Ravana's Attempt to Lift Mount Kailash

A king whose power outgrew him

Ravana had everything the world could give a ruler. He had performed severe austerities and won boons that made him nearly invincible. He had conquered his own half-brother Kubera's city and taken his flying chariot, the Pushpaka Vimana. His learning was vast, and he was known as a master of the Vedas and of music.

But success had done something to him. He no longer asked what he should do. He asked what he could do.

The mountain that blocked his way

One day, Ravana was travelling in the Pushpaka Vimana when it stopped. In front of him was Mount Kailash, the home of Shiva and Parvati, and the chariot would not go over it.

The guardian of the mountain, Nandi, appeared and told Ravana that Shiva was at play with Parvati, and that no one could pass. He asked him to turn back, or to go around.

Ravana was not used to being stopped. According to the story, he laughed at Nandi's appearance, and in some tellings made a joke about his face. Nandi, in turn, is said to have warned him that creatures resembling those he had mocked would one day bring about the ruin of his kingdom. The tradition links this to the monkey army in the Ramayana, though versions of this exchange vary.

The decision

Ravana did what a proud man does when he cannot have his way. He decided to remove the obstacle.

He climbed down and set himself at the base of Kailash. He pushed his arms under the mountain, and with all his strength, he began to lift it.

The mountain shook. Parvati, startled, held on to Shiva. The ganas and the creatures of Kailash were thrown into confusion.

The toe

Shiva did not leap up or raise a weapon. He did something so slight that it is the most remembered part of the whole tale. He pressed down on the mountain with the tip of his toe.

That was enough. The mountain settled, and Ravana's arms were trapped beneath it.

Ravana screamed. The story says the pain was so great that his cries filled the three worlds, and for a very long time he could not free himself. The name Ravana is explained in the tradition as "the one who cries out" or "the one who roars," and this episode is the story told for how he got it.

The song

Trapped, in agony and finally afraid, Ravana did the one thing that was still in his power. He began to sing.

He was a gifted musician, and he is said to have composed hymns of praise to Shiva, pulling from the strings of his own body, in some tellings, to make a lute. In one tradition, the Shiva Tandava Stotram is attributed to this moment. Not every scholar agrees on the authorship, and the hymn is not found in the same form in all traditions, so we mention it only as a part of the story's legacy.

For a long period, Ravana sang. The stories say a thousand years in some versions, which should be read as a way of saying a very long time.

Shiva's response

Shiva, who is known to be moved by sincere devotion, was pleased. He lifted his foot, and Ravana was freed.

In the story, Shiva granted him gifts. Among them, in many tellings, is the sword Chandrahasa. In another tradition, Shiva gives him a lingam to take to Lanka, which leads to the story of Baidyanath that we tell in our post on Baidyanath Temple.

It is worth noticing what Shiva did not do. He did not destroy Ravana. He did not condemn him. He let the consequences of his pride play out, and then accepted his praise.

The image in stone

This story has been carved in temples. At Ellora, in Maharashtra, the great rock-cut Kailasa temple has a famous panel in which Ravana strains beneath the mountain while Shiva and Parvati sit above, undisturbed. Similar scenes appear at other sites. Many visitors say the carving captures the story in a single glance: a straining figure below, a calm figure above.

What the story is really about

There are several readings, and they do not cancel each other.

• Strength is not the same as power. Ravana was physically powerful and he could shake a mountain. Shiva, with his toe, showed that the real power is somewhere else.
• Pride blocks the way. Nandi asked Ravana to go around. The simplest solution was available the whole time. What stopped him was the feeling that he should not have to.
• Devotion rescues even a proud man. The song matters. It is the moment when Ravana stops pushing and starts offering. The story suggests that this turn, from force to surrender, is what changes the situation.
• No one is only one thing. Ravana is both devotee and aggressor, scholar and bully. Most of us contain more than one story. The tradition does not flatten him, and it is useful not to flatten ourselves either.
• Gentleness can be stronger than force. Shiva's response is a single toe. He does not meet violence with violence. He meets it with ease, which is more unsettling to a proud mind than a fight would be.

A lesson for ordinary days

You do not need to be a king to try to lift a mountain. We do it when we force a relationship to be something it is not, push a plan that keeps meeting resistance, or refuse to take the path around because it feels like losing.

The story does not say never to try hard. It says to notice when the effort has become about pride, and to remember that there is another way to get through: to stop, to sing and to let the weight be lifted.