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KishkindhA KhAndam--Part 4

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V. Sadagopan • November 24, 1996 


GS 45 :

 vipula saila moola nipita nipeetitha RaavaNa raNa
 raNaka Janaka chathurudhadhi viharaNa chathura 
 kapikulapathi hrudhaya visAla silAtala dharaNa dharuNa 
 sileemukha ! Jaya ! Jaya ! 

(Meaning ) :

O MahA veera of ferocious arrows that had 
the power to split into two the granite-like chest 
of the king  of the monkey kingdom , Vaali . That 
great hero Vaali had the valour and power to scare the 
mighty RavaNA , when the latter  offended him . That Vaali 
taught the pestering and insolent RavaNA a lesson by grabbing 
him and flew to the four seas to complete his sandjyA vandanam, 
while holding all along  RavaNA  tightly in his (Vaali"s ) armpit .
After returning to Kishkindhaa at the conclusion of his anushtAnam ,
Vaali dropped the almost lifeless RavaNA on ground . RavaNA 
learned his lesson and never came anywhere near Vaali again.  


(Background ) : Vaali had the daily ritual of doing his SandhyA 
Vandhanam by giving Arkyam from the waters of the four seas .
With his speed in the air  , he used to cover these vast distances 
in very little time and then return home to KishkindA . Once , when 
Vaali was performing his Sandhya Vandanam at one of the four seas ,
RavaNA came from behind and grabbed the surprised Vaali  and 
tried to knock Vaali off balance through a powerful arm lock .
Vaali shook RavaNA off and then grabbed him and held tightly 
in his arm pit to put an end to the nuisance of RavaNA 
and went about his duties related to SandhyA worship. 
He flew to the four seas and performed his ArkyA offering and 
then returned to his capital city . There , he shook off
RavaNa from his grip . RavaNA , who had been held in a strangle hold
fell on ground almost breathless and the weak. RavaNA sprinted out of 
Vaali's sight fearing for his life. 

This salutation (GS :45) is the last one dealing with the incidents of 
KishkindhA khAndham by Sawmi Desikan in his Raghu Veera
Gadhyam . Since the subject matter of his Gadhyam is the valour 
and ParAkramam of Rama , Swami  does not digress on the other 
excellent topics of this KhAndham , which have fascinated 
RamAyaNa Pravachana experts. Subjects like  the dialog 
between Rama and Vaali , --the  Vadham of Vaali 
by Rama , Tara's ( Queen of Vaali's ) lamentations over her husband's death,, 
Angada' s crowning as Yuva RajA , Rama's description of 
the rainy season from his vantage point of Mount PrasravaNa , 
LakshmaNA's  chastisement of SugreevA 
for his tardiness in keeping the promise made to Rama , SugreevA's 
display of his knowledge of the Indian  and World geography 
during his  breifing sessions for his monkey chieftains 
on their search missions to locate Sita's incarceration place --
are left out since they are outside the theme of Raghu Veera's
heroism .

The stage is now set for Sundara Khaandham and the most
important Yuddha Khaandham, where Rama's valour 
in battle is elabortely saluted  . Swami Desikan uses only one 
salutation to summarize thevarious  incidents described in the many
beautiful and auspicious sargAs of Sundara Khaandham . 
Swami Desikan's decision to use only one salutation for 
Sundara Khaandham is not surprising , since this canto 
is largely a story of the heroism of Hanumaan at LankhA as 
the messenger of Rama .

Sri VaishNava Daasan ,

Oppilaippan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan