SRI RAGHAVENDRA SWAMY’S
SRI RAMACHARITRYA MANJARI
(ಶ್ರೀ ರಾಘವೆಂದ್ರ ಸ್ವಾಮಿ ವಿರಚಿತ “ಶ್ರೀ
ರಾಮಚಾರಿತ್ರ್ಯ ಮಂಜರಿ)
After the initial exchange of pleasantries, Hanumantha
informs Srirama and Lakshmana about the plight of Sugreeva and carries both of
them on his shoulder to the place where Sugreeva and others were staying.
Later, Hanumantha tells Sugreeva and others: “Dear friends, Dasharatha’s son
Srirama is the master for all of us. He has come here with his younger brother
Lakshmana. We are very fortuitous to have him amidst us. Such an opportunity
cannot come in thousands of births. Seeing Srirama paves the path for
salvation. He is the ultimate Lord for this universe. We have no life or
anything without him. A demon has abducted Seetha Devi, the beloved wife of
Srirama. It is our duty to find out the place where that demon has taken her
to. Sugreeva, you should become his friend.”
Sugreeva was thrilled and excited. He narrated his
story of how Vali had abandoned him and kept his wife. Sugreeva extended his
hands to Srirama seeking a firm friendship. But, Lord Hanumantha said: “Friendship
by words of mouth or physical indication has no meaning. You should vouch in
front of fire and the Fire God should be made a witness. Sugreeva agreed and
took an oath that he would use all his powers to find Seetha Devi. In return, Sugreeva
sought the help of Srirama in fighting against Vali and recovering his
(Sugreeva’s) wife. Sugreeva also told Srirama that a few days ago, he had seen
an airplane carrying a woman, who was crying and pronouncing the name of “Rama
and Lakshmana”. Sugreeva also said that the woman had dropped a few jewels at
the place where Sugreeva and other monkeys were sitting. Sugreeva had kept
those jewels in a safe place. He brought those jewels and showed them to
Srirama. Srirama identified those jewels to be belonging to Seetha Devi.
Although Srirama was aware of all these things, he pretended to have remembered
his wife after seeing the jewels, wept for a while. Sugreeva once again said: “We
will kill the demons and bring back Seetha Devi”. He was imagining to be
pacifying the Lord of this universe while Srirama appreciated Sugreeva for his
devotion.
Meanwhile, Sugreeva told Srirama that Vali was very
strong and powerful. He had sent several monkeys to kill Sugreeva but he had
killed all of them. Vali could play with mountains like playing with small
balls and swim oceans like small wells. The enmity that Vali had developed with
Sugreeva was uncalled for as he had not done anything with evil motives. But,
Vali had mistaken Sugreeva and was trying to kill him. Srirama said: “I will the
person who has abducted your wife with a single arrow.” Sugreeva became very
happy for a moment but expressed suspicion about the capacity of Srirama.
Srirama, the omniscient, could easily make out that Sugreeva doubted his
capacity to kill the “most powerful” monkey-king Vali and therefore asked
Sugreeva: “What do you want me to do to instill faith and confidence in you
about my power and strength?” Sugreeva took Srirama to the spot where the giant
corpse of Dundubhi was lying and said: “If you can throw this corpse to a long
distance, I will be satisfied.” Srirama reached the corpse of Dundubhi and
touched it with his toe. The corpse flew away to a distance of about one
hundred Yojanas. In the nether world under the spot where the corpse fell, a
few demons were living. All those demons had obtained a boon from Lord Rudra
that they could not be killed by anyone. Except Lord Srirama, no other deity
could act against the boon bestowed by Lord Rudra. Due to the force and weight
of the corpse that fell there, the demons in the nether world were crushed to
death.
Since the corpse of Dundubhi had decayed, it had no
blood or skin or nerves. It had lost its weight. Therefore, Sugreeva was not
satisfied with what Srirama had displayed by throwing the corpse of Dundubhi
for a long distance. Sugreeva told Srirama: “Oh Lord, when Vali threw the
corpse of Dundubhi, the body was quite heavy since it had blood, bones and
nerves. I am still not convinced about your capacity to kill Vali. Sugreeva was
also quite afraid because he did not want to enrage Srirama by putting him to
several tests for proving his strength. Srirama did not become angry. He asked
Sugreeva to demand anything else to prove his strength. Sugreeva said: “Oh
Lord, you can see seven palm trees around me. Vali had tried to fell these
trees without success. Finally, he tried to remove a leaf of this tree. He
could not succeed. He could only shake the tree a bit. Who on earth can uproot
these trees? Moreover, these trees are not in one place or single line. They
are scattered in different directions. Even if a person can cut them, he can do
so one after the other with separate arrows. If you can do it, I will then
believe that you are one hundred times stronger than Vali.”
Srirama looked at Lakshmana with a smile, took out an
ordinary arrow and shot it. The arrow shot by Srirama reached every single palm
tree and cut it, precipitated the mountain on which they were existing, entered
the nether world through a cave at the bottom of the mountain, killed several
demons living there and returned to Srirama’s quiver.
The background of Seven Palm trees will be explained
in the next episode.
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