Raavan and Devtaa

Raavan was the real mighty king of his times. He had won all Devtaa, Raakshas, Daitya, Gandharv, etc, no need to say of human beings. He was indeed the King of kings. It is said that all Devtaa used to stand in his service all the time. Here we would like to cite two incidents of his life related to Devtaa.

Raavan and Devtaa
Everybody knows that Raavan had won all Devtaa, Raakshas etc. So all Devtaa, Rishi etc used to stand in his service. He had employed Chandramaa to hold his royal umbrella, Varun Dev as the in-charge of water facilities, Kuber as wealth in-charge, Yam Raaj to take care of his enemies, and Indra Dev as his main counselor. Brahmaa Jee and Saptarshi always used to pray for him. Gandharv sang for him and Apsaraa danced for him. Gangaa always gave him good water. Vishwakarmaa was appointed for Anna Sanskaar. Other kings took care of his city.

Once Raavan came in his court and asked his ministers who and who kings were in his service. They named many of them - Maandhaataa, Nal, Arjun, Yayaati, Nahush, Bheem, Vidoorath etc, but Ajapaal named king was not there. Hearing this Raavan got very angry, he said - "Send somebody who can call him and tell him that if he did not come in my presence immediately I will kill him." Dhoomraaksh immediately went there and delivered the King's message to him, but Ajapaal sent him back. Then he called Jwar (fever) and sent him to Raavan. Jwar came and started affecting all of them. Raavan understood and he said to Dhoomraaksh - "Let Ajapaal be there wherever he is."

Raavan and Nava Graha Devtaa
It is believed that all the Nava Graha Devtaa lay as the stairs to his throne. He used to go to his throne by climbing upon them. When he stepped upon them at the time of climbing to his throne he used to feel a kind of thrill. Once Naarad Jee came to see him. Raavan welcomed him and asked his welfare. Naarad Jee thanked him and asked his welfare too. Naarad Jee noticed that while climbing to his throne, Raavan had nine stairs and on all those stairs Nava Graha were lying facing down. He used to climb on their back to reach his throne. Naarad Jee got very sorry to see this pathetic condition of those Devtaa who ruled the world before being won by Raavan.

Naarad Jee said to Shani Dev - "Shani Dev, You are the most powerful Devtaa among all the Nava Graha Devtaa. If you look at somebody even with half sight, he is destroyed completely, I feel very sorry for you to see you in this condition." Shani Dev said - "I know, Naarad Jee, I know. But what can I do? This Raavan has put all of us on his stairs facing down so there is no opportunity for me to look at him, otherwise I would have destroyed him too." Naarad Jee was indeed sorry for all of them, so he assured Shani Dev that he would do something for him, so that at least he can have a look at him.

Raavan said - "I am fine. See, I have all the Devtaa lying here as the stairs to my throne. I daily put my feet on their bodies and then sit on my throne." Naarad Jee admired him and his fate and said - "But Raavan, these Devtaa are lying here facing down and you climb on their back only. If they had been lying here facing upward, I think you must have enjoyed climbing upon them more than now, because then you could see the expressions on their faces too." Raavan got very happy to hear this, he said - "Naarad Jee, You have told me a very nice thing. I will do the same, and then I would be able to see their facial expression too. I am sure I will enjoy that scene more." Naarad Jee went away after talking to him.

Raavan then asked all the Devtaa to lie facing upward. As soon as Shani Dev turned himself to face up, he looked at Raavan and from the same day his bad days started. After that Shoorpanakhaa came and reported her incident, of severed nose and ears, to him.

Sushma Gupta
www.sushmajee.com