Ramayana_VOLUME V with index

Ramayana: A Divine Drama – Vol. V
there is every chance of losing all that he has. Ravana did possess a
considerable amount of worldly power and even moral power and was a
devotee of God. Yet, he fell to the lowest depths because of some of his bad
qualities like jealousy and anger. (SSB 1977 p.114)
He could invade the city of Kubera, defeat him and take away the Pushpaka
Vimana. This shows that in him there was a quality of jealousy. He could not
bear Kubera being greater than him. Not only this, he invaded the city of
Mayura his father - - in – law, defeated him, took away all his attendants and
annexed his city which was the principal city of Lanka. Here one should
recognise that if there is a room for such bad qualities to grow, even though
they begin in a small way, in the end like white ants they will destroy the
entire life. Sometimes, because of weakness, or in a state of excitement, one
does things which one should not do and in the end he will have to repent.
(SSB 1977 p.162)
(Ravana was) a Duraatma (an evil–souled being) (SSS Vol.22 p.67)
When bad ideas fill your head, your thoughts and your intelligence will
become blunt. Because Ravana had the three bad qualities of jealousy, anger
and ego filling his head, he was deprived of all chances of success although he
had several powers. For one who is suffering from ego, the power of
discrimination between transient and what is permanent will be missing. One
who develops jealousy will lose kindness and the ability to give freely. One
who develops anger will lose all opportunity for reaching the heights of glory
and his own possessions will disappear. His reputation and his strength will
disappear at the moment when they are most needed. Those who are near to
him will become distant from him. For one who develops pride, everything
will become bad. Those who suffer from anger cannot achieve any result.
They will also feel ashamed at the critical time.
Ravana was ruling over a kingdom and his capital city would compare well
with heaven. But because of his bad qualities, he lost his own happiness, his
kingdom and everything that he had. In fact, he destroyed his own dynasty
and family. He knew all the codes of conduct of a king and he knew
everything and yet he was behaving like a monkey. He knew several things,
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