Who was Ravana? What was his mistake? Ravana, the chief of the demons, was the ruler of one of the most opulent kingdoms on earth, the Golden Lanka. His opulence, might and knowledge were unmatched. Srila Prabhupada explains: “Ravana was so powerful that all the demigods in higher planetary systems were afraid of him. He became so powerful. Ravana's brother reigned in Brazil. And there was a subway from Ceylon to Brazil. We get information from Ramayana. Such powerful demons. Who can make a subway now from one country to another country? They can make subways from one city to another, utmost. And Brazil, they say, still has a big stock of gold. So Ravana utilized these gold mines for constructing his city. Svarna-lanka, "Golden Ceylon," it was known at that time. He was so advanced even in material science, even at that time. And he was also a good scholar in Vedic literature. He was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. And by the blessings of Lord Shiva, he got so much opulence. And he became so powerful that he dared to kidnap the wife of Ramachandra. So such a powerful demon was killed by Ramachandra.”
Despite being such a powerful, opulent and knowledgeable person, what made Ravana a demon? If the reason had been his having taken birth in a demonic family, then personalities like Prahlada Maharaja and Bali Maharaja should also have been called demons. But birth alone does not count. It is the consciousness that makes a person demon. In the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna defines demonic nature as, “Arrogance, pride, anger, conceit, harshness and ignorance—these qualities belong to those of demonic nature, O son of Prithu.” (Bg 16.4). Thus it has very much to do with the consciousness than the family lineage and appearance. A demon does not mean someone who is having a gigantic body with sharp teeth and claws and a thunderous voice.
In today’s world anyone who is well dressed, has good material education and possesses great wealth is called a ‘gentleman’. But Ravana had all these opulences many-many times more than the gentlemen of today… and yet he was termed as a demon. According to Padma Purana, a demon is one who decries the supremacy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna or Vishnu, and opposite to demons are the devatas or demigods who submit to the supremacy of the Lord and serve Him favorably. This is what distinguishes Prahlada Maharaja and Bali Maharaja from Ravana; that they were pure devotees of Lord Vishnu whereas Ravana was a staunch enemy of His.
The greatest fault with Ravana was that he wanted to enjoy Lakshmi or Sita, who is the property of the Supreme Lord Narayana. A materialistic person, just like Ravana, tries to enjoy the Lord’s energy for his personal sense gratification and sometimes even against the Lord Himself. Lord Krishna says in the Gita the eight elements: earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego are His energies. This entire material creation is made up of these elements and thus it is Krishna’s property. That’s why in the Gita, Lord Krishna claims Himself to be the proprietor of all the universes; sarva loka mahesvara (Bg 5.29). Being the creator and master of everything that be, He is the rightful enjoyer of this creation. But the Ravana policy is to snatch away the property from the real owner to enjoy as one’s own, and not even hesitate in killing the real owner. In other words, it is to snatch away Lakshmi from Vishnu for personal sense gratification and declare that ‘There is no Vishnu or Vishnu is dead’.
The modern day civilization is a diligent follower of Ravana’s philosophy. However gentleman a person may appear to be, using Krishna’s property for his personal sense gratification and decrying the ownership of the Lord makes him demonic. Just like Ravana did not hesitate in even attempting to kill Rama, in the same way atheistic people do not hesitate in blaspheming the Lord or negating His existence. They want to exploit the whole world claiming it to be their own. There is a solid conviction within the heart to Lord it over material nature which actually belongs to Krishna and should be used in His service. This conviction is the cause of more and more sinful acts and further degradation in material existence.
We, as the Bhagavad-gita explains, are eternal parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord. It’s our responsibility to serve Him for His pleasure as we are being created for that very purpose. A ‘gentleman’ servant would never steal his master’s property but rather would use it for the pleasure of the master. And this is called a devotee, whose perfection can be seen in the personality of Hanuman. Srila Prabhupada explains, “The Ravana policy is, "Take away Sita from the clutches of Rama and enjoy it." This is Ravana policy. And the Hanuman policy is: "Take out Sita from the hands of Ravana and get her seated by the side of Rama." The same Sita. Sita means Lakshmi. So Lakshmi means Narayana's property, God's property. We are not of the mentality of Ravana who took Lakshmi from Narayana and became ruined. Keep Lakshmi and Narayana always together and you will become as powerful as Hanuman.”
Perfection of gentlemanliness is in becoming Hanuman by always engaging Lord’s property in His service for His pleasure. As both, Hanuman consciousness and Ravana consciousness, reside within our minds, all one needs to do is to replace Ravana with Hanuman and that process is called Bhakti or devotional service which makes us the real gentleman. This is possible only by taking shelter of the Supreme Lord just like Hanuman did. By remaining firmly fixed in devotional service to Lord Rama he could serve Lord Rama and thus reach the pinnacle of devotion. Similarly if one takes shelter of the Supreme Lord Ramachandra with determination to serve Him favorably always, then he can very well attain the devotional glory, bliss and Lord Rama’s favor eternally like Hanumanji. This would be the real celebration of Dasara.
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