The story of the Ramayana had been told innumerable times. The enthralling story of Rama, the incarnation of God, who slew Ravana, the evil demon of darkness, is known to every Indian. And in the pages of history, as always, it is the version told by the victors that lives on. The voice of the vanquished remains lost in silence.

But what if Ravana and his people had a different story to tell? The story of the Ravanayana had never been told. Asura is the epic tale of the vanquished Asura people, a story that has been cherished by the oppressed outcastes of India for 3,000 years. Until now, no Asura has dared to tell the tale. But perhaps the time has come for the dead and the defeated to speak.

For thousands of years, I have been vilified and my death is celebrated year after year in every corner of India. Why? Was it because I challenged the gods for the sake of my daughter? Was it because I freed a race from the yoke of caste-based Deva rule? You have heard the victor's tale, the Ramayana. Now hear the Ravanayana, for I am Ravana, the Asura, and my story is the tale of the vanquished.

I am a non-entity - invisible, powerless and negligible. No epics will ever be written about me. I have suffered both Ravana and Rama - the hero and the villain or the villain and the hero. When the stories of great men are told, my voice maybe too feeble to be heard. Yet, spare me a moment and hear my story, for I am Bhadra, the Asura, and my life is the tale of the loser.

The ancient Asura empire lay shattered into many warring petty kingdoms reeling under the heel of the Devas. In desperation, the Asuras look up to a young saviour - Ravana. Believing that a better world awaits them under Ravana, common men like Bhadra decide to follow the young leader. With a will of iron and a fiery ambition to succeed, Ravana leads his people from victory to victory and carves out a vast empire from the Devas. But even when Ravana succeeds spectacularly, the poor Asuras find that nothing much has changed for them. It is when that Ravana, by one action, changes the history of the world.

Asura: Tale of the Vanquished: The Story of Ravana and His People

Anand Neelakantan (Author), Denzil Smith (Narrator), Audible Studios (Publisher)

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Product details

Listening Length	18 hours and 17 minutes
Author	Anand Neelakantan
Narrator	Denzil Smith
Audible.in Release Date	03 September 2019
Publisher	Audible Studios
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B07WW7D8NV
Best Sellers Rank	#171 in Audible Audiobooks & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Audiobooks & Originals) #8 in Hinduism (Audible Audiobooks & Originals) #185 in Hinduism (Books)

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Jibesh

Too long to my like!

Reviewed in India on 5 July 2018

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I'll be honest, it's a good to average read but there are chapters which only describes the thoughts of ravaan and bhadra's pain and fame and what not. Those were very repeatating and very boring! Almost in every chapter you'll find those long and unnecessary narrations by Raavan and Bhadra. I think that stretched the story without any reason. I loved the chapter when Ravaan came face to face with Rama in the battlefield. That was my favourite chapter. And the ending was also nice. And of course as i mentioned those boring chapters made the book thick, beyond my liking!

22 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Asura - A well written biased story of the fallen

Reviewed in India on 18 December 2017

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Wonderful narration from the view of the fallen. True, history is written by the winners. But the book is very anti brahmin. Asura and Deva are two sides of a coin. They both committed same mistakes. The author again doesn't take a neutral stand. May be he tries to over compensate for the existing mythology tales favoring the gods.

25 people found this helpful

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Sweta Biswal

Some books do not end even when you have read ...

Reviewed in India on 16 July 2015

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Some books do not end even when you have read the last chapter and have put it back on the shelf. The pages continue to be turned in your mind and some part of you wishes to go back again and read that particular chapter(s) or even a particular page.

And this particular narration of the Ramayana is just one of those. Ramayana has been told and retold but never from the perspective of the vanquished. And we all are aware of the fact that history is always biased, singing paeans of the victor and demonizing/denigrating the losers. So while Lord Rama is worshiped as the epitome of manhood, Ravana is degraded to the status of the evil villain who kidnapped the former's wife. Thankfully, the author has put a fresh spin on it and after reading this book, one will never look at the Ramayana is the same way as one did earlier. Meet Ravana, the complete man with his ten emotions (baser ones included) instead of the demon with ten heads .

Read more - [...]

45 people found this helpful

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Doongar Sharma

Don't read it unless you are too much tolrent

Reviewed in India on 28 June 2019

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Let's start with a story of Mahabharata
One fine day Krishna and all Pandavs with Draupadi were walking in jungle.. They saw a dog which is about to die.. Its limbs were out, guts were swollen.. Its smell was very unpleasant... Pandvas and Draupadi notice all the bad things in it but Krishna was intently watching the glittering white teeth of dog..
When or if you read this book you should only notice white teeth not unpleasant things...
This book is good if it is concentrating on last 500 to 1000 years of time but in context of Ramayana it is rubbish.. Yeah it evoke the emotions of readers for lower caste and tells readers that why we should take help them.. But if you add this story in Ramayana by manipulating facts then it's not gonna work out..
And in the end this book wants you to feel about poor and lower cast people which everyone should feel.. But also leave bad taste in your mouth.. And also this book is fully biased.. We all know that Deva and Asura are children of same father one don't want to share anything and other don't know how to control their hunger after acquiring everything.. So if you are telling me that Asura is native Indians and Deva is foreign invaders by applying rubbish Aryan invasion theory then many people can't digest it like me.. So all in one this book is not for everyone and if you read it don't take every info as a fact.. And sir Ramayan time Brahmans are not that bad.. And if you want to throw stones at Brahmans then plz come with some real facts and non biased attitude.

11 people found this helpful

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vivek

Entirely Fictional narrative, full of contradictions.

Reviewed in India on 13 March 2020

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Author started well with this book in initial chapters. I thought it would be great going. But he rapidly lost way and it became unclear what does he want to convey. Cooking up entirely arbitrary and offensive narratives without any historical backing at all - like Angad raped Mandodari and Rama/Lakshman as cowards ! Author started by saying he was fascinated with Ravana and hence wrote this book. But has portrayed him as ultimate opportunity seeking coward.
Writing is a good hobby, but don't use your writing skills to spread unsubstantiated falsehoods.

3 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Ramayana will not be read in divine light, anymore.

Reviewed in India on 31 December 2019

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The main attraction of the book is the manner in which, a mythology story is depicted in a humane manner, rather than in divine light. It shows what Ravana was a human like any of us who was tumbled throughout his life by the twisted nature of his fate. Also the author has done a fabulous job by connecting various mythological races to actual human races in the backdrop of the assumed political environment of that time(for keeping the readers interested).

Even though we might actually be misguided to feel that, the author was trying to glorify Ravana, it is quite evident that the author is actually sympathizing with Ravana. At the same time he is also portraying ugly side of the characters of the so called good men like Rama, Lakshmana, Vibhishana, Sugreeva etc in a different context. It is certain that the interpretation of Ramayana will not be the same after reading this book. The main attraction is the certain comments/ dialogues expressed between Ravana and other characters (especially the one between him and Mahabali, before both part ways).

The certain drawbacks of the book are the follows. 1) The author tries to infuse his political ideology surreptitiously (through the main protagonist, who is not actually Ravana) and fails to cover his tracks in doing so. 2) The time line between various events are fuzzy like mythology.

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Jehangir

More a Ravanayana than a Ramayana

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 December 2017

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Asura, covers the life of Ravana, from his lowly, difficult childhood, his rise to fame as the King of Lanka and his eventual death at the hand of Rama. Asura is more a Ravanayana than a Ramayana. It tells the story of a man, not a demon, led as much by his heart as his head and driven by a noble cause: to unify the Asuras and conquer India and the Devas. Neelakantan does a great job of explaining how others view Ravana as a demon and a 10-headed one at that! And there’s a brilliant twist around why he steals Sita from Rama.
The book isn’t just told from Ravana’s point of view. His chapters are interspersed with those of Bhadra’s story. Bhadra and Ravana share the same humble beginnings, but their lives follow different trajectories. Ravana’s successes—and his eventual downfall—are all thanks to Bhadra, who often ends up beaten and lying in the gutter after doing Ravana a good turn. He’s a survivor and knows when to stand up for himself and when to swallow his pride and kowtow. Bhadra’s life beneath the shadow of the emperor's palace gives him a unique perspective that complements Ravana’s and makes for rich storytelling.
There are no heroes in Asura. Ravana and Bhadra are often despicable, especially in their treatment of women. And Rama—told through Bhadra’s eyes—has his own shortcomings. There are, however, moments of kindness, moments where greatness brushes a fingertip and times where the characters strive to be more despite themselves. Their shortcomings make them human and accessible although not entirely forgivable.
If you’re interested in Indian mythology and epics, I recommend Asura.

One person found this helpful

Arora

Well recommended

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 March 2018

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Thoroughly enjoyed reading this. In fact it was a much better read than Amish’s Ram and Sita books. It got quite dark at times with dark humour. Raavan and all the characters are well developed especially Bhadra and Mala. I reduced 1 star because I feel it was too long, the first few chapters are stretched out too much. Definitely a good read

Karthik

Excellent and thought provoking..

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 4 February 2017

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Though the book seems similar to other anti-brahminic literature.. I feel it does not solely blame brahmins for the caste problems of india..
I cant fault the logical assumptions in the stories.. especially Mahabali..

GOUTHAM

NOT AN ILLUSTRATIVE BOOK

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 January 2020

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Not an illustrative bok as expected. Disappointing.

Mrs. V. Kololgi

Eye opener

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 June 2018

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True eye opener giving a totally different perception of Ramayana. Made me think and question everything I have read about Ramayana

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