vedas to music. His genius with veena helped him create new ragas

Ravana’s mastery over the Rudra Veena impressed Prabhu Shiva so much that he gave Ravana his Atma Linga, embodiment of Shiva himself in the form of a Linga 🙏🙏

Ravana’s worship pleased Shiva

Ravana asked him for a boon of immortality

When told that this was not possible, he instead asked to be invincible in battle against the devas, gandharvas & wild animals

He didn’t consider humans to be much of a threat and hence did not bother to ask to include them

That’s why, Prabhu Ram, a human avatar of Prabhu Vishnu, could defeat him

Called Dasamukha till this point, after the boon, he acquired the name Ravana

He is then said to have gone on a great conquest, with symbol of Veena on his banner, defeating the devas in a decisive battle and dominating both the human & divine races

At the zenith of his power, it was said that he could even command the rising and setting of the sun & this multiplied his arrogance & he felt he could get away with anything

& this is the story of Ravana & the Rudra Veena !!

Bollywood film makers,without going into details of a character,use creative freedom to create any nonsense from their fantasy, in this case, from Game of Thrones & Harry Potter🤨🤨

Our history is so rich

Why look at WEST for ideas?

Why show Ravana & Hanuman like this? 👇🏻👇🏻