During the ongoing United States-Iran war, the US defense secretary Pete Hegseth told the generals to ignore “stupid rules of engagement”, meaning that American troops should be allowed to kill any number of enemies without needing to adhere to international conventions of ethical warfare. It is interesting to see the world’s strongest military power refuse to abide by the rules of war, and to compare it with the war in the Ramayana, where the warriors always adhered to rules. An account of the Rama-Ravana battle shows how wars were conducted in that age.
When Ravana first took to the battlefield, he was confronted by Hanuman, who informed him that monkeys don't bows and arrows. Ravana was an expert in hand-to-hand fighting too. He struck Hanuman on the chest with his palm. It was a powerful blow, and Hanuman reeled, but quickly recovered to hit Ravana back on his chest with the palm. Feeling the power of the blow, Ravana said, ‘Ah, you are a worthy enemy.’ Hanuman replied, ‘I do not care for your praise. I am ashamed that after my blow, you are alive.’ An angered Ravana struck Hanuman repeatedly with powerful blows and rendered him unconscious.
After some time, Hanuman regained his consciousness and saw that Ravana had moved on to fight with the commander of Rama’s army, Nila. He thought, ‘It is not right to attack someone when they are engaged with another.’
Ravana severely hurt Nila and then turned to Lakshmana. After an exchange of arrows, he hurled his spear at Lakshmana. It struck him in the chest, leading him to fall on the ground. Aiming to finish him off by drowning him in the sea, Ravana tried to lift Lakshmana. But Hanuman, who was watching, struck him with a blow and carried Lakshmana off to Rama’s camp.
Rama became infuriated on seeing the injured Lakshmana and advanced to fight with Ravana. Since Ravana was on a chariot while Rama was on foot, Hanuman urged Rama to climb on his back to attack Ravana. When Rama did so, Ravana was angry with Hanuman for thwarting his plans, so he struck him with more arrows than he struck Rama with. However, Hanuman still carried Rama patiently.
In the course of a long fight, Ravana could not withstand Rama’s arrows. He lost his crown and his bow broke. On seeing his helpless state, Rama did not attack him further. He said, ‘Go home and return refreshed tomorrow.’ As Rama and Hanuman presented the perfect example of ethical fighting by playing by the rules, even a villainous figure like Ravana abstained from attacking an unconscious enemy unethically.