If a child asks why Ravana is a bad guy in spite of his being a staunch devotee of Shiva.. the answer is very complicated.. Children or people with not much of IQ will not understand that even if they get all the logical explanation..
My answer to the parent of the child would be
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Ravana was a rakshasa.. and the way of life he chose was according to the morals of that clan..
So whether he was a bad guy.. that itself is a big question..
But children will not understand that..
The stories and the moral standards of the present society has made Ravana branded as a bad guy..
So let that be..
But the greatest defects in him were his arrogance.. and his lack of consideration for the respect of others especially the females..
He just transgressed the respectability of many ladies.. who were to be treated as mothers and sisters..
So he was a bad guy..
And being a devotee has nothing to do with personal character..
A good man can be good even without showing devotion to any god.. and a very bad guy can be bad even if he is so close to some god..
But if children were told that a bad guy can be a devotee in spite of being bad.. that would send wrong signals to them..
We cannot send wrong messages to children..
The objective evaluation and setting of filters of morality can wait till the children are grown up enough to think and evaluate for themselves..
Suffice to say Ravana was bad because he was arrogant and did not show respect for females..
And the children can be told that bad behaviour even on the part of staunch devotees are not pardoned by God..
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