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Valmiki did not conceive Ravana as a villain. Ravana is a tragic figure whose virtues are undone by a singular obsession: himself. Ravana’s ego is gargantuan. His lust for and obsession with Sita is one aspect of that ego. Ravana’s ego assumes that he has a right to get what he desires to have. The moral order of the universe is made subservient to that kind of ego by the individual concerned. Ravana believes he is invincible and above...
