Book review- Raavan: Enemy of Aryavarta by Amish Tripathi (Ramachandra Series- Part 3)

 
Growing up, I remembered Raavan as a man of contrasts, of brutal violence and scholarly knowledge… as a proprietor of unlimited wealth but hauling a gloomy soul. He ‘was’ a villain in my edition of Ramayana. And then I read Amish’s version of Raavan wherein, I imagine, in some parallel universe he is struggling with his devil soul and is defying all the odds of society and trying to make an imprint in history. My perspective towards him is shifted…and that is definitive.

"Raavan: Enemy of Aryavarta" is the 3rd novel of the Ramchandra Series. The Amish's Raavan as a teenage pirate was violent… no question, and brutally so, but there were good points to him, too. He was genuinely a scholar, he was extremely well-read. He was a brilliant musician and invented instruments. He had written books. But at the end of the day, the king of Lanka was also the villain whose fearsome resolve is to be a giant among men, to conquer, plunder, and seize the greatness that he thinks is his right.

Throughout the book, Raavan's suffering, after losing the only woman he loved, is deep-seated and terrible. It eats at him from within, while on the outside, he becomes the world's wealthiest man – powerful, cruel, and ruthless. My favorite part is the illustration of Kumbhakaran, the good brother of Amish’s Raavan along with the mysterious revelation of the relationship between Raavan and Sita...mind-blowing.

The book looks to justify the brutality in Raavan’s character as an attempt to equate all the injustice faced by him in the Amish’s Ramayan Era.

My Final Verdict for the book-

Just go for it! (But don’t dare to compare it, in any way, with the traditional Raavan)

Quotes-

“When two elephants fight, the grass gets trampled”

“Refusing to believe the truth doesn’t make it any less true.”

“Nobility without capability is limiting, it only results in good theory.”

“In the field of dharma, intentions matter as much, if not more, than the act itself.”

“Everyone is struggling. I suppose we must try to understand and learn rather than a judge”