TWO PERSON MIGHTIER THAN RAVANA (OTHER THAN RAMA)
Contrary to what everyone believes that Ravana was the most powerful person alive at his time, obviously not comparable to one of the trinities(Ram) of the Hindu Mythology, there were two of his comtemporaries mightier than him.
Ravana's wishes, that were subsequently fulfilled by the god Brahma, was not to be killed by any God, Demons, Demi God, Mountains or Animals but he forgot to mention humans. After a series of events he became the master of the three worlds; ruled over gods and planets. According to one folklore he even directed all the planets to be in correct position at the time of the birth of his son MeghNath or popularly known as Indrajit.
But to cut a long story short, who were the two contemporaries who were more powerful than Ravana himself? Okay, you may have guessed the first one correctly. Vali, King of KishKinda, son of Indra, elder brother of Sugriva and father of Angada. It is said that no person in the court of Ravana could even move Angada's feet by an inch. Vali had the boon to relay half of his opponent's energy into himself. According to the myths, one day Ravana, to prove his invincibility, decided to challenge Vali when he was performing SandhyaVandana (performed during sunset just as SuryaNamskara is performed during Sunrise).
At the first sight of Ravana, he was able to relay his energy within himself and grabbed Ravana by his neck and performed his SuryaVandana by jumping over the Seven Oceans . Ravana tried to call for 'truce' but with no avail till his prayers were performed. Ravana might not be the mightiest among all humans but certainly he got wits and befriended 'Vali' as the saying goes "If you can't defeat them, join them".
There is also another story about Vali that he never put off fights or duals. When his wife, Tara, persuaded him to refuse the fight with Sugriva as 'Vishnu' himself is with 'Sugriva' in the form of 'Ram', he told her that he couldn't refuse duals; even if the challenger would be his son 'Anganda'. There is also a very good story about Tara(one of the Panchkanyas) but lets keep it for another day.
But who was the other one? Many may not have heard or have forgotten the name of "KartaVirya Arjuna". NO, he is not the same as the Arjuna of the Mahabhartha. Both of them bear similar names but were born in different era; one in Dwapar Yuga(Arjuna of MahaBhartha) and the other in Treta Yuga (KartiVirya Arjuna) . KartaVirya Arjuna was born as the result of a boon received by his father from the God Dattatreya in which his father asked for a son who shall never be conquered by demigods, human beings, snakes, demons or hobgoblins but can be defeated only by the Almighty. Now we can conclude that (using some logic or boolean algebra as you please ) he was the strongest person alive on the Earth at the time of Ravana but we as humans only remember those who 'market themselves well'.Rules of Management were even applicable then.
Now back to the story of the dual of Ravana and KartiviryaArjuna. Once Ravana was on his way to Lanka after his meeting with Lord Shiva. He sat on the banks of the river for offering prayers to the almighty. Some distance away, Kartivirya Arjuna was bathing along with his wives. One of the wives challenged Arjuna to stop the flow of river to showcase his strength. Arjuna, as he was blessed with thousand arms, stopped the flow of water thereby flooding in the areas nearby.This act broke the concentration of Ravana who was very furious. Ravana then asked his soldier to find the person responsible for the act. The soldier pointed to the direction of KartiviryaArjuna. Ravana then marched towards Arjuna. When he reached, he couldn't believe what he was witnessing. Ravana challenged Arjuna for a dual but he was no match to Arjuna's prowess. Ravana thus had to face defeat in the hands of Arjuna and was taken into custody by Arjuna.
As Ravana belonged to the Pulastya clan (one among the mind sons of the creator Brahma), he was released by Arjuna on the behest of his grandfather Pulastya Rishi who was widely respected, renowned and admired by everyone. Until then Kartivirya Arjuna was merciful, benevolent, sympathetic, respected and was a beloved king. But what were the conditions/circumstances that led to the change of his heart and ultimately being put to silence by the almighty himself. We will ponder upon these on some other day.
