Why did Ravan kidnap Sita?
Ravan kidnapped Mata Sita out of revenge, desire for her, and a plan to destroy Shri Ram through separation from her, as Maharshi Valmiki relates. The Ramcharitmanas of Goswami Tulsidas adds Ravan’s private reasoning: if Shri Ram is the Lord, he will seek liberation through His arrows by deliberately becoming His enemy.
Ravan’s resolve in the Ramcharitmanas
Surpanakha comes to Ravan’s court after the destruction of Khar and Dushan. She rebukes him, describes the strength of Shri Ram and Lakshmanji, and praises Mata Sita’s beauty. Hearing that Khar, Dushan and Trishira have been killed, Ravan burns with anger. He speaks proudly of his strength before Surpanakha, but spends the night without sleep.
Alone, his reasoning takes another turn. Khar and Dushan were as powerful as himself. Who could have killed them except the Lord? He then forms a deliberate resolve:
सुर रंजन भंजन महि भारा। जौं भगवंत लीन्ह अवतारा॥ तौ मैं जाइ बैरु हठि करऊँ। प्रभु सर प्रान तजें भव तरऊँ॥ २ ॥ Ramcharitmanas, Aranya Kand, Doha 23, Chaupai 2
“If the Lord has descended to delight the gods and relieve the earth’s burden, I will deliberately oppose Him. By dying through His arrows, I will cross beyond worldly existence.”
This is Ravan’s inward calculation. He considers devotion impossible in his tamasic body and chooses hostility. Yet he also keeps another possibility before him:
होइहि भजनु न तामस देहा। मन क्रम बचन मंत्र दृढ़ एहा॥ जौं नररूप भूपसुत कोऊ। हरिहउँ नारि जीति रन दोऊ॥ ३ ॥ Ramcharitmanas, Aranya Kand, Doha 23, Chaupai 3
“Devotional worship will not be possible in this body governed by ignorance. This is my firm resolve in thought, deed and speech. If they are merely human princes, I will defeat both in battle and carry away the woman.”
Thus, his resolve has two branches. If Shri Ram is the Lord, Ravan seeks release through death at His hands. If He is a human prince, Ravan intends conquest and abduction. He then asks Marich to assume the deceptive form of a deer.
The motives in the Valmiki Ramayana
Maharshi Valmiki gives revenge, desire for Mata Sita, and a strategy to destroy Shri Ram as the motives. The Ramcharitmanas adds the inner resolve to seek liberation through enmity with the Lord.
Akampana first proposes separation from Mata Sita as the means of destroying Shri Ram:
तस्यापहर भार्यां त्वं तं प्रमथ्य महावने। सीतया रहितो रामो न चैव हि भविष्यति॥ ३१॥ Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda, Sarga 31, Shloka 31
“Deceive Shri Ram in the great forest and forcibly take away His wife. Deprived of Mata Sita, He will not survive.”
Ravan agrees to bring Mata Sita to his city. Later, Surpanakha encourages desire by praising her beauty and presenting her as a suitable wife for him:
सा सुशीला वपुःश्लाघ्या रूपेणाप्रतिमा भुवि। तवानुरूपा भार्या सा त्वं च तस्याः पतिर्वरः॥ २०॥ Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kanda, Sarga 34, Shloka 20
“She has an excellent disposition, a beautiful form and beauty unequalled on earth. She would be a wife worthy of you, and you would be a fitting husband for her.”
These are Surpanakha’s persuasive words. She also claims that she wanted to bring Mata Sita to become Ravan’s wife. Ravan later tells Marich that he will abduct Mata Sita because his sister has been disfigured. Revenge and desire therefore accompany the proposed attack upon Shri Ram through separation.
What Ravan’s reasoning teaches us
Recognising the Lord must lead to listening. Ravan considers Shri Ram’s divinity, yet resolves upon enmity. Marich explicitly tells him that Shri Ram is the Lord of all moving and unmoving creation and urges him against hostility.
The word bhajan means devotional worship. Ravan declares himself incapable of it because of his tamasic body. This is his reasoning about himself. Marich’s counsel points toward a different response: acknowledge the Lord’s sovereignty and abandon opposition.
One may wonder if Ravan’s wish for liberation makes his conduct an example to follow. Marich’s warning answers this directly. He advises against enmity. When reading this episode, we should attend to that counsel and examine how we respond when wise advice challenges our resolve.
The 2026 film
The 2026 film retells this episode. Read the scripture itself to understand the motives explained in each account.