‘Asubh Muhurat’ considered being the most inauspicious time, in this Muhurat or time, God goes to sleep, and it’s their sleeping time. Groundbreaking could be called just ‘Asubh Ghatana’, even Lord Ram does not want this. That’s the beauty of our Dharm Shastra. That is precisely what Dharm Acharyas are warning. India is not like other nations. Another reason is that Lord Rama wanted to do be victorious in battle against Ravana, and for that, he wanted to establish a Shivalinga and worship it. Now to do this, a priest was needed, but in those days, there were no priests found in Rameshwaram. So, Lord Rama was in dire need of a good priest to perform the rituals.
Ravana was a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva and was also a Brahmin by birth. So Ravana’s brother Vibhishana (who was on Lord Rama’s side), told Lord Rama that Ravana was very well-versed in the rituals. So, Lord Rama sent an invitation to Ravana to come and preside as the priest for the pooja at Rameshwaram.
Ravana accepted the invitation and came. But then he told Lord Rama that the pooja would be incomplete without his wife being present. No pooja or yagna can be performed without the wife’s presence. So, he told Lord Rama, ‘Since you are a married man, both you and your wife have to sit together for the pooja; otherwise you cannot perform the pooja’.
Then Lord Rama said to him, “It is the priest that has to provide an alternative for anything that is missing. As my wife is not with me (having been kept in captivity by Ravana at that time), please tell me what the alternative to perform the pooja. Can we keep a doll in her place as a substitute?”
Then Ravana said, ‘I do not believe in an alternative. I would want everything to be present for the worship of Lord Shiva. So, I will call your wife here for the pooja. After the pooja, please send her back to Lanka’.
So Ravana brings Sita for the pooja. After the pooja, when Lord Rama and Sita bow down to touch the feet of the priest, that is, Ravana, to take blessings, then Ravana blesses Lord Rama by saying ‘Vijayi Bhavaha’ (May victory be yours!). He had no choice but to do so.
When someone touches the feet of a priest, he is left with no choice but to bless that person. So Ravana had to give that blessing to Lord Rama for which He had organized the pooja. He also blessed Sita by saying ‘Sumangali Bhavaha’ (May you receive all that is best and auspicious always!) Such was Ravana’s magnanimity. After blessing both of them, Ravana took Sita back to Lanka with him.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
