Rāma in Kishkinda

Rāma was so full of sorrow and so full of anger when he realised Sita had been taken. He told Lakshmana that with his anger he would destroy all that existed in the universe, as if he were himself the God of death. Rāma lamented that he had lived his life according to the dictates of dharma, and that he had been only noble. Yet he had lost his Kingdom, his family, his father, and now his Sita. He told Lakshmana that his gentleness had been mistaken for weakness, and that this had brought him only pain. Rāma without Sita, with all of his anger was ready to destroy the universe itself.

Lakshmana spoke gently to Rāma,

‘You should not abandon your nature, now that you have fallen prey to anger’. He said.

‘As loveliness dwells in the moon, brilliance in the sun, movement in the wind and forbearance in the earth, all these ever invariably dwell in you.’

He then sat beside his older brother and lovingly pressed his feet.

‘If you are not able to endure this suffering, what other man can bear it?’

‘What living beings do calamities not visit?

Reminding him that fate cannot be overcome, and that if anyone could bear these hardships it was Rāma. He calmed his brother, telling him that even the Gods go through pain and loss, and if they cannot avoid fate, then how can we as humans hope to.

Rāma, consoled by Lakshmana, regained his composure,

‘What shall we do, O Lakshmana?’

Overcoming his dejection, Rāma with his loving brother Lakshmana began their search for Sita. They found the dying Jatāyu, and Rāma filled with grief at the sight of his fallen friend ‘sank down on the earth’. In his last moments Jatāyu told them what had happened, and so Rāma and Lakshmana began marching south, to find Ravana and Sita.

On their way they encountered the demon Kabandha who wondered the forest. Killing him, and thus freeing him from his curse, he was able to regain his old form. He told Rāma and Lakshmana that to succeed in their task they would need an ally. If they headed towards the Kingdom of Kishkinda, they would find a monkey by the name of Sugriva, and he would help them to find Sita.

Kishkinda is thought to be modern day Hampi, and was my next destination.