ไทยพราหมณ์ Brahminism in Thailand

Characteristics of Ravana in Valmiki’s Ramayana, as compared with those of Totsagan in the Thai Ramakian.

The Hermit Sage Valmiki (Author of Ramayana), made mention of the previous incarnation of the Rakasasa (Yaksa, demon giants), namely, that he was the Yaksa Nontuk (alternatively called Nontok).
Ravana was a Rakasasa who had been given the blessings of Brahma to posess great might and magic.

As a result of this (and his malevolent attitude), he went causing havoc thought all of the three worlds. He even though to conquer “Phra Intr” (the God Indra), who was Lord of the Angelic beings (Devas).He loved to bother and bully the Brahmin priests and Priestesses as well as even the common folk. As a result, the Devas went to beg Brahma (Phra Prom) to find a way to stop Ravana from his evil deeds.Lord Brahma looked into the emptinesss and saw that Ravana request from Brahma had only limited itself to preventing any Devas, “Kon Tan” (คนธรรพ์) Yaksas, or Rakasasas be able to kill him.But Ravana never once had mentioned anything about Humans, leaving the possibility for a Human to kill him.
So Phra Narayn (Vishnu พระนารายณ์) was sent to “Avatar” (incarnate-manifest) as a HUman being and execute Ravana, Differingly, in the Thai Ramakian, Phra Narayn told Nontuk Yaksa that he would be born as a Human with only two arms and that Nontuk would be born as a Yaksa named Totsagan, with 10 heads and 20 arms, but that Phra Narayn would still beat him. But in the Hindu version of Valmiki, Vishnu is called on by all the Devas to be born as the sone of  “Taw Totsarot” (Lord Totsarot) and defeat Ravana.
Ravana is relatively Identical with Totsagan; namely, 10 heads, 20 arms, but his skin is light blue, and has many scars from his battles; such as the scar of the lightning bolt of Phra Intr (Indra พระนทร์), the scar from the Chakra disc of Vishnu, the wound of Erawan’s tusk (Erawan the 33 headed elephant on which Indra rides).He has the power to stir up the ocean, lift mountains, and even bully the Devas. He was able to shift shape, and become as handsome as he wished, in order to seduce,just as could Totsagan in the Ramakian. As for Malevolence, the two are equal in both tales.  Both have a “Busabok” (magic dais บุษบก), stolen from his older brother Giberan (กุเวร – Guwen in Thai), upon which he is able to fly to any place he wishes. But in Valmiki’s Ramayana, after Ravana kidnaps Sida, he does not get to come close to Sida’s side, because he once had bothered the goddess Lady Absara (Nang Absorn in Thai – นางอัปษร), who went and complained to Brahma, who then cursed Ravana that if he ever bothered Lady Sida another time, that he would make his head separate from his body.As a result, Ravana does not dare to make any advances to Sida..

Ravana statue in India

Ravana had the Lady Nang Montotri as Concubine, who was the daughter of the King Maya, who Ravana had attacked and beaten in order to win her as his wife. This differs from the Thai Ramakian, where he is given Nang Montoe as a gift by Phra Isworn (Shiva พระอิศวร ).In Valmiki’s version, Ravana also consults his advisors more often than Totsagan does in the Ramakian. Ravana also likes to choose the wrong advice like Totsagan though; as in the case when the secretary of state advised him to attack. instead of listening to Wipeesana (in the Thai Ramakian, called “Pipek” – ภิเพก), and returning the lady Nang Sida to Phra Ram, Ravana prefers to listen to the Secretary of state and attack. This of course, results in the loss of the war and the death of Ravana. But the story then differs again, in that Ravana does not exile Wipeesana, as Totsagan does in the Ramakian. He just states that “Relatives who are treacherous are more dangerous than enemies”, and that if it was anyone else but Wipeesana, he would most probably cut off the person’s head. After hearing this, Wipeesana (Pipek), decides to lave Ravana’s encampment and seek the refuge and alliance of Rama (พระราม – Phra Ram) himself. The result of the story is the same, only the reasons for leaving are different.

Ravana ราวณะ (ธศกัณฐ์)

In battles, Ravana did not have as many allies and helpers as Totsagan had in the Ramakian, so the batteles were perhaps not as long winded as in Ramakian. But there were many more battles in the darkness of night with Valmiki’s Ravana, which differs completely from Ramakian, where the armies always stopped fighting and made camp when the Sun began to set. Ravana was more ferocious in his battles than Totsagan too, and also did more of the fighting himself than Totsagan, who would often send in his servants first, and only enter in battle when they had first failed.
In the Final battle, Ravana does not use trickery and shape shift into the form of Phra Intr (Indra) and scare all the enemies as did Totsagan. Ravana fights himself until blood streams from his wounds and passes out,then the driver of the magical “Busabok” (บุษบก – chariot/dais) retreats from the battlefield. When Ravana awakes, he is angry at the driver, and orders him to enter the battlefield again.Even though Rama’s (Phr Ram in Thai) arrows had cut his head so often, Ravana just grew a new head in it’s place. Rama has to use the Brahmamastra arrow in order to successfully defeat and kill Ravana.
Another interesting difference between the Thai Ramakian and the Indian origin of Valmiki, is the fact that Ravana does not die thinking or feeling any kind of regret or wrongness for what he has done, as does Totsagan. But he dies in a warrior’s way, as does Totsakan, and receives mourning from Wipeesana (Pipek in Thai), and his consort Lady Montoetri as is befitting a King.
It can be summarized that Ravana is the symbol of Evil, but receives a warrior’s death (honorable), whereas Totsagan of the Thai Ramayana is a more varied personality with mixed character traits; For example, he does many heartless things, but is a faithful student, he is a respectful husband to his wife. He is also a great King and incredibly intelligent, but then again sometimes fails to have the wisdom and judgement of others in an almost pitiful way. He has amazing super powers, but likes to play backhanders and also to let other people do his dirty work. For this reason, i believe Totsagan to be a slightly more interesting character to study that Ravana, due to his psychological complexities.