Raghav Rao - The King of Lanka [ An analogy]

This is how I perceive Raghav. What I believed and still believe he should be shown like. And this is solely written for the purpose of putting my opinion on the front, no offence to anyone.

And please, I don't intend to hurt religeous sentiments. Its based on fiction and ancient texts like the Ramayana, Vishnu Puraan and other prose and poetry of that time.

This is also the reason why I will not see MHRW anymore. Atleast not excited for this track cause ITV as I know it will show us a predictable end.

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Jatatavigalajjala pravahapavitasthale

Galeavalambya lambitam bhujangatungamalikam

Damad damad damaddama ninadavadamarvayam

Chakara chandtandavam tanotu nah shivah shivam

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With his neck consecrated by the flow of water that flows from his hair,

And on his neck a snake, which is hung like a garland,

And the Damaru drum that emits the sound “Damat Damat Damat Damat”,

Lord Shiva did the auspicious dance of Tandava. May he give prosperity to all of us.

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Ravana, the King of Lanka serenades the Destroyer. His verses woven with the power worthy of Mahadeva's cosmic might draws a sharp constrast with that of Lord Rama's devotional hymn

Satyam Shivam Sundaram

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Shiva, is the ultimate truth, He is beautiful

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Ravan worships Shiva's rage, his uncontrollable power which can destroy the very centre of existence. In a way, Ravan's tribute to Rudra is his own reflection. He is a power addict. A mighty ruler, ruthless, merciless, pitiless. He looks at his God the way he is. He is insistent in emulating his Deity's fearsome rage. And in that, he finds his existence.

Who is Ravan?

You might think, here is where I will launch into Ravan's vulnerabilities and how he was misunderstood and etc. Bleh! Nah!

Ravan wasn't misunderstood. He was as he was known. An absolutely corrupt power hungry Demon King who stopped at nothing to get what he wanted, let alone he had to snatch it from others. But was his character so grossly unidimensional like we have been told for generations?

There is more to Ravan that meets the eye. The reasons for his supreme hatred towards Ram. The reasons for the abduction of Lady Sita. The reasons for his massive downfall. Note that, before I start my analysis into one of my favorite characters, I am not justifying anything he did. I am trying to understand his motivations so please keep an open mind.

Has anyone of you read Anand Neelkantan's book, Asura: Tale of the vanquished? Or even Amish Tripathi's fascinating Ram Chandra series? If not, please do. Those are absolute treats for book lovers and mythology addicts.

Ancient India, Sapt Sindhu : Land of the seven rivers, as it was hailed as was a canvas of contrasting social elements. The kings ruling the lands were benovalent, powerful and conviniently patriarchical chauvinists. The greatest exception to that rule was King Janak, a relatively (read here) small and powerless king of Mithila who entertained female sages (Rishi Gargi, a very famous lady philosopher and thinker, one of the most popular sages of the time) in his court as well. He was looked down upon by many due to his radical thinking. A father of four daughters.

And the most powerful monarch of that time, King Dasharath of Kosala, Ayodhya, with four mighty sons and three unhappy queens. He ruled a land bound by heavy caste divisions and ordered structure of civilization. People revered their king and followed through whatever was deemed of them. No rebellions, no anarchy. A seemingly picture perfect land.

Enter, Ravan. An Asura, a Demon monarch, a scoundrel of the first water who dared to rise from the backward castes which consisted of the nagas, the demons and the yakshas. The poor, downtrodden and the destitute. His, father a great sage was apparantly 'trapped' into love by the beautiful Asura princess Kaikesi and left his former wife and son, Kubera, the treaurer of the Gods to marry her. Kaikesi gave birth to Ravan, Kumbhakaran, Vibhishan and Meenakshi (who was later known as Surpanakha). From childhood Ravan had seen exteme poverty and faced horrendous discrimination. He was a half blood. An impure. His family was excommunicated by the other upper caste Brahmin families, the sages looked down upon him and his step mother and half brother left no stone unturned to bully him.

Then forced by his family, and suddenly having a change of heart and apparantly seeing the light, the Sage, Ravan's illustrous father abandoned his Asura wife and three kids to turn back to his first wife. Rage, hunger, betrayal and constant humiliation suffered at the hands of the so called educated upper crust of the Sapt Sindhu sowed the seeds of bitterness and an unquenchable thirst for power inside young Ravan's mind. He saw he would never be respected for his lineage, never be given a chance for education reserved for the sages and the Kshatriyas, so there was only one thing he could earn - wealth. And through wealth, power. And through power, fear and ultimately begrudging respect.

Thus began Ravan's revenge saga against Aryavart/ Sapt Sindhu and the very moralities humankind stood for. In that quest of gaining wealth and power he lost himself and shedded every ethic and value he possessed. Why bother? When no one else did? He killed, slaughtered, won and conquered kingdom after kingdom, ruler after ruler till he defeated the very Gods. His battle tactics were formidable, his strategies unbeatable, his beliefs unshakable, his passion of victory unquenchable and ultimately he stood unconquerable.

The Gods were aghast, hapless, terrified. This Asura was destroying the very balance of their carefully crafted civilization. He would stop at nothing.

Note that Ravan didnot only gain his wealth from wars. A lot of it came from trade. His ships had seized all the sea routes forcing the traders of Sapt Sindhu to pay him exorbitant taxes in exchange of meagre supplies. He had effectively landlocked them, draining the land of the God kings barren. He stayed in his gold gilded city of Lanka and sunk his jaws into the hapless Sapt Sindhu sucking up their very blood. Having made his empire he had to reign on it. Ravan's kindgom ran on fear. His generals terrorized their enemies, allies and subjects into acquiscence.

Ravan had no formal education but he was considered a novel genius in arts, philosophy, business, statecraft and politics. He was a master sitarist and fantastic dancer. Look at his choice of worship. The famous Shiv Tandav Strotam and the Bharatnatyam dance form.

He was mighty, strong, handsome and a complete ba*tard. Women fell for him left and right fuelling his arrogance and filling his desires. His temptation was too strong to resist. The only place where his heart came alive was his family. His family including his brothers, sister, mother, his people, his armies, his subjects. Harming them was harming him and he gave no quarter to anyone who would make a scratch on them. He was invincible and as they say, absolute power corrupts absolutely. That is exactly what happened. His power went to his head.

The pride comes before the fall.

His pride paced way for his utter destruction and subsequent downfall. His egotistical nature and arrogance made him blind in his quest to defeat the messenger of the Gods. Lord Rama. And despite hundred voices of reason he went through with the battle which ultimately killed everyone he loved and himself at the end.

He went in a blaze, a befitting end for a vengeful arrogant scoundrel to dared to defy the Gods. And the sages, the mortals and the Gods took care that Ravan would be a name millieniels would remember with equal amounts of fear, hatred, awe and disgust. The powerful villian who fell to his vanity.

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Now, the reason for my loooooong rant on Ravan. For me Raghav Rao is Ravan incarnate. Yes, he doesn't possess Ravan's level of lust and greed. But most of his persona matches with that of the King of Lanka. You can find it out yourself. Yet, I will try to draw some parallels.

The origin story was a lot similar. The need to earn money which later turned into an obsession. The hatred for the law of the land which left him alone and abandoned at a young age. The use of fear as a weapon to keep his Empire intact. The constant never-ending storm of rage and fury inside him making him take hasty desicions. The blind love for his family which can make him go to any lengths.

I will draw an interesting parallel here. I don't know how many of you know and believe this theory. Meenakshi (Surpanakha) was the ultimate reason for Ravan's downfall. She hated him with a passion. She had initially approached Ram and Lakshman with the thought of provoking them to fight Ravan but later got taken in with them. A lady making sexual advances towards men? Sacrilege! Yet no one can question a man. Ram was amused by her uncharacteristic boldness, so he decided to tease her a bit. Ram knew very well Lakshman would never take another wife yet he told Surpanakha to approach him. Lakshman understanding his brother's amusement send her back to him. This back and forth and mocking angered her to attack Sita. Whence Ram ordered Lakshman to maim her. Done in self defense. Can't say anything in that. Whatever.... I am rambling again.

So why would Surpanakha want to destroy her own brother. The one man who loved her beyond anything? Because he killed her husband. Vidyunmaali, the king of the Kekeyas... a rival demon king who had married Surpanakha for taking revenge on Ravan. Ravan had warned Surpanakha many times against him but... love is blind, deaf and dumb. They married. But then Vidyunmaali led a coup against Ravan and got killed in return.

Thus, Surpanakha's hatred towards her own brother.

Sounds familiar? Keerti, Raghav and Sunny?

Then obviously Raghav's way of conducting business is quite similar to that of Ravan. Illegal, risky and ruthless. Raghav's entire demeanour oozes arrogance, anger, a wild beauty which is raw and savage and an unabashedness regarding his ill gotten gains and ways.

But here comes the difference.

Ravan's downfall was because of his vanity and Raghav's downfall will be because of his love. His desire to love and be loved in return is a marked difference from that of the demon king. But fall he will. He has fallen in love with a woman who stands against his very existence. Raghav is too far gone in the quagmire of his darkness. He creates a bit of light for the woman he adores, showing his vulnerabilities and softness to her but he cannot change. He will not change. And Pallavi will never align herself with a man who cannot walk the path of truth and enlightenment.

If you ask me, Raghav Rao was, is and will always remain the villain. Till the end of his story cause his story must end. The world cannot hold an uncontrollable power as him for long. Him and his so called ' Sone ki Lanka' will drown in front of Pallavi's power of good.

Because as much as I love Ravan and Raghav both, I also know, have faith and believe strongly on the fact that whatever happens, truth will always win. No matter what. Satyameva Jayate...

As it happened in Ramayana and should happen here as well, the end of the Demon King is nigh unstoppable and approaching soon. And Raghav Rao will also always be remembered as the villain who whisked away the innocent princess to bind her in his golden cage till she was able to rip open her shackles and douse him and his kingdom in flames.

A befitting end for a wicked man.

And perhaps the innocent princess can hide her tears behind the ashes of her heart which she had burned along with that of the monster she has dared to love.

Lets agree to disagree... 😆

Some more tags!

This was very interesting.

More interestingly, Raghav means descendant of Raghu clan, and is often used as a name for Lord Rama.

Irony of the situation! 🤣

He is no where near Lord Rama. Either his virtues or his vices donot align even a bit with Ram. I doubt he would've told Pallu to do agnipariksha after she came back frm D house living with Mandaar... or throw her out of the house if Sunny tells him some bs regarding her purity or fidelity. Nor do I think he us Godly in any way.

Seriously Ravan and Raghav they are too similar but at the same time too different......Wonderful analogy.👏

Now after reading it I am looking forward to the upcoming track.....hope the makers don't disappoint us.

I loved reading this post while I am not well versed with the story of Ram and Ravan, I can understand the parallels you've drawn.

Tell me one thing, wasn't Ramayana set in the satyug and we are currently in kalyug? The story and impact will be different so will our perception of Ram, Sita and Ravan.

Will it be wrong to believe that Raghav will eventually chose what is more important to him and Raghvi will have a happy ending?

I'm not sure why you chose not to watch the show anymore? Do you think Raghav as a character should not mend his ways? If u ask me I'm totally conflicted and I'm not sure which side I'd chose. This time I put my faith in the makers and see what they are trying to show me.

PS: I hope I have not offended any religious sentiments in my ignorance. Pls forgive me if at all.

Ramayana for a layman has two main distinct characters Ram and Ravan representing white and black side respectively , it’s the epic tale of good vs Evil after all.😆

In MHRW we have both sides in one man - Raghav Rao.

Initially Ravan waged war against Rama and Lakshman to avenge his sister , yes indeed, but later it became all about his lust to win Sita and arrogance to defeat Rama, his love for Surpankha wasn’t the only motivation afterwards. He wasn’t fighting for his loved one, he was fighting to fuel his own need of being called supreme power. Ravan was wrong , his start maybe tragic but that doesn’t excuse his wrong doings.

And no , you got it wrong , Ravan didn’t die because of his love for Surpankha. He died because he disregarded his own loved ones and their advices .

Ravan’s traitor sister was just reason for initial attack, but actual cause of Ravan’s downfall was his brother (not sister). Brother who loved Ravan and wished for his well being, Ravan insulted him and threw him out , and in the end Vibhishan revealed Ravan’s weakness to Ram leading to Ravan’s death .

If Ravan had traitor sister like Surpankha , he also had loving and dutiful wife like Mandodari and brother like Vibhishan. Mandodari even brought Amrit to save her husband’s life , Vibhishan along with Mandodari repeatedly tried to get Ravan to path of righteousness but alas ! both failed .( reminds me of scene in initial episodes where Farhad was trying Raghav to stop illlegal work as he has enough wealth to last for ages)

He was losing his children one after the other yet he didn’t stop, Kaikesi, his mother also advised him to stop man slaughter and return Sita back to Ram but Ravan disobeyed his own mother.

Will Raghav not stop if his courier boys kept getting compromised? I don’t think so.

For a second if I draw parallels to Raghav, Pallavi , Farhad and Amma, I don’t think Raghav will ever go so deep in darkness that he disregards and disrespects his people & their love to extent Ravan did.

Farhad won’t give out Raghav’s business secrets to police easily nor will Pallavi remain meek quiet spectator like Mandodari , she’ll fight head on with him and she is 😆.

Raghav invading tax is fine but now a boy lost his life because of his business, that’s a wake up call, Raghav has to draw line somewhere and mend certain ways.

Doing illegal activities doesn’t make Raghav , Raghav Rao. He’s more than that. I don’t know why his fans get insecure so easily 😆.

Ravan had so many good qualities but his arrogance led to his and his family’s downfall , what’s the use of his good qualities ? He might have started war to avenge sister but ultimately destroyed whole of his own family.

Raghav clearly lives insecure life that doesn’t let him to happy to fullest, only money makes him feel powerful, it’d be great if he realises he’s loved by Amma and Pallavi regardless of his bank balance, he’s worthy of their love even if he can’t or doesn’t fulfill materialistic needs, that people who bullied him for being were wrong , his worth doesn’t come from financial position.

Raghav doesn’t need to change completely, his certain insecurities need solution. Won’t it be great if at end he actually gets relieved of some burden and lives life he always wanted with his family?

Why be so pessimistic? 😆

No offence to anyone nor did I intent to hurt religious sentiments of anyone

Dear, read my post properly.

I never said Ravan died because of Surpanakha. I said she wanted to take revenge from him.

And I have written that he didnot heed to his loved ones hundreds of warnings against the battle. I specifically wrote that he was arrogant and because of his ego he was defeated. I am not pessimistic. I am a realist. There's a difference.

You are right. Our definition of Ram, Sita and Ravan has changed drastically. But I see people compating Raghav to Shiva and I am fed up of seeing people white washing him on insta so I decided to post my opinion of what I see him as. For me, he is like Ravan. White washing him is an insult to his character. I think.

shri RAM was born in he TRETA yug , not the satyug , shri KRISHNA in the dwapar yug