Ravana’s Devotion and Duryodhana’s Accusations Against Krishna

That doesn't happen in the Ramayana or the Mahabharata.

Rama's flaws come out, too. Krishna's flaws come out, too.

Look at how eloquent a villain can be. Ravana.

Rama sees him on the battlefield. He is shaken.

What a man! What radiance! It's as if the sun itself has come down.

He must have been so intelligent... ...to have such a radiant appearance.

Rama is stunned, thinking, "Good heavens!"

Rama is stunned when he sees Ravana. Ravana is that captivating.

And what a man Ravana was. A great devotee of Shiva.

There was no devotee of Shiva who could surpass him.

Everyone else—now, take yourselves, for example.

Suppose you perform puja at home. Sorry, forgive me. You're atheists.

You don't perform puja at all. You won't worship idols.

You'll garland and worship statues and tombs.

That way, you won't worship idols. I'm speaking generally.

There's a devotee. He performs worship at home.

But Ravana wasn't like that. He'd carry a Shiva lingam in his hand.

He'd keep a little golden box. He'd carry it in his hand.

Wherever he saw beautiful flowers and pure water, he would sit down.

He would perform Shiva worship. He is revered as a devotee of Shiva of that kind.

There's no scripture or Veda that he didn't know.

All of these are praised as Ravana's qualities.

Would anyone describe a villain like that?

All right, take the Mahabharata. At Krishna, Duryodhana curses him, nearly spitting on him.

At the end of the war, before that, Shishupala curses him.

All of that is in it. There are huge arguments.

Duryodhana looks at Krishna and says, at the end of the war, Was your victory really a victory?

Was this a triumph? You won by cheating at every turn.

It was all trickery. Who did you fight fair and square?

Drona? Bhishma? Jayadratha? Who did you fight fair and square?

You did it all through tricks, didn’t you?

And in the end, how did Bhima hit me? On the thigh?

In a mace fight, hitting the thigh is foul play.

Hitting below the waist. He hit me like that, and it was done at your signal.

Have you no shame at all? That’s what he asks.

It would’ve been fine if he’d stopped there.

Vyasa writes, Then the gods showered flowers upon Duryodhana.

Divine instruments resounded. Fragrance wafted everywhere.

Lord Krishna stood ashamed, his head bowed.

What do you say to that? Why did he write it like that?

Krishna himself is an incarnation in it.

This is what it says about him. The reason it comes across this way is they just state the facts and move on.

Whether this character is insulting, or belittling this character here, they don't look at any of that.

Facts, facts, facts.