Is Ramayana villain Ravana a Brahmin? This is the debate that is in vogue now, followed by comments of Karuna Nidhi.
Let us go back to Ramayana era once. Ravana's father was Visvavasu Brahma who was a Brahmin. Visvavasu's father was Pulastya Brahma, who was the son of the four headed Brahma. Narada was also the son of Brahma.
Visvavasu Brahma unites with Rakshasa lady Kaikasi and begets Ravana and Soorpanakha. As per Manu Smrithi, if an upper caste man begets child with lower caste woman, then the born child will get the caste of mother. This type of unity is called Anuloma sankaram.
So, Ravana is a Rakshasa as per Manu Smrithi.
But a research says that entire Dravidians were called Rakshasas by Aryans. That way, we cannot demark Kaikasi as lower caste lady. She must be a Dravadian Brahmin. Kaikasi's father was Sumali. His caste was not recorded. That way, Ravana's caste is still unknown. But it is sure that Ravana took the genes of his father and became ardent devotee of Shiva and also became strict disciplinarian with respect to Tapas and penance.
This is to state that no body can be called with a caste by birth. It's only the job one does puts him in certain caste. When Ravana shows bhakti and perseverance in tapas, he was called Ravana Brahma. When said about his cruelty, he was called Ravanaasura (asura=rakshasa).
Taking another example, Dronacharya was a Brahmin. But he fought Kurukshetra war and followed kshatriya dharma. Same applies to his son Ashwaththaama as well. Vishwamitra was a kshatriya by birth. But he did penance and followed Brahminical life. That way he is Brahmin by profession.
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