Vali Vadham 48

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The grandeur of Vali II

 

 

There are a few Slokas in Valmiki and verses in Kamban that show the grand

character that Vali is. His love for his brother comes to the fore now. He

repents for what he did to his brother and apologies to him. "Accosting Sugriva

who had scored a victory (over him) and was (now) the ruler of monkeys, Vali

lovingly spoke to him in distinct accents as follows: 'Sugriva, you ought not to

hold me guilty of wrong doing (in the form of having exiled you and wrested your

wife from you), but should conclude me to have been forcibly carried away by

perversity occasioned by that which was bound to come." (Valmiki Ramayana,

Kishkindha Kanda, Canto 22, Sloka 3 and 4)

 

"Perversity occasioned by that which was bound to come." Fate. It was all due

to fate that I was so perverse. And not only fate, it was power too. Vali was

one good example of what power and might put together can do, if the person is

not sagacious and balanced enough to see things in the right perspective. Power

corrupts. Only those whose roots are deep and strong, those who respect others

and are humane, those whose conviction is set in the right direction remain

untouched by the intoxication that power puts into one's head. That apart. The

best of Vali flows out of his heart, just at the time when life is flowing out

of him.

 

'It seems that we were not ordained to live happily together. How else can I

explain what happened my dear Sugriva!' "I believe, O dear brother, happiness

was not ordained for us at one and the same time. That is why the well-known

amity, which ought to exist between two brothers, came to be otherwise (was

transformed into enmity). (Ibid, Sloka 4)

 

The good brother in him was slowly transforming into the good father that he

was. Earlier, in his submissions to Rama also he had mentioned, "I neither

grieve for myself nor for (my wife) Tara nor even for my kinsmen as I do for my

son Angada, who is foremost in point of virtues and is adorned with armlets of

gold." (Ibid, Canto 18, Sloka 50) He is so young and I am afraid he would

wither away because he would not able to get his father's affection. "Angada

(son of Tara) who is still young, though exceptionally mighty, and whose

judgment has not yet matured, and is my only son and (as such) dear to me,

deserves to be protected by you, O Rama!" (Ibid, Sloka 52)

 

Angada is strong and mighty. But he is still young and is not matured enough to

see right from wrong. You have to protect him. And in what ways Vali needs the

protection of Rama? "Establish the very best understanding between Sugriva and

Angada; for you stand as their protector and preceptor in teaching them what

should be done and what should not be done." (Ibid, Sloka 53) I request you to

protect my brother as well as my son. You have to protect the one and teach the

other the values of life. "You ought to cherish, O king, the same attitude of

mind towards Sugriva and Angada, which exists (at the present moment) in

relation to Bharata and Lakshmana, O ruler among men! (Ibid, Sloka 54)

 

The kind of fears that rush through the mind of a person at the time of his

death, notwithstanding the power and might he enjoyed during his lifetime!

Let's come back to the words of Vali, to Sugriva.