In spite of listening to all and reading all that, is one’s conduct and mind have not changed even an inch, it simply means that stagnation is the result of our Janmantara karma. Ravana had a Guru called Sukracharya who acquired proficiency in all different kinds of action. His warriors and leaders of his army were very strong and proficient in the art of warfare. His wife was a good lady with good qualities. In spite of the fact that he had such good teaching from such a Guru and a good wife and a strong army, he did not change his methods, and this simply means that it is the result of his own Janmantara Karma. He was living in utter foolishness. In his foolishness, he would not accept any advice from any one. This foolishness is something which is a great enemy of a human being. We must also remove this aspect of foolishness in us. On certain occasions, Ravana used to appear as a good sattvika person and on the other occasions; he used to appear as an innocent person. Sometimes he used to appear as a great devotee. In reality, there is no one greater than him in the matter of wickedness. He would not hesitate to harm even his own wife or son.Vibhishana, his own brother, was a sattvika person. Yet he showed no kindness to him. He simply drove him away. The wife of Vibhishana touched his feet of Ravana and begged him in many ways to save Vibhishana. This lady, who was the wife of his own brother, should be like his daughter, yet he gave so much trouble to her. The significance of all these things is that we should not simply think that Ravana was just a person with that name. The bad qualities and the cruel ideas that are in us are symbolic of the aspect of Ravana. The good in us is symbolic of Rama. It is only when we can get these two aspects confront each other and get Rama to defeat Ravana can we imagine that the coronation of Rama within us is possible and has taken place. (SSB 1977, pp. 163-164)