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Vali Vadham 16

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Hari Krishnan • December 10, 2002 


The sal tree proposal


Habits die hard.  You are not able to trust your God when he promises to stand by your side.  You are not able to believe that he is prepared take over from you and help you root out the cause of all troubles from your life.  You are not able to accept the fact that he is strong enough, powerful enough and superior enough to wrench you from the hands of the misery that has been haunting you for years.  That was precisely the condition in which Sugriva was.

"Obstinate are my trammels," sang Rabindranath Tagore in Gitanjali, "but my heart aches when I try to break them.  Freedom is all I want, but to hope for it I feel ashamed.  I am certain in that priceless wealth is in thee, and that thou art my best friend, but I have not the heart to sweep away the tinsel that fills my room.  The shroud that covers me is a shroud of dust and death; I hate it, yet I hug it in love."

Tagore wrote these lines in an entirely different context.  But don't they describe Sugriva's state of mind perfectly and precisely?  He is not able to accept the fact that his Lord has come to him as his friend and he is not able to express his fears neither to Him nor to his followers and ministers.  Such was the fear he had for Vali.  Hanuman understood what was running in Sugriva's heart.  

'piridhum annavan peru vali aatralai periyOy aridhi enninin uNdu ubaayam.'  If at all you want to ascertain his might, there is a way to find it out.  'ahdhu aru marangaL neriyin nindrana Ezhil ondru uruva in nediyOn pori koL venjaram pOvadhu kaaN.' There are seven sal trees (known as maraa maram in Tamil) on the way.  You will see Rama's arrow, spitting fire, would bore through one of them.  

Look at the confidence with which Hanuman beams.  He has not spoken to Rama about his proposal.  There was no indication to show that this great prince would accept to undergo a test of strength, to prove himself fit enough to kill Vali, in return for a favour to be done much later after Sugriva assumes power.  There was no assurance of any kind from him as yet.  Even if he organises a search, where, how and in what length of time would he be able to locate the whereabouts of Sita?  Nobody knew for sure.  In fact, Valmiki's Sugriva says, "I do not know at all the abode or strength or prowess or even the pedigree of that sinful ogre (Ravana) of vile birth."  (Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kanda, Canto VII, Sloka 2)

This was not true at all.  Rt. Hon'ble Srinivasa Sastriyar says, "Of course if the Uttara Kanda be taken into account, this is a very clear violation of conscience.  There it is distinctly stated that Ravana stayed for one month in Vali's place, just like Sugriva as a member of the family.  Then it would be incredibly wrong.  But I would hesitate a lot before I brought a charge against Sugriva of infidelity at the beginning of the contractÂ…. Sugriva is unable to talk clearly.  So he is not likely to launch at once into a piece of falsehoodÂ…"

It was at such a time that Hanuman comes forward and commits Sri Rama, on his behalf, without consulting him and says 'you will see one of his arrows drilling through a sal tree.  That would be sufficient to prove that it is powerful enough to bury itself deep into Vali's chest and drink his blood.'

Faith.  Faith is the difference.  Not that Sugriva did not have faith.  Hanuman's faith was of a different kind, grade and strength.  Sugriva's faith was not that stronger, at least for now.  



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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