Ravan’s Devotional Song for Mahadev

Did you know that Asura King and Vedic scholar Ravan composed a hymn to pacify and please Mahadev? This powerful piece of Sanskrit poetry is extremely popular even today cutting across age, regions and even religious backgrounds. People find themselves pulled to its hypnotic rhythm. Read on this blog about the devotional side of Ravan and his beautiful hymn dedicated to Mahadev: The Shiv Tandav Stotram.

Highlights of this blog:

• The Legends Behind the Hymn
• Powerful Language and Rhythm
  • Outstanding Musical Expression
  • The Play of Sound
• The Passionate Call of a Devotee
• Compound Word Arrangement
• The Multi-Faceted Ravan
• Contemporary Twists and Turns

The Legends Behind the Hymn

An interesting Katha is documented in the Uttar Kand of Ramayan recensions (later edited works). Once, while flying by Kailash in his legendary vehicle, the Pushpak Viman, Ravan saw a magnificent palace. He tried to fly over it but couldn’t. Just then, he saw Nandishwar and asked him why his Viman was losing speed. Nandi ji answered that, since Mahadev and Ma Parvati were inside, no one was allowed anywhere near the palace. Hearing this, Ravan laughed with arrogance. He then made fun of Nandishwara, calling him a monkey. Trembling with anger, Nandi dev cursed that Ravan’s kingdom would be destroyed by who else but monkeys. Yet, sense did not prevail over the ten-headed emperor. Maddened by pride, Ravan tried to lift the Kailash Parvat. He was, after all, a strong warrior. Mount Kailash shuddered a little, confusing Ma Parvati, who embraced Bholenath.

(Sculptures depicting Ravan lifting Mount Kailash. Cave 29, Ellora, Maharashtra. Image credit: Wikipedia Creative Commons)

The All-Knowing Mahadev knew that it was all Ravan’s doing. He gently pushed down Kailash with his little toe, and Ravan was trapped underneath.

This same legend is associated with the Mahabaleswar temple in Gokarna, but is retold a bit differently there. Ravan’s mother, Kaikesi, an ardent devotee of Lord Shiv herself, was performing puja on a Shivlingam for her son’s  prosperity. However, jealous of this worship, Indradev threw the Shivlingam in the sea. Distressed and upset, Kaikesi stopped eating. So, her daredevil son thought of the unthinkable. For his mother’s convenience, Ravan decided to uplift Mount Kailash itself and bring the Atma Linga to Lanka. However, in his pride, Ravan forgot that arrogance was not a devotee’s path. With his unmatched strength, he almost managed to shake Mount Kailash, but Mahadev pressed it down gently, and Ravan was trapped underneath. Now, both the legends have the same outcome. Responding quickly to the crisis, Shiv Bhakt Ravan composed a hymn praising his Ishtadev and pleading for kindness and liberation. Even more astonishing is the fact that this hymn burns brightly even after thousands of years, evoking devotion in the hearts of Shiv devotees. This legendary hymn of sophisticated language and metre is known to us as the Shiv Tandav Stotram.

It is also said that to please Mahadev, Ravan, a musical genius, created a veena from his hand, using his tendons and muscles as strings. As it often happens, legends and culture meld together. Interestingly, a stringed instrument called ‘Ravanahatha’ (literally meaning the ‘hand of Ravan’) is still played by street musicians in parts of India and Sri Lanka.

(A Rajasthani street musician playing Ravanhatha. Image source: created using AI)

Powerful Language and Rhythm

Outstanding Musical Expression

Shiv Tandav Stotram comprises 18 shlokas (verses); each verse is a quatrain (four lines). The stotram is composed in a poetic metre (Chhandas) called ‘Pancha Chamara.’ In this metre, there are eight repetitions of one short syllable followed by one long syllable. In layman's language, pick up any line from the hymn, and you’ll find the following rhythm:

            “na-naa, na-naa, na-naa, na-naa, na-naa, na-naa, na-naa, na-naa”

Panch Chamara metre gives a unique rhythm. You will find it impossible to sing or recite the stotram if the metre and stresses are not maintained. Now, why is the conversation about the metre meaningful? Poetic metre enhances the musicality of even a prose text. For example, the famous English playwright William Shakespeare composed his sonnets (14-line poems) and plays in the poetic metre called iambic pentameter. Set in this metre, even routine dialogues and prose by Shakespeare sound musical.
For example:
"If music be the food of love, play on."(Twelfth Night: Play by William Shakespeare).

Going back to Vedic Sanskrit, the poetic metre, or Chhandas, played a crucial role. It preserved the form and sound-power and helped memorise long stotrams and mantras. Thanks to the poetic metre, the entire vedas have been passed down orally over the centuries in an unbroken lineage. So important is Chhandas that it is mentioned (In Viniyog or Mantra Application) along with the name of the deity and the name of the sage who composed the verse.

The Play of Sound

The Shiv Tandav Stotram attracts the listener — a devotee or not — with its rhythm. Hear it once, and you will likely be hooked. Even if you don’t understand Sanskrit, the sound of the words will still enchant you. The words convey Ravan’s mad devotion and also the intensity of Lord Shiv’s cosmic dance.

Consider this phrase:

               "damad damad damaddama ninadavadamarvayam" (verse 1)

The repetition of the word ‘damad’ brings alive the sound of Mahadev’s damru beating wildly as he performs Tandav. Our scriptures mention that the mantras and the letters of Sanskrit (Maheshwar Sutra) originated from the sounds of Bhagwan Shiv’s damru.

Similarly, in the line "dhagadhagadhagajjva lalat pattapavake" (verse 2), the words ‘dhagadh, dhagadh’ imitate the sound of a raging flame — a reference to Lord Shiv’s third eye burning furiously on his forehead. Both ‘dhagadh’ and ‘damad’ are sound words. By imitating the sound, these make a reader’s or listener’s experience more immediate.

The Passionate Call of a Devotee

The Shiv Tandav Stotram is Ravan’s intense call to Mahadev.  Ravan’s free-flowing expression seems to be coming from a trance-like state. The entire stotram is rich in imagery.

In the first verse, while describing Lord Shiv’s beauty, Ravan observes that the forest-like matted locks — dripping with the water of the celestial river Ganga — swirl madly when Lord Shiv  performs Tandav.

Sometimes, Ravan's images are regular and close to nature and everyday experience. For example, Ravan seeks eternal prosperity from the one who holds the friend (bandhu) of the Chakora bird on his head.

"Shriyai chiraya jayatam chakora bandhushekharah” (Verse 5)

The ‘friend’ is an indirect reference to the crescent moon adorning Bhagwan Shiv.

Compound Word Arrangement

Many lines of the Shiv Tandav Stotram form a single compound word densely packed with adjectives and imagery. In Verse 8, the first two lines form a single compound word.

navin/megh/mandali/niruddha/durdhara/sphurath

kuhu/nishithi/nitamah/prabandha/baddha/kandharah

(Ravan says, may we be surrounded by prosperity by the one whose neck is draped by a serpent; the Lord who is darker than Kuhu — the darkest new moon night or Amavasya — which is as dark as a group of newly formed rain clouds. This is just one example; Shiv Tandava Strotram overflows with many such exquisite compound word arrangements.)

The Multi-Faceted Asura King

Through the Stotram, we witness Ravan as an ardent devotee, lover, observer, scholar, poet, and yogi. In Verse 12, Ravan begins by asking a rhetorical question:

         “saman pravartayanmanah kada sadashivam bhaje”

‘When or how will I become eligible to worship Lord Sadashiv? He immediately realises and answers that he must observe ‘equanimity.’ This is a marked change from the arrogant Ravan, who was ready to move Mount Kailash.

The Stotram, thus, gives a beautiful insight into the many layers of Ravan’s character. He is not just a cruel Asura king from Lanka. In fact, he embodies the conflicts of an ordinary person.

It is interesting to observe the 14th Sloka, where Ravan is in a self-indulgent mood, a poet taking pride in his work. He suggests that one can attain eternal purity by reading, memorising, and chanting "the best among the best" of hymns. No points for guessing which one he is referring to.

idamhi/nityameva/muktam/uttamottamam/stavam

pathan/smaran/bruvan/naro/vishuddhim/eti/santatam

And, we do see that the Shiv Tandav Stotram has survived the test of time.

Contemporary Twists and Turns

(A still from S.S. Rajamouli’s movie, Bahubali. Image source: created using AI)

Shiv Tandav Stotram is an extremely popular poetic piece. It is often used as background music in Indian movies and theatricals (across all languages) to show anger, justice, devotion, or to highlight aspects of Mahadev in the main character (protagonist). In recent years, Indian Film Director, S. S. Rajamouli recreated the legend of lifting Shivlingam in one of the critical scenes of his movie (Bahubali: The Beginning). The protagonist uproots the Shivlingam and places it under a waterfall for the convenience of his old mother, who cannot walk up and down much like Kaikesi. Rajamouli plays around with the popular legend, retelling and inverting some of its older aspects. Is he then making a larger point by getting his protagonist to lift the Shivlingam? Is he blurring the lines between Devas and Asuras or simply positioning his hero, aptly called ‘Shivudu’, as the embodiment of strength? And, the entire sequence unfolds with the Shiv Tandav Stotram playing in the background. Shivudu is a Shiv Bhakt, and so was Ravan — the ultimate Shiv Bhakt. Rajamouli melds scriptural legend, poetry, and music to his advantage as a storyteller.

Nothing could be more disheartening when the only thing viewers observe is the brawny physique of Prabhas as Bahubali. Nevertheless, they also feel the magnetic pull of the Shiv Tandav Stotram chorus in the song. Imagine the power and joy of unlocking the meaning of the stotram, too!

Shiv Tandav Stotram is a work of art and a part of our cultural legacy. Are we ready to receive it?

Credits:
We are grateful to The Sanskrit Channel for an in-depth and lucid explanation of the Shiv Tandav Stotram. 

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