Hanuman

by Vanamali

  When he was returning, he saw a very beautiful lady anchorite staying in an ashrama. She had no ornaments and was clad in bark with matted hair and was doing intense tapas. Despite her lack of embellishments she was very beautiful and Ravana was not one who could resist a woman’s beauty. He approached her and asked her who she was and why she was doing tapas.

  She replied, “My name is Vedavati and I am the granddaughter of Brihaspati, the preceptor of the gods. My father refused all other offers of marriage for me and insisted that I should do tapasya in order to acquire Vishnu as my husband. My parents were killed by a demon and ever since then, I have been practicing austerities in order to have Vishnu as my husband.”

  Ravana laughed in scorn and said, “How stupid your father was and how stupid you are to follow his foolish advice and waste your youth. I am as great as or even greater than Vishnu and you would do well to become my wife.” So saying, he made a lunge at her. She ran for her life, but he followed her and grabbed her by her hair. She managed to free herself and said, “O you monster! I will give up this body that has been defiled by you. But I will take another body that will eventually bring you to ruin.” So saying, she gave up her life in front of his eyes.

  The sages told Rama, “That Vedavati was born as Sita and you are the avatara of Vishnu.”

  Agastya then told Rama another story about Ravana concerning the reason he abducted Sita. Ravana had done a number of good things in his life and was a fitting recipient to go to heaven, but due to his atrocities, all the good he had done was negated. Once, during the yuga known as Satya, Ravana had asked the great sage, Sanat Kumara, to tell him which of the trinity was capable of giving liberation. The sage told him that Vishnu was certainly the one who could liberate. Anyone who was killed by Vishnu would attain instant emancipation. Ravana’s eyes gleamed with interest when he heard this. He asked Sanat Kumara to tell him which was to be the next incarnation of Vishnu so that he could somehow see to it that he was killed by him. The sage told him that in the yuga known as Treta, Vishnu would be incarnated at Rama, scion of the race of Ikshvaku, and Lakshmi would take birth as the daughter of the king of Videha and marry him.

  Ravana pondered over this matter and decided that the only way he could get liberation through Vishnu in his form as Rama was to make him so angry that he would be forced to kill him. The best way of making him angry was to abduct his wife. Agastya told Rama that this was the secret behind Ravana’s abduction of Sita! He also gave him all the other details about the past lives of his son Meghanatha and his wife Mandodari. Thus, all the intricate threads that were woven by destiny to make up the tapestry of their lives were revealed to Rama.

  Many years passed while Rama reigned with Sita by his side, helped by his able ministers and beloved brothers. Once when he was sitting with his three brothers and Hanuman, Bharata wanted to put a question to him, but he asked Hanuman to speak for him since he was known to be Rama’s favorite.

  “My Lord!” said Maruti. “Bharata wants to ask you to speak on the difference in behavior of the noble and the wicked.”

  Rama replied, “The difference in the conduct of the good and the wicked is like the difference between sandal wood and the ax. The fragrant wood imparts its perfume even to the very ax that fells it! For this reason the sandal wood is desired by all and has the honor of being put on the head of the gods. The ax on the other hand has its edge heated in the fire and then hammered until it becomes flat!

  “O brother! There is no religion like charity and no sin like hatred. There are many types of sinful and noble acts that people might do, but the truly noble look on everything with an equal and loving eye.”

  His brothers and Hanuman were thrilled to hear his words.

  There was an ashoka grove next to the palace that was even more beautiful than the one in Lanka. Flowering trees like the champaka, kadamba, ashoka, and sandal were there as well as fruit trees like mango and pomegranate. After finishing his day’s work, Rama would often walk in these fragrant gardens with his adorable queen. One day while they were thus sitting in the grove and talking to each other, Rama noticed that his wife showed all signs of pregnancy. She was wearing a glistening red robe and her skin glowed with an ethereal beauty. Rama was delighted to see this and taking both her hands in his, he led her gently to an arbor in the grove and seated her tenderly on a jeweled seat. He offered her a golden goblet with the nectar of many flowers, untouched by bees. With his own hands he raised the glass to her lips and made her sip the delightful concoction. He embraced his alluring wife with great love and asked her, “My darling one! How radiant you look. I see that you are with child. A son is the only thing that we lack in our lives. I have no doubt that the child will be a wonderful infant. Tell me, my dearest love, how can I make you happier? Is there some wish of yours that is still to be fulfilled? Ask for anything and it shall be yours.”

  Sita raised her lotus face to his and whispered, “My Lord, I consider myself to be the luckiest woman alive. What further wish can your wife have than to be beside you always?”

  But Rama insisted, “My lovely one, I want to make you even happier than you are now, if that were possible. Tell me something I can do for you. I am longing to shower you with everything, for it is said that a pregnant woman should have all her whims humored.”

  Sita smiled and looked at him with her fawnlike eyes. “Do you remember the forest near Chitrakuta where we used to wander hand in hand? Do you remember the sages and their wives and the peace of their hermitages? I have a great desire to go and visit them once again and eat the wild fruits and roots and drink the pure water of the Ganga and perhaps even stay there for a day or two.”

  Rama looked adoringly at his beloved wife. There was nothing he could deny her. If anything, his love for her had increased with the passing years. He had never felt the desire to take another consort, as the rest of the kings used to do. In fact the very idea was abhorrent to him. Sita was the most charming woman he had ever known, and he desired none other.

  Holding her hands in his, he gazed at her doe-like eyes and said, “O Vaidehi! My beloved wife, you shall certainly go there if that is what you wish. In fact, I will see that you are taken there tomorrow.”

  Having given his promise to his queen, Rama left her and went to the outer courtyard to talk with his friends, and Sita went to her own apartments, where she was surprised to see her new handmaiden waiting for her. Actually, this woman was none other than Ravana’s devious sister, Surpanekha, the cause of all Sita’s troubles in the first place, as we know it was Surpanekha who, furious at having been spurned by Rama, had talked her brother Ravana into kidnapping Sita. Now, she had slipped into the palace under the guise of a maid and was plotting to avenge her brother’s death. She had endeared herself to Sita and now when she saw her, she playfully asked her to describe what Ravana looked like.

  Sita said, “I’ve no idea what Ravana looked like since I never saw his face. I once saw his shadow as it was cast on the sea on the way to Lanka.”

  The woman now begged Sita to draw this shadow on the wall and Sita innocently did so. As soon as Sita left the room, Surpanekha completed the drawing and slipped out of the palace. She took good care to spread the news of the painting of Ravana on the wall of Sita’s private apartment. Of course, people are ever ready to see evil in their rulers, so the gossipmongers lapped up the tale and embellished it with their own fantastic ideas.

  After leaving Sita in the garden, Rama had gone to the outer courtyard to speak to his close friends. In the course of their light banter, he turned to his friend Bhadra and asked, “Tell me, Bhadra, what do the citizens of Ayodhya say about me and Sita and my brothers? Kings are always a subject of criticism for the common folk, and it’s always wise to know what they think.”

  Bhadra folded his palms and said, “Sire, people speak only well about you. Sometimes they discuss the events of the past years, when you achieved the impossible by killing the ten-headed demon and rescuing the princess o
f Videha. Your exploits are recounted with great enthusiasm by everyone.”

  “What else do they say, Bhadra? Tell me all. Why do you avert your face? Is there something that you feel should not be reported to me? Have no fear. I want to know the good and the bad. No king can afford to ignore what people say of him, so tell me everything frankly.”

  In a low, faltering tone, Bhadra said,” They also remark that though your action in having killed the rakshasa was laudable, your conduct with regard to your wife is shameful. “How could the king have accepted a woman who had been kept on Ravana’s lap and who had lived in his palace for so many months? How can the queen forget the indignities she must have suffered? We will have to put up with a similar conduct from our wives. They will be able to go from one man to another as they please and we will be forced to condone them. ‘As the king, so the subjects!’ This is what the people say in their ignorance.”

  Rama’s whole face changed when he heard this slanderous accusation against him and his immaculate wife. He could not utter a word. His friends tried to comfort him and said, “Your Majesty! It is the nature of the common people to speak ill of the nobility. A king need not pay heed to such vile accusations.”

  Rama hardly heard what they were saying. Taking leave of them in his usual courteous manner, he went to the garden and sat immersed in thought. He decided that it was his duty to check on this matter before coming to a decision. That evening, he wore the clothes of an ordinary citizen of Ayodhya and went incognito on a tour of the city. As luck would have it, as he passed the house of a washerman in one of the back streets of the city, he heard the sound of a man’s voice raised in anger. He went close to the door and stood outside listening. The husband was berating his wife.

  “I have heard reports of your indecent behavior. You have been seen talking to the nobleman who comes for a walk down this street. You may go back to your own home. I will not keep you here any longer. I belong to a respectable family and will not keep a loose woman as my wife. You are free to go where you please.”

  The poor woman pleaded that she was totally innocent and had only answered some questions the man had put to her. The washerman replied sternly, “Do you think I am Rama to tolerate such behavior? He is the king and can do as he pleases. As for me, I will never keep a wife who has been seen talking with another man.”

  Rama stood riveted to the spot for a few seconds. He felt like a tree that had been struck by lightning. The tender buds and leaves of hope that had sprouted in his heart after their return from Lanka were scorched and the naked, charred, and blackened branches raised their arms, in mute appeal to the heavens. He felt as if his whole body was on fire. He managed somehow to stagger back to the palace. He went to his private chamber and requested that his brothers come to him at once. They came immediately and were surprised to see his demeanor. He stood with his back to the door, gazing out on a wintry garden. His face was pale and his eyes had a glazed look as he turned around to face his brothers. His hands trembled slightly.

  Lakshmana knelt before him and said, “Brother, what is it? Tell me. Where is the enemy? You know that you have but to command and I shall obey.”

  Rama spoke in a voice that was drained of all emotion. “Do you know what the citizens are saying about Sita and me?”

  All of them hung their heads and Rama continued, “I see that all of you know and have hidden the truth from me all these years, O Lakshmana! You were a witness to the fact that I refused to take her back after the war until her purity was proved by the ordeal in the fire. Yet these people now talk as if I have done a heinous crime. My heart is breaking and I am drowning in sorrow, yet my duty as a king is clear to me. The first duty of a king is to his subjects and not to himself. Sita is dearer to me than life itself, but I have no choice but to abandon her for the sake of my subjects. Lakshmana, take her away in the chariot with Sumantra, and leave her on the other side of the Ganga near the Tamasa River, where we stayed a long time ago. Just yesterday morning she asked me to take her there. Let her have her wish. She will suspect nothing.”

  Lakshmana jumped to his feet and said, “Rama, you cannot do this to her! She is burnished gold, purified by fire. Please do not ask me to do this. I will do anything else you ask, but not this. Don’t you know that she is carrying your child in her womb? How can you bear to do this? Can you not wait at least until the child is born?”

  His face carved out of stone, Rama said in a stern voice, “After the child is born you will say, let her stay while she suckles the infant and then you’ll say, let her stay until he is five years old, and thus it will go on indefinitely, and eventually Rama would have betrayed his country for the sake of his own felicity.”

  Bharata and Shatrugna also added their pleas. Rama continued in a hard, loud voice, “I do not want to hear another word from any of you. I want none of your advice. I am your king and I demand implicit obedience.”

  For a few stunned moments there was absolute silence, except for Rama’s heavy breathing, due to his effort to suppress an emotion that threatened to overpower him.

  At last, ashen in hue and with a masklike face he said, “Go, Lakshmana! Leave her in a secluded spot on the banks of the Tamasa River near the holy Ganga, close to some hermitage, and return immediately. Don’t wait to talk to her. Don’t try to explain anything. Let her think the worst of me or else she will die of a broken heart. Don’t look at me so accusingly. Anyone who objects to my decision is my enemy. Take her away this very instant, O Lakshmana! If I see her even once, I am doomed. I will be unable to carry out my own command. If I see her fawnlike gaze fixed on me with a beseeching look, I will be lost and not all the slander in the world will enable me to let her go. So go now, before my heart fails me, before emotion weakens my adamantine resolve. Why do you hesitate? It is I, the king of the country, who is commanding you.”

  His brothers could not speak a word. Lakshmana cursed his luck for having been chosen to carry out this terrible command. His eyes brimming with tears, Rama stumbled out of the room and went to an enclosed spot in the garden where he would not be able to see Sita. He spent the night in the garden, keeping a lonely vigil with the stars. If he went to his room and took his beloved in his arms, he knew that he would never be able to let her go.

  Who knew what bitter thoughts passed through his mind? But he was firm in his resolve. Dharma was his god and to dharma he was prepared to sacrifice his beloved queen and his unborn child. To understand the Ramayana is to understand the meaning of dharma.

  In India the noble soul is one who is able to minimize his personal interests for the sake of the majority. Liberation from our mortal coils can be obtained only through the unselfish performance of all action. Unfortunately, the modern mind fails to see that a spiritual life demands certain sacrifices of our personal demands. Those who lack this understanding may not be able to understand Rama’s behavior. It must be remembered that the Indian mind was always conditioned to place the highest value on the abstract principle of dharma, or cosmic law. A king who wants to adhere to this law must, perforce, have to place his country before himself in all situations. This applies to all politicians also. We were happy to applaud the behavior of an English king who was prepared to forsake his country for satisfying his lust for a woman, but in India this would be considered a shameful act. By putting his own petty pleasures before the needs of the country, he would be guilty of having betrayed his country, to which he, as the king, should owe his first allegience.

  In India Rama was deified because he put his country before the needs of his own personal interests and was prepared to send away his most beloved wife in order to fulfill his role as the perfect monarch. Valmiki took great care to show the extent of Rama’s love for Sita, so as to bring out the enormity of his sacrifice. Moreover, it is also to be noted that Rama refused to take another consort, even though this was customary in those times.

  It is because human beings and nations cling to their own selfish interests and shut their eye
s to the welfare of other people and other nations that the world has come to such a sorry pass. If all rulers were prepared to follow the way of Rama, every country would be a ramarajya, where even nature bows to the decrees of the monarch and humans and animals are always at peace with one another.

  The Ramayana is a book that brings out the true meaning of love in all its aspects. What modern people find hard to accept is that the greater the love, the greater are the sacrifices we are called upon to make. The Ramayana illustrates this very clearly in the lives of all the main characters.

  Sita sacrifices her comfortable home and the security of the city to be with the husband she loves, daring to go with him to the dangerous forest where wild animals and demons live.

  Rama sacrifices a throne and kingdom, in order to honor the words of his father whom he loves.

  Lakshmana sacrifices his own family and household in order to serve the brother whom he loves more than himself. And then later he chooses to sacrifice his own life to avert the curse of Sage Durvasa from his people and his country.