Honour for eternity.. in life and in death..

In the folkore of my village and tradition, Ram occupies a special place for the ultimate Man of Substance.Irrespective of the fact that there were many sins that he had committed, ranging from killing Bali, to banishing Sita out of Ayodhya, nevertheless, He was a great General and a Man of His word.But this story isnt about Him really. Its about the man who made Him the God that He is remembered as today.In order to rescue Sita from the captivity of Ravan, Ram had a challenge big enough, to put a God incarnated man to a state of stress. Ravan was a hybrid of the best of a Brahmin intellect and a demon's aggression and might. Not only that, he had the greatest army on the planet with a fortress so impenetrable that Ram was paranoid about mounting a full scale invasion.For defeating the mightiest kingdom on heaven and earth, the forest dwelling prince of Ayodhya needed the forces of nature to back him up. And in order to summon them, He needed the most capable Shaivite priest in the entire Universe.Ironically, the very adversary that Ram sought to defeat, was the only Brahmin who could conduct the ritual to the levels of Vedic precision. For Ravan had mastered the 5 elements and the multitude of powers associated with them.And then, Ram, the greatest of the Rajput bloodline, the best Vishwamitra had ever trained, and the SUpreme Commander of the Army of Apes does what no man in the history of mankind has ever done, and perhaps will never do.He invites Ravan to do the ritual for Him. Ravan, to Ram's surprise agrees. Ram, who had lost his wife to Ravan, his kingdom to keep the promise his father asked of him, and was about to go to war with the most fierce war machine amongst Gods, men and Demons, had nothing to offer Ravan.But Ravan did the unthinkable. What he asked of Ram was this."When the war is reaching its end, O the greatest of Warrior !, I & you shall remain the the final Contendors in the battleground.Take a vow and give me that honored Raghuvanshi word that your Forefathers have kept with their lives.The Final arrow that annhilates me, shall come from none other, but from your bow. For I want God Himselves to kill me. It would be a death befitting an empreror of Demons. Your will lighten the path of the shadow that I left behind. For thousands of years, I will be honored, for in my death, your name shall have eternal life."Ram agreed and kept the promise he made to the Demon empreror in the battlefield of Lanka. Today, Ram lives on, and Ravan never died.For in his death, Ram gave Ravan the Honour the no man, demon or beast would have.For in death, lives the promise of eternal life.