For the first time in recorded history, Ravana did not leap from the plane before it had fully stopped. Mandodari's anxiety soared to into lerable heights as Ravana, known for his stride, stumbled, walking as if on a bed of thorns In his trembling arms, he carried abundle wrapped in silk-a deadman. Who could it be? Casualties were common in war. Yet, she had never seen her husband so deeply shattered; his face was pallid, shoulders drooped, and chest heaving with laboured breaths. Could it be Vidyujjiva?
This is the tale of Ravana, a character with numerous flaws, yet simultaneously well-versed in the shastras, an upholder of the moral code, in love with Mandodari, an exemplary ruler, a family man, and a devout follower of Brahma and Shiva. He had a story, an echo of a historical fact buried in the ancient past. And inspiration drove him to compose a magnificent epicbased on it. Thus, here it is, the alternate poem that was relegated to the hidden depths by later moralists: Ravana by Indrayani Sawkar.