Originally posted by: chen2chic
Firstly Vibs & Chandra, thanks for the wonderful analysis and discussion from the two of you. (and somebody said they missed this discussion😉)Reg. this question if Rama would have prevailed if Ravana had gone along with few chosen men to do the task. I feel it might have been difficult for Rama to prevail, since Ravan would have definitely taken the aid of Vali then. And Vali, too, would have helped him since he himself had taken away another's wife. And if Vali & Rama came face to face, as per Vali's boon, half of the strength of his opponent is transferred to him, so chances for Ramawould have been meek.Probably Rama did not hand over Lanka to Kuber since he thought Vibeeshan was worthy of such a city as Lanka. And as such Kuber was satisfied with his city on the Mandara mountain in the north near Kailas. He being the Lord of North direction found more prosperity there than in Lanka, and hence may be he too might have refused to go back to Lanka. (my assumption)Though killing Indrajit & Kumbhakaran was not mandatory to kill Ravan, it would have happened that way, bcoz Ravan would not have been allowed to face Ram right at the beginning of the war. And unless I&K were killed, Ravan would not have appeared on the battle field. But, if Ravan was not helpless(without arms) the first time he appears in the battlefield, Ram may havekilled him. Ravan lived that day only to DIE ANOTHER DAY...ha ha..
Chen2chic
On his deathbed, Vali told Rama that had he been approached instead of Sugriv, he'd have freed Sita and dragged Ravan to him. Vali was not a vassal or even ally of Ravan, despite the peace they had made - all on Vali's terms. Also, this discussion assumes that Sita was not captured i.e. Ravan didn't have her pativrata stacked against him, just Rama's might vs his own.
Rama first crowned Vibhishan after the latter joined him (and our Mandodari had some good observations on that). It may have been to sow the seeds of discord among the rakshashas, but then again, it may have been to reign in the rakshashas (in a manner of speaking) and have them follow dharma. Also, since the rakshashas had been living there for several yugas, Rama may well have considered Lanka their legitimate home, rather than Kubera's. Also, answer to Vibs question above, Kubera left Lanka to Ravan w/o a fight, but later, had a battle with him to protest Ravan persecuting the rishis and other innocent people.
As for I&K, had Ravan gone to Janasthana to battle Rama, instead of abduct Sita, it would have happened w/o involving either of them. Also note that Ravan did go to battle himself following the killing of Prahast (I'm going by Valmiki here, not the serial), and Rama could have killed him then, instead of disarming him. I don't think Rama spared him because he wanted to kill Kumbhakarna and Indrajit: however, once Ravan was defeated, he didn't dare go into battle until Indrajit himself was killed, and he was completely burning with revenge.
P.S. Vibs, congrats on 500!👍🏼👏
