Vali Slain - Part VII

[Guest guest]

Dear raama bhakthaas,

 

 

 

In the previous post, we saw a comparison between the pairs of brothers, vaali

sugreevan and karNan arjunan. We will continue to study some of the good

qualities in vaali – in continuation to what we have seen as divinity in vaali

in post 5. See slOkam from sreemadh vaalmeeki raamaayaNam.

 

 

 

prathipadhya thvam adhya Eva raajyam Eshaam vanoukasaam |

 

maam api adhya Eva gachchantham vidhDhi vaivasvatha kshayam || 4-22-5

 

 

 

meaning: vaali says to sugreevan, “You realize that I am going to the abode of

time-god now itself. Hence I propose yourself as king of this forest-dweller's

kingdom, now itself”.

 

 

 

Point: Vaali's supremacy or good qualities, to put it mildly, or divine

qualities to put same on a high pedestal, does not die with him. Here he is

taking a high profile stance. He himself proposes sugreevan as the next ruler of

the kingdom, without any grudge or grouse, on 2 counts.

 

 

 

First - sugreevan is the triumphant one, and, thus he shall get the kingdom

forthwith, and not angadhan, as proposed by hanumaan.

 

Second: sugreevan is the next best choice for the kingship, rather than

angadhan, for he is the younger brother and also as a one-time prince regent.

 

 

 

In either way the dying vaali is keeping high his nobility up, as an unrivalled

champion and also as an elder brother.

 

 

 

Before these are said by vaali, thaara comes to the battle arena and sees her

husband is in dying moments. She weeps, at the same time praises raama also. see

sreemadh vaalmeeki raamaayaNam slOkam

 

 

 

sugreevasya thvayaa bhaaryaa hruthaa sa cha vivaasitha: |

yath thath thasya thvayaa vyushti: praapthaa iyam plavagaadhipa || 4-20-11

 

 

 

meaning: thaara the wife of vaali says to vaali, “By which reason you have

snatched away sugreeva's wife, oh, chief of monkeys [or fliers], and even

expelled him from kishkindhaa, that is the reason why you got this result [of

having been stuck by raamaa’s arrow and down lying on the ground].

 

 

 

Point: The main reason why raama chose to hit vaali is his snatching away the

brother’s wife. That is what comes to the fore even to thaaraa, the beloved wife

of vaali. She, though initially, says few words on raama, once this reason comes

to her mind, she becomes clear and showers praises.

 

 

 

raamENa hi mahath karma krutham thvaam abhinighnathaa |

aanruNyam thu gatham thasya sugreevasya prathisravE || 4-20-20

 

 

 

meaning: thaaraa also lauds raamaa, "Really, raama has not only done a great

deed of hitting you down, but he also achieved indebtedness towards sugreeva,

both in a single promise’.

 

 

 

Dear bhakthaas, See how clear and clever she is in her thoughts. See slOkams –

This or even more clarity is reflected in her words, earlier also, when she

forbids vaali in taking up the cudgels for the fight for the second time [just

this word cudgels is added to indicate the preparedness of vaali and not really

the tools, since the brothers fought physically more, something like wrestling].

 

 

 

ayOdhyaa adhipathE: puthrou soorou samara dhurjayaou |

 

ikshvaakooNaam kulE jaathou prathithou raama lakshmaNou || 4-15-17

 

sugreeva priya kaamaartham praapthou thathra dhuraasadhou |

 

 

 

meaning: thaaraa says to vaali, when he is about to leave the palace to take up

the fight - "Those that are born in ikshvaaku dynasty, sons of the king of

ayOdhyaa, valiant and unconquerable ones in war, called raama and lakshmaNa are

there in this country. These two unassailable ones have chanced there at

sugreeva's place to fulfill the longing desire of sugreeva”.

 

 

 

sa thE bhraathu: hi vikhyaatha: sahaayO raNa karmaNi || 4-15-18

 

raama: para balamardhee yugaantha agni: iva uththitha: |

 

 

 

meaning: thaaraa continues, "He is an acclaimed one for his warfare, and like

the fire flaring up at the end of era, he shatters the strength of enemies, and

he is raama, your brother's helpmate, they say so.

 

 

 

nivaasa vruksha: saadhoonaam aapannaanaam paraa gathi | 4-15-19

 

aarthaanaam samsraya: chaiva yasasa: cha Eka bhaajanam |

 

 

 

meaning: thaaraa continues, "And he is said to the habitable tree for the

polite, the ultimate course for the woebegone [miserable], a hospice [rest home]

for the agonized, and for grace raama is the only abode.

 

 

 

jnaana vijnaana sampanno nidhEsO niratha: pithu: || 4-15-20

 

dhaathoonaam iva sailEndhrO guNaanaam aakarO mahaan |

 

 

 

meaning: thaaraa continues, "He is endowed with the knowledge of mundane and

ultra-mundane things, he always abides in the directives of his father, and as

with Mt. Himalayas for all natural elements he is the greatest mine of merits.

 

 

 

thath kshamO na virOdha: thE saha thEna mahaathmanaa || 4-15-21

 

dhurjayEna apramEyENa raamENa raNa karmasu |

 

 

 

meaning: thaaraa continues, "By that reason, with that unconquerable on, in

conflicts, an imponderable one and a great-soul raama, your enmity [with your

brother] is inappropriate.

 

 

 

Point: The queen thaaraa is elucidating the whole being of raama as gathered by

her from her son angadhan. The second foot of slOkam 19 above starts with the

words “nivaasa vruksha” meaning - a habitable tree. Those two words have been

given a lot of importance and that also gives a direction as to why vaali was

killed by raama from behind.

 

 

 

Dear bhakthaas, You may ask “why Rama is compared with a tree?” The answer is -

tree requires no formalities to go under its shade, like 'may I come in' or

'rights of admission reserved' etc., as with any other house or habitation. A

tree first gives its shade to the weary traveler who seeks it and then affords

its fruits or flowers satisfying the basic needs of the weary and needy. Raama

is also such a tree that protects and nourishes, should anybody seek his grace.

 

 

 

Next word used by thaaraa is – ‘saadhoonaam’ – meaning - for polite supplicants

raamaa is the ultimate course. thaaraa is saying indirectly that vaali is not

all polite in treating sugreeva at, either as crown prince of kishkindha earlier

or as his own younger brother. As such vaali cannot entreat raama at this stage

for his impoliteness to sugreevan and to ruma, wife of sugreeva, which is

intolerable to raama. Hence vaali shall not confront raama.

 

 

 

The subsequent word is – ‘aarthaanaam yasasa: cha Eka bhaajana:’ - for earnest

and anguished supplicants raama is the ultimate recourse, the graceful raama is

the only ultimate abode. This is what is later said as ‘yOga kshEmam vahaami

aham’ in bhagavath geetha in 9-22. Perhaps vaali may dismiss this idea saying

that 'if raama is the ultimate course for the polite supplicants, I have my

recourse to other supreme lords, i.e., none other than Indhra, my father'. For

this thaara is clear in her thought supplementing and saying, Indhran and others

are but penultimate only. So, as long as raama is standing guard to sugreevan,

sugreevan cannot be trivialized as in bhagavath geethaa, ‘na mE bhaktha:

praNasyathi’ - 9-31.

 

 

 

These four words are also interpreted in another way as – [as in Gita at 7-16]

that chathurvidhaa bhajanthE maam, 'four kinds of devotees worship me'. Those

four are,

 

1. One who is seeking knowledge saadhoonaam; those that are interested in

salvation, kaivalya kaamuka, like King Pareekshith.

 

2. One seeking of material gains aapannaanaam, those that seek the material

gains that was not available previously to them, [also called artha arthee] like

sugreevan, Dhruvan.

 

3. One who is distraught aarthaanaam; those that are in anguish like gajEndhran,

the elephant caught in lake by crocodile.

 

4. One who is a wise person yasasa: jnaani; the gloriously enlightened one, like

suka, sanaka, naaradha, bheeshma, prahlaadha et al.

 

 

 

For all these four kinds raama is the ‘Eka bhaajanam’, the only recourse. This

also clear how knowledgeable and evolved soul is thaaraa.

 

 

 

In the next slOkam, she talks about raamaa as ‘jnaana, vijnaana sampaththi’. In

that jnaana is privy to the materialistic, worldly, kingly affairs. vijnaana is

the knowledge derived from the scriptures, providentially profound. Or, through

‘karmadhaaraya, jnaanaH cha asou vijnaa sampannaH cha’ corporeally raama is the

knowledge, and spiritually he is Gnostic as well. Hence he is the phenomenon of

the Supreme Being in maintaining dharmam.

 

 

 

In order to maintain that dharmam, raama is now observant of his father's orders

‘pithu: nidhEsE niratha”. This pursuit of father's orders is but one of the many

other attributes of his dharma, and that alone is said here as secondary

attribute. Hence in pursuing his dharmam raama may eradicate adharmam of vaali,

insofar as Vaali's misdemeanors towards sugreevan and his wife rumaa.

 

 

 

‘guNaanaam aakara:’ with his auspicious merits raama is a Great Mine. Usually

these guNaas, attributes of VishNu are six as per sreevaishnava classification,

being termed as shaadguNa sampaththi. There are many more in the depth of raama

hitherto unexplored or unexcavated. As such, there are innumerable merits, in

him – so - dhaathoonaam sailEndhra:. These elements neither subdivide nor shake

him off his himalayan personality, in the pursuit to establish dharma.

 

 

 

Having said so much about thaaraa’s wisdom in realizing raama who he is, dear

bhakthaas, can we say thaaraa knows well when vaali started for the fight, she

is sure that he will be killed. Is it a wonder that such a tree, raama, the

dharmam personified in hitting vaali from the shades of the tree, for the tree

itself will not stretch its hand to do that act of killing. Now you can

understand what is the logic in killing of vaali from behind.

 

 

 

with due respects

 

 

 

v.anjaneyulu

 

 

India Matrimony: Find your life partneronline.