44. TARA'S GRIEF :

THERE was panic in Kishkindha when
the news came that Vali had been slain by
an archer, and the Vanaras fled hither and
thither in hopeless confusion. Tara, seeing
this, laid aside her own grief and like a
queen put courage in her husband's
subjects saying: "Till this day you walked
before the King to battle! Why, then do
you flee in fear now? There is no danger
for you. Rama killed Vali only to make
Sugriva king. Your lives are in no danger;
you will only have a different ruler; that is
all. You need not fly or fear."


When she tried to go to the spot where
her husband lay dead, the Vanaras stopped
her saying: "We shall crown Angada king
and we shall make safe the fortress. We
shall defend the town against Sugriva and
his allies."


But she said: "Now my noble lord is
dead, nothing matters." And boldly she
went straight to where Rama and
Lakshmana were standing.


When she saw her husband lying
wounded to death she could not control
her sorrow. She sobbed and cried.
"Ah my hero!" she wept embracing the
wounded Vali. "How many heroes have
you laid low and now you lie low
yourself! And you have left me here!"


Soon Vali's son Angada reached the
spot. And Sugriva, witnessing this scene,
was filled with remorse at the thought that
it was all for him that this calamity had
happened. The remorse was no doubt
genuine. For invariably revenge,
especially revenge wreaked on those who
have been friends in other day; brings
nothing but bitterness and grief, and the
momentary feeling of triumph is all ashes
to the taste. How few of us realise this in
the confusion created by desires and
anger!


Tara rolled on the ground and
lamented: "Leaving dear Angada an
orphan and myself a helpless destitute you
have gone on the journey from which
there is no return. My Lord! My hero! "
Hanuman tried to console her: "The
dead reach their places in heaven. Why
lament for Vali? Angada will be crowned
in due course and we shall then rejoice. It
is our duty to look after Angada. Let us
now think of performing Vali's
obsequies."


"I care for nothing," answered Tara. "It
is for Sugriva to perform the obsequies
and to look after Angada. What is there
for me to do? Can a thousand Angadas
equal in my eyes my husband? With him I
shall enter the house of Yama. That alone
will please me."


Vali, unconscious till now, opened his
eyes for the last time and addressing
Sugriva said: "Brother, we two could have
been friends and reigned happily over the
kingdom. But it was not given to us to be
so wise and happy. I am more to blame
than you, but why talk about that now?
Hereafter you shall rule the kingdom. I
have entrusted to you Angada, my son,
dearer than life itself to Tara and me. He
is a warrior equal to you in prowess. Be a
father to him and look after him with
kindness. This is my only request to you.


And be kind to Tara who was not only a
blameless and affectionate wife, but also a
very wise and far-sighted counsellor.


Whatever she foretells is bound to happen.
Do not disregard her advice on any
matter. Here, take the necklace that Indra
gave me and take with it its secret power.
My life is over and so is my resentment.
May you be happy!" Thus the generous
Vali blessed his brother Sugriva.


He gave good advice to Angada:
"Sugriva is now your king. Be loyal to
him and give him patient, affectionate
service."


Like a flowering creeper embracing a
forest tree felled down by an axe, Tara lay
on the ground clinging to Vali.
Nila, as gently as he could, drew out
the dart from Vali's chest.
Blood gushed out of the wound and
spread into a pool. Vali's life left his body.


Tara lamented loudly. "For the last time
salute your father," she bade Angada in
heart-broken accents. "O my husband!
Your dear son is bowing before you. Will
you not say a word to him? Alas! I am a
widow and he is an orphan."


The sight of all this struck Sugriva to
the heart. He said to himself: "Moved by
desire I closed the entrance of the cave
and leaving Vali there, I seized and
enjoyed his wealth. What a sinner have I
been!"


It may be that in his penitent mood
Sugriva accused himself wrongly, but it is
also true that, without our knowledge,
desire corrupts our mind and leads us to
wrong actions and entangles us in sin.
Sugriva felt that desire had unknowingly
blinded and betrayed him.


Kama in Sanskrit stands for lust and
greed and every kind of desire. Kama is
man's internal foe which he has to
vanquish. This is the lesson taught in the
last seven slokas of the third chapter of
the Gita. Sri Krishna concludes his
exhortation with these words: "Jahi
Satrum Kamaroopam Durasadam."


If desire corrupted Sugriva's mind,
anger corrupted Vali's. When Vali saw
that Sugriva had barred the entrance and
left him shut up in the cave he felt
convinced that Sugriva had accompanied
him in his pursuit of the Rakshasa not as a
brother but with a treacherous motive. He
concluded that Sugriva had planned to
sacrifice him to the Asura and usurp his
place.


He became a prey to his own fury. He
disgraced and drove out his blood brother
and nursed his anger. Anger (krodha, as it
is called in Sanskrit) betrayed Vali into
sin.


Indeed kama and krodha are the
ultimate causes of all sin. Unless we
defend our heart against these foes and
keep them out, we cannot escape sin.


Sugriva lamented: "Though my sin was
great, he would not kill me. He drove me
out and allowed me to escape with life.
That was all. But I conspired to slay him
and succeeded. There is no sinner like me
in the world and yet with his last breath he
gave me the kingdom to rule and gave,
too, the gift of Indra, the necklace of
power. Indeed he was noble. Why should
I still cling to this base life, I, who brought
about the death of my heroic brother?"
At least once a year, men that follow
ancient custom utter the prayer


Kamokarsheet manyurakarsheet. That is:
'Desire lured me into sin, anger lured me
into sin.' So saying many times with
humble penitence, they seek to cleanse
their hearts. This is a practice that all
should follow, to repent and purify the
heart and surrender it to the Lord,
Kamokarsheet manyurakarsheet,
Narayanaya namah.


With fear and hesitation, Rama gently
approached the weeping Tara. But there
was no sign of anger on her face. The
words she addressed to the slayer of her
husband were worthy of a hero's queen.


"With the weapon with which, O Warrior,
you killed my husband, kill me too and
enable me to join him. Even in heaven, he
will not be happy without me. Do not fear
it would be a sin. It will be a meritorious
act to unite husband and wife. This will
cleanse your sin, your treacherous slaying
of my husband."


Valmiki says at this stage that Tara
knew the truth of Rama's incarnation and
saw Vishnu in him. The traditional belief
is that, like Sumitra, the mother of
Lakshmana, Tara, the wife of Vali, was a
jnani, a knower of Reality. Though at first
she hated Rama for his treachery, yet
when she saw him face to face she saw his
divinity, so it is said.


Those who read the Ramayana as a
mere tale would find all this pointless. But
to the followers of bhakti marga, this will
not sound improbable. Tulasidas sings at
this point that Siva explains to Parvati:
"Look, Uma, how Rama, the Supreme
Being, moves all creatures like puppets
tied to strings!" Bhakti is needed to realise
the full meaning of Hindu ancient
mythology.


Even on a rational basis, Tara comes
out as a diplomat, an expert in
statesmanship. She had the intelligence to
anticipate coming events. What had
happened had happened. By his address
and good fortune, Sugriva had secured the
alliance of Rama. Vali was no more;
Angada's welfare was all that she should
care for hereafter.


Could Angada afford to antagonise
Sugriva with Rama and Lakshmana ready
to support him bow in hand? Peace, not
war was indicated.


Hence, when she concealed her anger
from Rama and put on an appearance of
patient submission to events, she was
really securing the best interests of
Angada and winning for him the
compassion and sympathy of all.
Vali's obsequies were performed with
due form and ceremony. After the
auspicious bath, Sugriva was crowned
king and Angada was made Yuvaraja.


Next :-  45. ANGER  AND  RECONCILIATION

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