Lakshmana set out at once to meet Sugreeva. He was in a very angry mood. He walked so fast that he rolled the little rocks with his foot as an elephant would do. He reached Kishkindha city which was situated between two hills close to each other. A large number of Vanaras (they are not really monkeys as we mentioned earlier) who guarded the city looked at Lakshmana who was burning with anger. They were all terrified and took up their arms in fear. Angada (Vali’s son) came there and Lakshmana asked him to go and inform Sugreeva about his presence and deliver a message from Rama saying that Sugreeva too would be joining his brother Vali soon. Lakshmana waited at the entrance of the city. Angada was terrified and ran to inform Sugreeva. He tried to catch the attention of Sugreeva but in vain as he was in the midst of women and still in a drunken state. The Vanaras who were terrified then produced a sound described in Sanskrit as ‘kila, kila’. It is interesting to mention here that in Tamil we say ‘kala, kala’ to indicate some noise.
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Sugreeva got up finally and
wondered what was happening. Angada informed him of the presence of Lakshmana
who was furious. Sugreeva was unable to understand why Lakshmana should be
angry because he felt that he had not done anything wrong. When Angada
explained the situation Sugreeva consulted his ministers. Then Hanuman who is
an expert in the science of handling state affairs (Rajatantram) cleverly put
it across to Sugreeva that there had been a delay in taking action in the search
for Sita. He pointed out that the rainy season was over and it was time to set out
for the search of Sita. He said that this anger should be something that
normally arises only between friends. He stressed that in no way this
friendship between Rama and Lakshmana is to be jeopardized so he said that it was
advisable to go and appease Lakshmana.
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Lakshmana was welcomed and led into the cave. There he was amazed to see beautiful palaces and
gardens. The place was looking like divine beauty. Lakshmana saw beautiful
Vanara ladies. So it is not correct to translate Vanara as just monkeys. As we
had pointed out earlier they are said to be children of Gandharvas. They were
born in the world in order to render help to Lord Vishnu in his Avatara as
Rama. The interior of the palaces was well decorated. There was plenty of food,
honey, and Mairaya- a kind of alcohol. There were royal avenues with the palaces
of the royal family members such as Angada, Dwivida, Gavaya, Gaja, Nila, and
so on. There was also a palace for Sampati who is the eagle king and the
brother of Jatayu as we had noted before. At one place Lakshmana could hear
musical instruments (Veena) being played.
Lakshmana was still angry
and as he approached Sugreeva’s quarters he pulled at the bowstring and made a
loud noise. Sugreeva knew Lakshmana had arrived but was scared to meet him as
he was still not in good senses. So he requested his wife Tara to go and meet
Lakshmana and appease him. It was indeed clever of him because he knew that
Lakshmana was noble and would be gentler with a lady and he was right also.
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As expected it was Tara who
spoke to Lakshmana and tried to calm him down. She first assured him of
Sugreeva’s sincerity. Tara pleaded with Lakshmana saying that Sugreeva was not
ungrateful and he had to be excused for indulging in pleasure without any idea
of time. She pointed out to him that even the great rishi Vishwamitra spent ten
years with the apsra woman Gritachi think- ing that he had spent only a day. So
she argued that an ordinary soul like Sugreeva should be excused. She said that
she had learned from Vali that there were crores of rakshasas in Lanka who had
to be first killed before killing Ravana. Tara said, “Vali was a terror to
Ravana because Vali had tied him in his tail and brought him to be a plaything
for his son and he knew well all the details about Ravana”. Come to think of it
Vali would have been more useful in hunting out Ravana as Vali himself had told
Rama before dying but then Rama had to kill him for the crimes he had committed!
Tara added that Sugreeva had already sent his chiefs to collect some powerful
Vanaras and they all were expected to come any time.
Lakshmana heard this and
calmed down and then Sugreeva himself came and apologized. He said that Rama
was so valorous that he really did not need Sugreeva or anyone to help him.
Sugreeva said that he would just obey Rama’s orders and follow him.
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Lakshmana was pleased and he
appreciated his words. Valmiki used a nice simile here to describe Lakshmana’s
state. He says that Sugreeva removed the mental agony of Lakshmana as one would
remove a wet cloth. Sugreeva also added that he could never repay Rama for the
great help he had done to him. Lakshmana appreciated his words and even asked
Sugreeva to excuse him for his harsh words. Sugreeva then instructed Hanuman to
collect an army from all over the region and even beyond.
Valmiki gives a detailed
description of the various regions. It is interesting that in one of the
regions near the Himalayas from where some Vanaras came, a great Yaga called
Maheshwara had been performed. The fruits and roots that grew in that place
from the remains of the food offered in the Yaga if eaten had the great power
of removing hunger for a period of one month. Some Vanaras collected herbal medicines
and brought them with them. The number of Vanaras who then converged to that place
ran into several crores. All traveled by sky. Some of these descriptions are a
bit fantastic and at times hard to conceive. One has to probably probe the
inner meaning.
As I write this I came
across some interesting news. The Russians have released their secret files
concerning Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). The naval mission reported in
1982 that they found some in Baikanoor Lake under the water of some humanoids. When they
were approached they rose to the surface and flew into the air as if defying gravity. So how do we take this? Incredible but true?
When all these crores of
Vanaras arrived there, they all set forth to meet Rama who was staying in
Prahsravana Mountain. Sugreeva offered his salutations to Rama who hugged him
and told him that he was his best friend. Rama hugged Sugreeva on several
occasions. This is a great sign of showing the affection and the deep
friendship between Rama and Sugreeva. Rama was happy to see the huge army that
had been gathered. Rama gave a piece of advice to Sugreeva. He said that one
had to strike a balance between the three tenets, Dharma, Artha, and Kama. Rama
warned that if the person who got immersed in Kama (lust for women) would fall
down and never rise again. Sugreeva then informed Rama about the huge army
consisting of Vanaras (who were the children of Gandharvas), bears, and others
with fearful faces who all knew well the terrain all around, and were
familiar with mountains and valleys. As they were discussing the place
suddenly got darkened by the arrival of so many very strong Vanaras. The most
important personalities were Shatabali, Tara’s father, Ruma’s father, Hanuman’s
father Kesari, Gavaksha, Jambavan, Vali’s son Angada, Hanuman, and others. They
all were accompanied by their army. These Vanaras could fly, take any form they
liked, and were very strong. Sugreeva asked all of them to settle comfortably in
the areas around.
He then requested Rama to
command the Vanaras on what was to be done. Then Rama hugged him (let us recall
that Kabandha had asked Rama to make friends with Sugreeva which was vital) and
said that it was more fitting for Sugreeva to do so as he was well versed with
all the places.
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