Introduction

You may know of the story of Ravana, the demon king of the Ramayana. You may know him as the one who brought the gods into his submission, seized many worlds into his domain, and held the boon of invulnerability against all but humans. Perhaps you know that he was the most devoted follower of Shiva. What you may not know is that he was an incredible scholar and, most importantly, a masterful musician. Now you must note that the following story does not take place in the original universe of the Ramayana, nor is it about Ravana. No, this is a story that follows the one who is the most masterful musician in all universes: Saraswati.

As a being of divine knowledge and music, Saraswati took an interest in Ravana. Having listened to his playing for so long from the heavens, she came down atop her lotus and asked him to play for her. Saraswati was moved by his music, and she began to play with him. She gifted him one of the greatest boons of all: her friendship. Oh, how that friendship blossomed! They talked about their favorite musicians together. They performed for each other. They held jam sessions with each other. In fact, where these sessions originally lasted for a couple of a days, they stretched into the span of thousands of years. Truly, you could call this a friendship made in heaven.

Over the course of these thousands of years, however, Ravana began to change. A new restlessness took hold of him, and he began to grow envious of Saraswati’s talents. Ravana prayed and devoted himself to Shiva, god of destruction and lord of the dance, in the hope that he would attain a greater, more destructive musical prowess. Because Saraswati was the devi of creation, his actions caused a divide in their friendship that grew each day. Finally, Ravana confronted Saraswati. He craved to be the most incredible musician in the universe, and he challenged her to a musical battle for this title. Despite his gifts from Shiva, however, he knew he was no match for the power of Saraswati at this moment. He cursed her, "May you never be able to use your full potential until the day we face off once and for all in a music battle!" Saraswati was not angered by this. No, she was saddened. Having lost a dear friend, she returned to the heavens. There over many more years she formed her own band, Devis of the Vedic Age, with the other goddesses: Lakshmi on shankha (a conch shell), Parvati on daramu (a small, two-headed drum), and Saraswati on veena (a plucked string instrument similar to a sitar or lute).

Here follow the tales of Saraswati and her band’s journey of defeating demons through the power of their music, growing as a band, and confronting Ravana for the last time.

Image: Blue lotus on transparent background. Web Source: maxlkt on Pixabay.

Image: Saraswati. Web Source: Rachel Hinman on Flickr.

Video: "Anoushka Shankar sitar and guitar duet". Web Source: eagle3x8 on YouTube.