“Asura hevath Ravana”
Translator: Senarathna Weerasinghe
Prabha Publishers, Veyangoda
Senarathna Weerasinghe’s “Asura hevath Ravana” is the authentic and unabridged Sinhala translation of Anand Neelakantan’s great mythological saga “Asura – Tale of the Vanquished,” a modern English classic published in India.
Sri Lankan readers are quite familiar with Ravana and his adventures. Although he ruled Lanka thousands of years ago, Ravana has been immortalised as a great king endowed with many skills. A large number of books and newspaper articles have been written about him.
If you visit Ella, a favourite tourist destination, you will come across a range of places connected with Ravana. Two of them are Ravana Ella and Ravana Cave. According to legend, Ravana was a demon king who belonged to the Yakkha clan.
“Asura hevath Ravana” is perhaps the most important full-length fiction based on the life and times of the legendary king. According to Valmiki’s “Ramayana”, the tale of Ravana is about the battle between the good and the evil.
Symbols of goodness and evil
“Ramayana” says Rama, the symbol of goodness, triumphed over Ravana the symbol of evil. However, Sri Lankans do not consider Ravana as an evil king. Anand Neelakantan takes a different standpoint as a fiction writer.
Ravana has been portrayed as a ten-faced demon king. However, the novelist has cast him as a human being subject to good and bad emotions. He was a person who could deal with any problem, big or small, with tenacity. We hear the story from the viewpoint of Ravana and Bhadra. From his birth, Ravana had been burdened with many hardships. He had faced them stoically until he became the undisputed king of Sri Lanka. The novel gives us glimpses of Ravana’s kingdom and his subjects considered him as their sole survivor.
The story gathers momentum at the conclusion of the epic Rama – Ravana war. The narrator shows us how Ravana faced his imminent death at the hands of Rama. Ravana also knew about the disastrous effects of a war. He remembered how he had dealt with defeated kingdoms when he won many wars against them. He could visualise the terrified faces of his countrymen who did not know the final outcome of a war.
The novel portrays Ravana as a half-Brahmin and half-Asura who had not been treated well by his father. He leaves Sri Lanka and goes to India in search of a guru to guide him in the right direction. Then he meets other Asuras.
According to the novelist, Brahmins practised meaningless rituals. The reader gets the impression that Suras (gods) and Asuras are normal people who belonged to two distinct civilisations. Unfortunately, the two clans clashed very often. Shiva was the king of an Asura tribe and Brahma was the guru. Vishnu was a god created by Brahmins.
Unknown aspects
The novelist touches upon many unknown aspects of Ravana’s life. His childhood was full of struggles. Mahabali trained him to be a soldier and to become a king. We are also given glimpses of Ravana’s relationship with Sita and how he brought her to Lanka. The narration is refreshing as we come to know some aspects of his life hitherto unknown.
The novel flows smoothly from the beginning but tends to drag towards the end. Sometimes the reader might feel that Ravana has not been portrayed well. As an epic novel, however, it gives us a different perspective of Ravana’s life. The translation which runs into more than 600 pages is interesting and readable.