Shloka 40
रावयामास लोकान् यत् तस्माद्रावण उच्यते । दशग्रीव: कामबलो देवानां भयमादधत्,उसने सम्पूर्ण लोकोंको रुला दिया था; इसलिये वह रावण कहलाता है। दशाननका बल उसके इच्छानुसार बढ़ जाता था; अतः वह सदा देवताओंको भयभीत किये रहता था
rāvayāmāsa lokān yat tasmād rāvaṇa ucyate | daśagrīvaḥ kāmabalo devānāṃ bhayam ādadhat |
He made all the worlds cry out; therefore he is called Rāvaṇa. That ten-necked one, whose strength swelled according to his desire, kept the gods in continual fear.
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Power that expands according to personal desire (kāma) and is not restrained by dharma tends to produce widespread suffering and fear; such dominance becomes ethically condemnable and destabilizes the moral order.
Mārkaṇḍeya explains the epithet ‘Rāvaṇa’ by wordplay/etymology: he is so called because he made the worlds cry. He further characterizes him as ‘Daśagrīva,’ whose strength increased at will, and who continually terrified the gods.