Lord Rama, the Supreme Lord, did not have to personally appear in this world to kill the demon Ravana and free the world from his atrocity. The Supreme Lord creates this universe and also destroys this universe as per his will. So, he could have killed Ravana just by desiring to kill Ravana.
But he incarnated in this mortal world to reveal that he is so magnanimous that he is always willing to forgive the conditioned souls for even the greatest sin and is ready to give his shelter to anyone who seeks it.
In Ramayana we see that Lord Rama was willing to forgive Ravana for all his misdeeds. So, he gave the demon king several chances to rectify his mistakes and become his devotee. But sadly, overpowered by lust and false pride, Ravana refused to take shelter of Lord Rama who is celebrated as the Supreme shelter of the universe.
Lusty Ravana disregards godly advice
Vibhishana, a devotee of Rama, tried his best to counsel his brother but the arrogant Ravana rebuked Vibhishana and threw him out of his kingdom. Hanuman, one of the most celebrated devotees of Lord Rama, advised Ravana to return mother Sita but Ravana devoid of good sense tried to insult and torture Hanuman by setting his tail on fire. Hanuman showed his prowess by burning the entire golden city of Lanka with his tail which was put on fire by the foolish followers of Ravana. Just before the beginning of the battle Angada too had gone as peace messenger, requesting Ravana to follow the principles of dharma and return mother Sita.
But the ten headed Ravana was so full of ego, arrogance and pride that he thought that he will be able to enjoy with mother Sita by killing her husband, the Supreme Lord, Rama. Ravana’s stubbornness did not just cause his own death but his sons, brothers, ministers and uncountable soldiers were also killed.
In Lanka, women became widow, children orphans and elderly parents had to suffer the agony of the death of their sons and witness the suffering of their daughter in laws and grandchildren.
Lust is the gateway to hell
In Bhagavad Gita 16.21, Lord Krishna says that lust, anger and greed is the gateway to hell. Ravana is a symbol of lust. From Ravana’s life we can understand how dangerous lust is and how it completely ruins one’s life.
As soon as one develops lustful thoughts and starts acting on it, his or her misery begins. Ravana’s suffering and humiliation began as soon as he desired to enjoy mother Sita and started acting on his lustful propensity. Although he succeeded in kidnapping Sita, but he was not even able to go close to her. He foolishly thought that Sita, the eternal consort of Lord Rama, will be captivated by his heroic deeds and vast wealth and kingdom. For his lust he was rebuked by his near and dear ones constantly. In fact, he had become a laughingstock. Even his sons had advised him to return Sita.
Just imagine in today’s era if a Prime Minister of a country who is already married, has grown up children, kidnaps someone else’s wife and tries to marry her but the lady constantly refuses his proposal then what will be his image among the people.
From the life of Ravana, we should learn that we should never have any lusty thoughts about opposite sex. And even if such thoughts come to our mind because of our past conditionings, we should never try to fulfill it. It will ruin our life.
Lord Rama helps his devotee to kill the Ravana within
Lord Rama killed Ravana several centuries back but the demon as lust still resides in our heart forcing us to indulge in sinful activities which brings misfortune in our life. Lust is our biggest enemy, and we should put in our best efforts to free ourselves from all lusty thoughts. As Lord Rama gave many chances to Ravana to reform, similarly the merciful Lord also has given us opportunities to kill the Ravana within us.
We contemplate on lustful thoughts and act on it because we think that it is the highest pleasure we can get. And we do not want to deprive ourselves of that pleasure. But if we analyse our own life, we will see that lust may give some temporary feeling of happiness but ultimately it brings misery. If we study the life of great spiritual personalities in Ramayana, we find that instead of engaging their mind and senses in lusty thoughts and activities, they engaged it in serving Lord Rama and experienced great bliss.
The monkeys are considered inferior to human race but by assisting Lord Rama in his mission they became so glorious that today great scriptures and great devotees of Lord Rama sing their glories. While serving Lord Rama the monkey warriors enjoyed every moment of their life and thus perfected their lives.
Happiness one experiences in serving the Lord is trillion times greater than any material happiness including the happiness of enjoying with opposite gender. That transcendental joy which is everlasting can be achieved if with determination and courage we give up the shelter of Ravana like Vibhishana. The all-loving Lord will happily accept us like he accepted Vibhishana.
Chant cleanses the heart of lust
One of the best ways to take shelter of the Supreme Lord is by chanting his holy names like the Hare Krishna Mahamantra – Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. In Siksastakam verse 1, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu says that chanting is so potent that it cleanses the heart of all the impurities which we have accumulated life after life. Once one starts developing taste in chanting the holy names of the Lord, one starts losing interest in satisfying any material desire.
Sri Yamunacarya, a great devotee of Lord Krishna who is none other than Lord Rama says, “Since I have been engaged in the transcendental loving service of Kṛṣṇa, realizing ever-new pleasure in Him, whenever I think of sex pleasure I spit at the thought, and my lips curl with distaste.” Bhagavad Gita 5.21 purport
The fire of lust will destroy our life but love for Lord Rama will purify our life. Let us kill the Ravana within before it kills us by becoming a sincere devotee of Lord Rama and by engaging our mind and senses in his constant devotional service. The Supreme Lord who conquered mighty Ravana will help us to conquer lust which is a great destructive force.
It will open the gateway to unlimited transcendental happiness
