Ravana (Howler) – in Hindu mythology, a demon, a former ruler of Rakshasas and a mythical ruler of the island of Lanka, a character in the Ramayana epic, an antagonist of the main character Rama. According to legend, he had ten heads and therefore had the name Dashanand (Dashagriva).
Dashanand: “O Mahadev, my inner self feels that before meeting you, I must get rid of my bad qualities. I must become detached from this world. Like you, I must become a hermit. I promise that I will not complete my austerities until I get rid of my bad qualities and satisfy you. My 10 heads are evidence of great knowledge. But I turned my knowledge into evil by my actions. I am going to purify myself by freeing myself from bad qualities.”
My first bad quality is Anger. It doesn’t let me know right from wrong. Justice from injustice. My 10th head is a symbol of my anger and I must get rid of it!
My second bad quality is Ego. It made me think that I am the strongest in the world. To get rid of this stupidity, I offer you these ashes, Mahadev!
My third bad quality is Jealousy. I became greedy. I only wanted what was not mine. Freeing myself from this quality, I offer this ashes to you!
Happiness and Sorrow are all illusions, and I want to be free from these illusions, my Lord!
Fear is a sickness that prevents me from finding the Lord and understanding the truth!
Greed – because of it, I thought only of myself and disturbed the peace of the world!
Lust – it makes me go the way of pleasures and prevents me from finding the way to God!
Ambition – they keep me from the intended path, and also do not need me, my Lord!
Dashanand: “O Mahadev! After I offered you my 9 heads, you do not consider me worthy of meeting you. This means that my life is meaningless. If you do not come to me, I will come under your protection by giving my life!”
Shiva: “Dashanand! I am very pleased with your worship. Ask me for the gift you wanted.”
Dashanand: “All my life I have been immersed in material things. I believed that the meaning of life is pleasure and pleasure. But at this moment of meeting you, you gave me such awareness and divine joy that it can be compared to as if I and did not live at all. All riches and blessings have been accumulated in vain. None of these things are valuable. Your appearance is a blessing that has destroyed all my desires. But the most incredible thing is that I am completely satisfied. I feel a strange feeling of happiness and wholeness, which I couldn’t even imagine. Grant me pure and unalloyed devotion, my Lord! Even if I lose everything, may I never lose devotion to you! May no one be able to take it from me, not even myself!”
Shiva: “Until today, all my devotees have asked only for some material things. But for the first time today, someone, having performed severe penance, has chosen devotion to me as his goal of life! As long as you selflessly worship me, you will be known in this world as my purest devotee!”
