The Blocked Path
Ravana — the great king of Lanka, master of the Vedas, incomparable in strength and pride — was returning from a campaign when Mount Kailash stood between him and his path.
Nandi, Shiva's bull, told him to wait. The Lord was with Parvati. Ravana laughed. He would not wait.
He placed his twenty arms under the base of Kailash and began to lift.
The mountain shook. The celestials on Kailash stumbled. Parvati held Shiva's arm.
Shiva pressed down with his toe.
The weight of his toe was the weight of all the worlds. The mountain returned to its place. Ravana's hands were pinned beneath it. His howl of pain shook the skies.
The Submission
Ravana was trapped — his strength, immense as it was, could not move Kailash against even the smallest gesture of Shiva. He remained there for a thousand years, they say, unable to move.
His ministers and sages urged him to submit. His pride — which could have kept him there for eternity — finally bent.
He began to sing.
Shiva Tandava Stotram
Ravana composed the Shiva Tandava Stotram — a hymn in the form of the cosmic dance of Shiva — improvising it on the spot from beneath the mountain, in pure devotion and awe. Its verses describe the cascade of the Ganga in Shiva's matted hair, the crescent moon on his brow, the cobra at his throat, the rhythm of his dance that sustains and destroys the cosmos.
Shiva was so moved by the beauty and devotion of the hymn that he released Ravana and granted him great power.
The poem Ravana composed from his humiliation is considered one of the most beautiful Sanskrit compositions ever written. It is still sung today.