|
The slaying of Vali
From: ISKCON DC
Submitted by Hardik
Lord Rama came to demonstrate ideal behavior as prescribed in the scriptures. He showed how to be perfect as per the scriptures in all respects. Of the innumerable pastimes of Lord Rama recorded in the epic Ramayana, the slaying of Vali, the monkey king of Kishkindha seems to cast a shadow of doubt regarding the ideal behavior of Lord Rama.
Vali, king of Kishkindha:
When the descent of Lord became imminent, the demigods on His order expanded themselves into the race of celestial monkeys and bears to aid Him in His mission. These monkeys had immense physical and mystical powers and were headed by Vali, who was an expansion of Indra the king of the heavens and his younger brother Sugriva an expansion of Surya the sun god.
Vali had immense physical strength. He also had the benediction that in combat he would gain the powers of his opponent, which made him practically invincible. Once when the mighty Ravana offended him, Vali had effortlessly captured him in his tail and later negligently released him when Ravana begged for forgiveness. Vali was faithfully served by his younger brother Sugriva and thus ruled the kingdom of Kishkindha.
Combat between Vali and Mayavi:
Once Vali was challenged by a mighty demon named Mayavi. Angered at the challenge both Vali and Sugriva rushed to the demon. However when Mayavi saw the two huge and powerful monkeys rushing towards him, he became afraid and ran away pursued by them. Finally Mayavi descended into a small cave and disappeared. The furious Vali ordered Sugriva to guard the entrance of the cave while he descended into it. Sugriva anxiously waited there for a period of one year. Then he heard a blood curdling scream from Vali and a stream of blood flowing out from the cave.
Sugriva concluded that Vali had been slain by Mayavi. In order to prevent the demon from coming out, he placed a huge rock to block the entrance of the cave and went back to report the sad news of the death of his brother to his kingdom. After due consultation it was decided to install Sugriva as the king of Kishkindha.
Rivalry between Vali and Sugriva:
However in reality, Vali after a fierce battle with Mayavi and his kinsmen had finally succeeded in slaying them all, and the cry Sugriva had heard was actually a roar of victory. When Vali found the mouth of the cave blocked he assumed that Sugriva had deliberately done it to usurp his position as the king. With great difficulty he removed the rock and reached Kishkindha to find his doubts confirmed when he saw Sugriva installed as the king. In great anger he refused to hear any explanations and publicly humiliated Sugriva ordering him to leave the kingdom. He also forcibly kept Ruma, the chaste wife of Sugriva and made her one of his own wives.
Thus banished by Vali, Sugriva was forced to leave the kingdom. Once earlier Vali had killed a powerful demon name Dundubhi and flung the corpse near the hermitage of Rishi Matanga. An angered Matanga had cursed that Vali would die if he ever set foot on Rishyamukha. Since Sugriva knew of this curse he took up residence on Rishyamukha accompanied by a small coterie of faithful ministers headed by Hanuman.
Rama kills Vali:
When Lord Rama approached Sugriva for help in searching for Sita who had been earlier kidnapped by Ravana, Sugriva promised to provide full support once he became the king again. Vali was much too powerful for Sugriva, but Lord Rama advised Sugriva to engage Vali in combat. While the fight would ensue, Lord Rama hidden behind a tree would kill Vali. As promised, when Vali and Sugriva were engaged in fierce combat, Lord Rama while hiding behind a tree shot an arrow at Vali and mortally wounded him.
Earlier when Sugriva had challenged Vali to combat, Vali's wise wife Tara had advised him against this telling him about the new friendship that Sugriva had forged with the powerful brothers from Ayodhya. However Vali had assured Tara saying, "I am aware that Lord Rama is a virtuous king and extremely moral. He will never violate the ethics of combat. Also since I have no personal enmity with Rama, there is no reason for me to fear His interference." Now, lying on the ground with his life force ebbing away Vali severely remonstrated Rama calling his actions treacherous, immoral and not befitting a moral person of His stature.
Rama explains the reasons of His actions:
In response, Lord Rama carefully justified his actions by providing the following the reasons:
1. As a king it was his duty to punish injustice. Sugriva was devoted and faithful to Vali. However, Vali had treated him unfairly, without giving him a fair chance to explain himself. The scriptures state that the wife of a younger brother should be treated like a daughter. But Vali had acted abdominally in making Ruma, the wife of Sugriva, his younger brother, his own wife. That was the reason why Lord Rama, though without any personal enmity with Vali punished him.
2. Lord Rama further explains that as a ksatriya He was permitted to stalk and hunt animals that become dangerous. Vali was a monkey who had acted irreligiously and had thus become a threat. He had thus acted within the rules of the scriptures in freeing the society from a menace.
3. Because of the benediction received by Vali that he would acquire the powers of his opponent in combat, no one could have faced and won with him in battle. Lord Rama explained to Vali that because of his sinful activities his killing was imminent, and the only way to do so without violating the benediction was to kill him from a concealed position. While Lord Rama as the Supreme Personality of Godhead was never bound by this, in order to honor the benediction of His devotee, he choose to take an apparently inferior position.
4. Finally Lord Rama explains the most important reason. This killing was ultimately for the benefit of Vali. Because of his sinful activities he would be forced to suffer many reactions. However since he was being thus punished he was now completely relieved of these sinful reactions. Lord Rama assured that Vali was now as dear to Him as Sugriva and would undoubtedly ascend to the heavenly planets.
Vali surrenders to Lord Rama:
In his final moments Vali understood the impeccable logic of Lord Rama. He understood that he had not been able to get the mercy of Rama since he was irreligious, while Sugriva while acting virtuously had taken shelter and received His protection. He begged for forgiveness from Lord Rama and his brother Sugriva. Finally he leaves his body in peace after getting full assurances from Lord Rama and Sugriva that Tara and Angada will be well taken care of.
Lessons from the pastime:
Thus we see that the Lord puts Himself in uncomfortable positions for His devotees. In order to honor the benediction given to Vali, to protect the righteous Sugriva who had taken His shelter, Rama the embodiment of virtue allowed His spotless character to acquire the shadow of a taint. However as the very embodiment of religion the Lord can never act irreligiously as is explained later by Him. One needs a proper understanding and guidance to understand these seemingly confounding activities of the Lord.
In a final gesture of infinite magnamity, Lord Rama gives the benediction to Vali that just as He had killed Vali, in a later yuga, Vali would similarly kill Him. In the Dwapara-yuga when the Lord Rama came as Sri Krishna, Vali incarnated as Jara, a hunter. In the final pastimes on this planet Krishna having witnessed the annihilation of His entire dynasty in Dwarka, takes shelter under a tree. At this time Jara mistakes the feet of the Lord for the ears of a deer and shoots an arrow that causes the Lord to wind up His final pastimes and return to His eternal spiritual abode.
[BACK]
|