Rabindra ji shared what he had learned about the spiritual significance and esoteric meanings on the occasion of the festival of Dusshera –

Lord Shri Rama is the Paramatma—the supreme soul, divine spirit—the true embodiment of the light, absolute purity, righteousness, and boundless love within. He is the eternal king of the city of Ayodhya (the city without conflicts)—a heart untouched by desires and fears.

Mother Sita is the jivatma, the individual soul, though radiant and virtuous, has now been abducted in the realm of worldly experiences (Lanka) by Ravana (the ten-headed demon king).

Ravana holds her captive, alienating her from her true source of bliss—Lord Rama. He is not just a ten-headed demon, but is a manifestation of our own ego and inner distortions. The five senses of cognition (jnana-indriyas) and the five senses of action (karma-indriyas), which when dominated by the ego, can become our greatest obstacle. His ten heads represent the ten vices that tempt and command our thoughts, emotions, and actions.

This Ravana resides not in the golden Lanka, but in the inaccessible fortress of our own minds, built by the insatiable desires and deep-rooted conditionings (vasanas and samskaras) of countless lifetimes.

The construction of the bridge (Rama-setu) by the devoted monkey army to Lanka is a concentrated, patient effort to cultivate sadhana with wisdom. Each stone laid in the bridge is a mark of immense courage and fearlessness to cross the ocean of illusion and to reach the fortress of our own ego.

The final battle is a fierce and concentrated effort to re-cognise our own Ravana within—to see the head of anger rise and to fell it with the arrow of selfless love, to see the head of greed appear and to cut it off with the sword of contentment.

Lord Shri Rama’s victory over Ravana is the dawn of self-realization. This is the moment when the ego is subdued, the senses are mastered, and the individual soul (Sita) is reunited with the absolute Supreme Being (Lord Rama). It is the return to Ayodhya—a state of inner peace and harmony.

This Dussehra, may we dare to light the pyre of the Ravana within us. May we offer its ten heads to the sacred fire of knowledge (jnana-agni). May the light emanating from this fire reveal the eternal Rama, the divine King, seated in a tranquil splendour within our hearts.

May our minds become a true Ayodhya—the abode of divine order, love, and unwavering light. May the victory of your inner light be ever-lasting and absolute, enabling us to LOVE, SERVE, REMEMBER.

Editor’s Note:

The festival of Dusshera is celebrated annually, on the tenth day of the fall Navaratri and 20 days before the festival of light – Deepawali or Diwali. In 2025, it was celebrated on 2 October 2025.