Symbolism of Vijayadashmi – the Slaying of Ravana

Vijayadashmi is celebrated as the culmination of our nine-day self-declared internal war, resulting in victory (Vijay) on the tenth day (Dashmi).

It is celebrated by burning an effigy of the demon-king Ravana. Why do we burn Ravana? Well, as it’s popularly known, it signifies the victory of good over evil. But who really is the demon within us that we are slaying?

In the Ramayana, Lord Rama tried to kill Ravana in the battle by shooting arrows at his ten heads. Each time a head was severed, a new head replaced it. However, when Lord Rama shot an arrow at his navel (the root), the demon-king met his end.

This story is symbolic. Each of the ten heads of Ravana represent our vices like anger, attachment, boredom, greed, hatred, lust, jealousy, ill-will, fear, sorrow and the central face represents the ego.

Consider a tree with a big trunk and branches. The ego here represents the trunk and the vices are the branches of the main ailment – the ego.

Shooting at the navel signifies uprooting the entire tree (the ego), instead of trying to cut down the individual branches (the vices). When the ego comes to an end, all the vices automatically dissolve. They have no existence without the ego.

On looking deeper, we find that there are two kinds of egos – true and false ego. The true ego is the root of the tree and the false ego is the trunk. So, the true ego gives birth to the false ego.

False ego is apparent as it manifests as the vices. However, the true ego is hidden and not so obvious. It is the subtle feeling of being separate from everyone and everything else, and hence is not easily discernible. To bring down the tree, we need to tackle the true ego.

The ego is like a shadow and can be annihilated only by transmuting it into devotion. With the right wisdom, the separateness of the ego dissolves in the experience of oneness with divinity.

We can celebrate Vijaydashmi in earnest by contemplating on our vices and identifying the ego within us. When we become aware of the play of the ego, it becomes easier to detach from it and re-unite with our original nature of oneness.