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Vali Vadham 59

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Hari Krishnan • December 25, 2002 


Prudence was his watchword


We were discussing the reason why Rama did not kill Vali during the first encounter between Sugriva and Vali.  We mentioned that great commentators like Govindaraja feel that it really was not the inability of Rama to distinguish between Sugriva and Vali that stopped him from shooting his arrow.  (See: Was it a dilemma?) It was Govindaraja who suggested this and he is the widest quoted and most respected of all commentators of Valmiki Ramayana.

One of our readers, Mr Ravi Venugopal, (Ravi.Venugopal@ONSTAR.com), raised the following question on the point that Rama would have hesitated to kill Vali.  "Now, if the Lord had any such dilemma, He would have revealed so initially, It is my personal opinion that, the Lord would not even 'think' of going across his word, however small the timeframe would be. There is a purpose in Vali's death, forget Sugriva for now, just as a story to impart good moral life to all mankind, it was essential for Vali and Ravana to die at the hands of Rama."

Well, Govindaraja did not mean that Rama wanted to go back on his word given to Sugriva.  Let's see once again what Rt. Hon'ble Srinivasa Sastriyar remarked on this question. "Why did not Sri Rama kill Vali at once, the first time they met?  I told you of Sri Rama's difficulty.  But you see nobody is willing to believe that Sri Rama was really in doubt as to how to distinguish between brothers.  As a matter of fact, no commentator believes it.  Both the commentators say 'Oh, no no!  Sri Rama could certainly have drawn a distinction between the two."  For one thing, when the fight was over and Sugriva was returning a humbled and defeated individual, he could easily have seen which was Vali.  Besides, Hanuman was there and why not ask him?  So you go and find all sorts of other reasons. ... ... ...Govindaraja really says that Rama certainly could have known who was Vali and who was Sugriva but he did not care for the moment to do so.  Â…Â…Â…But at the same time, ladies and gentlemen, I have a suggestion to make. 

Thinking twice before making a crucial decision is the character trait seen in Rama's actions, right from the very beginning.  We mentioned a total of three places where he thinks over and postpones the decision at least for moments. The first instance occurs in the Bala Kanda.  You know that sage Viswamitra came to Dasaratha and requested him to send Rama with him to stand guard when he performed his Yaga against Marica and Subahu.  



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