The Complete Life of Rama

by Vanamali

  “O Vali! You speak of dharma and adharma as if you know all about them, but you fail to see your own misdemeanors. Your younger brother, who is full of good qualities, should have been treated as a son by you. Instead, you banished him from his kingdom and misappropriated his wife, Ruma. According to the law of this land, anyone who looks on his daughter, his sister, or the wife of his brother with lust should be punished, and the punishment is death. You have been sleeping with your brother’s wife while he is still alive, and this violates the eternal dharma. Why do you accuse me of transgressing the law, when I have only complied with the law? Sugriva is as dear to me as Lakshmana. I have sworn to be his friend and publicly gave him my word to restore his kingdom and his wife to him. How could I go back on that promise? I have only kept my word to him, nothing else, so why do you accuse me of adharma? You would have done the same, had you been in my position.”

  Vali considered Rama’s words and realized that he spoke the truth. He bitterly regretted his cruelty to his younger brother, whom he should have treated as a son, as Rama said. He also knew that his action in having stolen his brother’s wife was despicable. With flowing eyes and choked voice, Vali said, “O Rama! You are right. I deserve to be punished and am not worried about myself. I should die for my crimes, but I am worried about the future of my only son, Angada. Please consider him as your own son and look after him. Please do not let my beloved Tara be insulted by Sugriva. She was a very good wife to me. I realize now that I was fated to meet death at your hands, and that is why I did not listen to her when she begged me not to go.”

  Rama spoke comfortingly to Vali and promised to take very good care of Angada. “What Angada was to you, he will be to me and to Sugriva, so depart in peace.” He stroked Vali’s dying body with loving hands, and Vali felt a great peace creeping into his soul at Rama’s tender touch. He begged Rama to forgive him for his hasty words spoken under delusion and anger. Then he lost consciousness.

  Tara heard that her husband was killed and rushed out of the fortress with her son. The other monkeys tried to stop her and said that she should flee from that place with her son in case Sugriva did harm to them. She spoke scornfully to them. “My beloved husband is lying dead and you expect me to protect myself. Of what use is life to me after he has gone? I do not want the kingdom, and I do not fear for my son. All I want is to go to him.” So saying, she ran to the spot where Vali had fallen, throwing herself on his body and crying as if her heart would break. Angada followed suit. Sugriva felt sorely grieved at this scene, as did Rama and Lakshmana.

  “I am Tara, my lord,” she said, “why do not you answer me? This hard ground is not a fitting bed for you. Come, let us go back to the palace where I have prepared a silken mattress for you. My heart must indeed be very hard or else how could it go on beating when you are lying dead? Why did you not listen to me, when I begged you not to go? Angada, my dear child, take a last look at your valiant father. Who knows what your fate will be? Rama has kept his promise to his friend and dispatched your father to heaven. Sugriva, the kingdom is yours. Your enemy is killed and you will be reunited with your wife. All your desires will be fulfilled. I hope you will be happy.” So saying she beat her breast and wept bitterly. It was a most painful scene for everyone.

  Hanuman went to her and tried to console her. “A man reaps the fruits of his actions, whether good or bad. The human body is like a bubble on the surface of the water. No one need mourn for another, since we are all to be pitied. Where is the cause for grief in a world where everything is transient? It is not right for you to think of giving up your life when you have a son to protect. Your son looks up to you and so do your subjects. Angada will surely be king. Let him now perform the obsequies for his father, which is the duty of a son. After that he will be crowned as yuvaraja. You are a wise woman and you know only too well that life and death are inevitable, and this life is impermanent. This is why a person should always try to perform as many good acts as possible while alive. Your thoughts should now be only for your son.”

  Vali painfully opened his weary eyes and saw his brother and said, “Sugriva, forgive me for what I have done to you. We were not fated to share affection with each other. Accept this kingdom from me, as well as my son, my immense wealth, and great fame. Listen to my last wishes: Here is my son, Angada, dearer to me than my life. Treat him as your own. He will prove his valor in the war with Ravana. Do not forget your promise to Rama. Help him to find his wife. He was prepared to besmirch his own name for your sake, for the sake of a friend. So do all you can to help him. My wife, Tara, is a very wise woman. Take her advice in all matters of statecraft. She is invariably right about these things. And finally, take this golden garland. It is divine and will lose its power once I die, so remove it before my life ebbs away. Take it. I have no further use for it.”

  When Sugriva heard these words of Vali, he started sobbing and all his pleasure at his victory vanished.

  Vali called his son to his side and said, “My child, remember your altered circumstances and obey Sugriva in everything. Accept happiness and sorrow as they come and do not be too moved by either.”

  By now his end was fast approaching and he fell back, gasping. Within a few minutes he was dead. Tara was inconsolable. Sugriva, too, was filled with remorse. Approaching Rama he said, “Rama, you kept your word and Vali is dead but now I have totally lost interest in becoming king. The death of Vali, the sorrow of his queen, and the helpless look in the eyes of his son have made me lose interest in stepping into my brother’s shoes. I have had so many fights with him, in all of which he could easily have killed me at any moment, but he always gave me a thrashing and let me go. I should never have wished for his death. I am a sinner and not fit to rule. I will not break my promise to you. Hanuman will help you but all I want is to fall into the pyre with my brother and die.”

  Tara also approached Rama and said, “You have been separated from your wife and you know how painful it is to you. Don’t you think that Vali now feels the same pain? Please do me one favor and use the same arrow on me that you used on my husband, so that I can join him.”

  Rama was sorely distressed by these words and tried to comfort her. “You are the wife of a hero and should not give way to despair. The Vedas say that everything functions according to the will of Brahma. You cannot overrule the dictates of fate. It is the sole and powerful cause for all happenings. No one can escape its decrees; it is not partial to anyone. Vali has now reached the heavens, which he has well earned through his valor. Rouse yourself from this despondency and ask your son to perform last rites for his father.”

  Lakshmana urged Sugriva to do what was needed. Vali was placed on a richly decorated palanquin and carried to the pyre, which Angada lighted. After performing all the rites, they bathed in the river and returned to the city of Kishkinda.

  All the vanaras surrounded Rama and begged him to take charge of their affairs since Sugriva was in a state of shock. Hanuman invited him to enter the city and attend the coronation.

  Rama said, “According to the vow I made my father, I cannot enter a village or city till my fourteen years of exile are over. Let Sugriva be taken to the city and crowned.” Turning to Sugriva he said, “Go and take up the reins of government. Crown this young prince as yuvaraja.”

  Then, turning to Lakshmana and the others he continued, “This is the month of Shravana, the first month of the rainy season. Lakshmana and I will spend the four months of the monsoons in some cave in the forest. When the month of Kartika comes and the rains cease, you can think about fulfilling your promise to me.”

  Sugriva went into the city and was crowned. After that he crowned Angada as heir apparent. He was reunited with his wife and spent the next four months reveling with his wife and the other women of Vali’s harem.

  Rama and Lakshmana went to the hill called Prashravana where they found a comfortable and spacious cave to make their home for the duration of the rainy season.

  Vasishta says:


  “When the notion of the self is destroyed by withdrawing the fuel of ideas from the mind, that which is left is the Infinite.”

  Hari Aum Tat Sat

  Saumyaya Namaha!

  CANTO III

  The Search for Sita

  Sri Ramachandra kripalu bhaja mana

  Harana bhava bhaya darunam!

  Nava kanja lochana kanja mukhakara,

  Kanja pada kanjaarunam!

  O mind, sing about the compassionate Lord Ramachandra,

  The lotus-eyed, lotus-faced, lotus-footed one,

  Who takes away the fear of the cruel world.

  The cave was located in a lovely spot surrounded on all sides by beautiful trees with flowering creepers entwined around their trunks. Everywhere the brothers looked they saw only beauty, and Rama was filled with nostalgia and longing for Sita, for she loved to see such things and would exclaim in such delight that he, in turn, would find joy in her innocent pleasure. He spent sleepless nights thinking of his love. Soon the monsoons set in with a vengeance. Indra let loose the floodgates of his waters and the rain fell in sheets with thunder and lightning for special effects. Rama and Lakshmana could scarcely step out of the cave. The enforced confinement was galling to both of them. There was nothing to distract Rama’s mind; all he could do was sit and brood over Sita’s fate. Once when he saw the watery moon rising over the mountain, he could not contain his grief and broke down and sobbed like a child. Lakshmana comforted him as best he could.

  “Brother,” he said, “you have often told me that one who loses his mental equilibrium will never be able to accomplish anything. All we need is a little bit of time. As soon as the monsoons are over, we will set out and find her, kill the rakshasa, and rescue her. So please do not grieve.”

  Rama was touched by his tenderness. “My dear child, I know that your love for me is infinite and you speak words of wisdom. I realize that sorrow is weakening, and I’ll try to rise above it. It is difficult to be patient when I think of how unhappy my darling is, but I will do my best.”

  Lakshmana confessed that the enforced inaction was irritating to him as well. Somehow they managed to contain their impatience, and at last the four months dragged to a close and the skies became blue once again.

  Hanuman was always conscious of where his duty lay, and when the stipulated time was over, he went to Sugriva to remind him of his promise to Rama. However, after years of exile, Sugriva was intoxicated by his new life of luxury. Having been deprived of proper food and women for many years, he could think of nothing else now. He left all matters of state in the able hands of his ministers and spent all of his time in the harem with women and wine. Tara, being a philosophical woman, had decided to drown in wine her sorrow over her husband’s death and make use of the comfort and security Sugriva offered her. As a tribe the vanaras were not famous for their morals.

  Hanuman approached Sugriva and reminded him gently of his duty. “My lord, your wife and your kingdom have been restored to you by the kindness of Rama. Have you forgotten that you owe him a duty? The time has come for you to repay your debt. Please set aside your other interests and devote yourself to the matter at hand. Rama is too noble to remind you of your duty, so it is up to you to make all arrangements and inform him of it. Do not rouse Rama’s anger. If you do, nothing can save you.”

  Sugriva roused himself from his inebriation and sent for Neela, who was one of his generals, and ordered him to assemble the whole army in Kishkinda. “They must be here within fifteen days from today,” he said. “Ask Angada to be my representative and arrange everything.” So saying, he retired once more to the pleasures of his harem.

  The rainy season was over. The long autumnal nights with the harvest moon hanging like a golden orb in the sky caused Rama to ache for his beloved. He was filled with despair.

  Lakshmana, who had gone to collect fruit, returned to find his brother in a hopeless state and cursed Sugriva for his tardiness. “My beloved brother, it does not become you to give way to grief like this. Do not fritter away your energy by dwelling on sorrow. I am sure Sugriva must have commenced his search for Sita. Nothing bad can happen to Sita, for she is like a flame that will burn to ashes anyone who dares touch it.”

  Rama agreed with Lakshmana, “Child, your words filled with wisdom are always a source of great comfort to me. I am sorry to have given in to my sorrow again, but this season with its haunting beauty brings poignant thoughts of my lovely wife, and I long for her with all my heart. She must be suffering from the pangs of separation, just as I am. She used to love to hear the call of the cranes and imitate them. However lovely the flowers are, they mean nothing to me without her here to appreciate them. How long is this torture going to last? These four months have seemed like four years to me. Still, Sugriva has not sent anyone and I think he has forgotten his promise. Filled with lust the king of the vanaras seems to have forgotten our very existence. Lakshmana, go and ask him if he would like to hear the twang of my bow. Remind him of the death of Vali and the debt he owes to me. The rains have ceased and he has not awakened from his dream of pleasure. Time is passing and I have waited long enough. Go soon, O Lakshmana! Tell him to honor the promise he made to me or be prepared to face my arrows.”

  Lakshmana was not a calm person by nature and he had been confined inside the cave for four months, which had not improved matters. Now the sight of his brother’s agitation made his blood boil. He strapped the quiver to his shoulder and took up his bow, saying, “Rama, Sugriva does not deserve to be king. Drunk with power he has forgotten the codes of decent behavior. I will dispatch him immediately to the abode of Yama and ask Angada to carry on with the search.”

  Rama’s anger abated when he saw his brother’s reaction and he advised Lakshmana not to repeat what he had said in anger but to adopt a conciliatory attitude.

  Lakshmana walked with purposeful strides to Kishkinda. The Earth shook with the force of his angry strides. The entrance to the city was through a cave guarded by vanaras, so that none could enter without permission. Seeing Lakshmana they took up trees in order to stop him from entering. When he saw this Lakshmana became doubly angry, and seeing his fury, they flew off in all directions, running to Sugriva to tell him of Lakshmana’s violent mood. The king was totally inebriated and lost to the world in the arms of his brother’s wife. The monkeys ran to Angada, who hurriedly came out of the gates to meet Lakshmana and try to pacify him. Lakshmana ordered him to call his uncle immediately. He could hear the sweet strains of music and snippets of revelry floating in the air, and when he thought of the agony of his brother these four months, his anger could not be controlled. Angada was scared out of his wits and ran and told his uncle and mother of Lakshmana’s arrival. Sugriva could hardly understand what was happening. In fact, he could hardly stand. Hanuman came to him and told him once again to go out and try to pacify Lakshmana, who was in a fury.

  “Why should he be angry with me? What crime have I committed?” whined the tipsy king.

  Hanuman assured him that Rama was not seriously angry with him. “You must admit that you have allowed time to elapse. You have lost track of the seasons in your ardor. Rama has been counting the days to go in search of his wife. Pained in heart and mind, he has sent Lakshmana to you. Please go and talk sweetly to him.”

  Sugriva did not dare go and face him. He begged Tara to go and appease him, since he knew that Lakshmana would not display his anger before a woman. Tara was also in a state of inebriation. Her gait was unsteady and her hair and clothes disheveled. Lakshmana took one look at her and realized the state she was in and averted his eyes.

  Tara approached him and said seductively, “Why, O noble prince, are you so angry? Who has been foolish enough to kindle your wrath?”

  Lakshmana replied, “Your husband seems to have forgotten all the rules of dharma. Lost in lust he has forgotten the promises he made to my brother. If you wish to do him some good, go and tell him to rouse himself from this orgy of lust and help Rama. Ingrat
itude leads to the destruction of the best of men. We have been betrayed by one whom we considered a friend.”

  Tara replied in a sweet and gentle tone, “O prince, please do not be angry with Sugriva. You know that kama is a powerful emotion. Even rishis have fallen to its lures; what need I say about a mere monkey who is fickle by nature and has been denied these pleasures for many years? Please forgive him for his apparent indifference, which has been caused by weakness. Actually, he has already ordered the army to be mobilized, and soon thousands of monkeys from all over the country will be assembled here, to start their quest to discover Sita. Please come inside and meet Sugriva.”

  So saying, she led him into the inner apartments. Sugriva said not a word and stood with folded palms in front of him while Lakshmana berated him. Tara tried once more to intervene and made excuses for her husband.

  “O prince,” she said, “for Rama’s sake Sugriva will give up everything, even me and his wife, Rumi. He is devoted to Rama. His army will be here at any moment. Please relax and rest assured that everything will be done as you wish.”

  Lakshmana was somewhat pacified by this assurance. Sugriva, seeing his anger abated a little, now humbly begged his pardon. Both of them went to see Rama and tried to convince him that things were already under way.

  Sugriva bowed before Rama and said, “You are like a god to me. How can I ever forget what you have done for me? Please do not think me ungrateful. Soon this entire hillside will be covered by monkeys. I will dispatch them to all corners of the globe and discover the whereabouts of Sita. Rest assured that you will soon be reunited with her.”

  Within ten days, as he said, the whole hillside was covered with monkeys. They came in millions, lion-tailed, dark-faced, red-bottomed, white-furred, and golden-haired, ranging from all parts of the country, from the Himalayas to the southern sea. All the world’s tree folk answered Sugriva’s call and crowded round their king to await his commands. The bears also came with their king, Jambavan, a shaggy old black bear noted for his wisdom and respected by all the monkeys.