The Ramayana - Valmiki Ramayana

It is mentioned in some scriptures that when Hanuman went to Lanka in search of Sita, he saw many women, most of them Ravana’s wives in palace’s ‘antahpur’ (a dwelling deep inside the palace for women only). Hanuman had observed that most of them were happy and satiated.

Ravana did not believe in limits or restrictions as far as his sexual activities were concerned. As a result of which he was cursed many times by his victims. According to one version, he was cursed at least eighteen times. Most prominent of these curses was, when Ravana forced himself upon ‘Vedvati’ and ‘Rambha’ turn by turn. They cursed him that ‘henceforth if he used force on an unwilling woman, he would die instantly.’ This curse may be one reason why he did not force Sita into submission.

Now about Sita- perhaps it was not entirely because Ravana wanted revenge for his sister ‘Shurpanakha that Ravana kidnapped Sita. More likely- Shurpanakha, after Ram and Lakshman cut off her nose and ears- went to her mighty brother, fully knowing his weakness for pretty women, described Sita in such vivid terms that Ravana wanted to possess her (Sita) at any cost, even at the risk of his own life. But again, probably conscious of Vedvati and Rambha’s curse that he restrained himself while dealing with Sita and tried to woo her instead of forcing himself on her.

It is quite a surprise that Ravana was a good poet and an exponent of music. Normally, persons with negative traits, such as Ravana had, lack finer instincts and do not have inclination for fine arts and music. These activities are for mild and sensitive persons. But Ravana, in contrast to his bearings, had these hobbies.

Being a staunch ‘Shiv bhakta’ (devotee of Shiva), he had created ‘Shiv Tandava’ (dance of Shiva) which is even practiced today. There is an interesting incident in an ancient scripture which shows Ravana’s devotion to music and poetry. Once, Ravana and his wife Mandodari were on a pilgrimage. Both were deep in meditation through music and dance. Ravana was playing the ‘Veena’ (an ancient Indian instrument) and Mandodari was practicing dance on Ravana’s music. All of a sudden, a string on the ‘Veena’ broke. So worried was Ravana that this accident would distract Mandodari’s meditative and devotional dance that he cut a vain from his hand, attached it to the ‘Veena’ to replace the broken string and continued to play the instrument. Mandodari never came to know of this and continued her dance blissfully. Such was Ravana’s devotion to whatever he did. Be it battle, be it administration, be it learning, be it worship or art. Such diverse interests and activities are rare, even in scriptures.

This is also a fact that after taking over Lanka from Kubera, Ravana made it prosperous. That is why it was called ‘Sone ki Lanka’ (City of gold). It is said that every household had gold worth a fortune. And because of this prosperity, his subjects were involved in hobbies like music and sculpture.