In the previous episode we had witnessed that Rama and Lakshmana are nearing the Rishyamukha mountain on the banks of the huge sprawling Pampa Sarovar lake. As they reach the vicinity of this place, they were unable to trace the whereabouts of Sugriva and hence, Rama becomes even more depressed and starts weeping bitterly! At one stage he loses hope that he would find his beloved Sita and requests Lakshmana to go back to Ayodhya and thereby rule the kingdom along with Bharata. However, Lakshmana remained unfazed! He was steadfast in his approach and devotion towards his dear brother. Lakshmana consoles Rama that they would definitely find Sugriva and move on further very soon.
As Rama and Lakshmana are thus slowly approaching the foot hills of the Rishyamukha Mountain, Sugriva who was sitting at the top of the mountain spots two young handsome princes walking their way towards him! Along with Sugriva were his ministers Jaambhavaan, Hanuman, Angadha and others of the great Vaanara (monkey) community. The two handsome princes who were walking by the side of the Rishyamukha Mountain caught their attention and they started to wonder who were they and why are they coming here!
“Thou thu drishtvaa mahaathmaanau bhraatharau raama lakshmanau!
Varaayudhadharau veerau sugreevaha sankitho bhavath!!”
Sugriva, thus seeing these two young princes was in a confused state. He thinks to himself, “Oh! These two princes look tall, handsome and well built and the way they are walking is so impressive! Who are these people?” In fact, Sugriva had two thoughts running simultaneously in his mind now – His first thought was, what if these two princes were sent by his brother Vaali to kill him and the rest of the Vaanaraas? The other thought that he had was, if these two were not sent by Vaali, why can’t we use them to kill him?
“Uddhigrah hrudayassarvaa disashshamaba lokayan!
Naiva chakre manasthaathum veekshamaanau mahaabalau!!”
Thinking thus, Sugriva was in a state of fear and confusion as to how to deal with the two princes who were coming towards them. Thus, Hanuman comes near Sugriva and says, “Oh Sugriva! Please do not get afraid! If you start getting afraid for everything in life, then it would be very tough to live. Let’s calm down and think as to how do we handle them!” Saying thus, Sugriva gets into a huddle with all his Vaanara ministers and at the end of the huddle it was decided that Hanuman should be sent as a messenger to find out who those two princes are!
It was at this point that we are going to get introduced to one of the main persons of the entire Ramayana story – Hanuman.
“Vacho vignyaana hanuman sugreevasya mahaathmanaha!
Parvathaa rishymookasthu vuppluve yathra raaghavau!!”
From the above sloka, Valmiki Maharishi beautifully introduces Hanuman into the scene, as he gets himself prepared to face the two princes who are coming their way! Sugriva calls Hanuman by his side and says, “Oh Hanuman! You are the right person to undertake this mission! Please go in front of them and get all their details and whereabouts!”
Accordingly, Hanuman starts from Sugriva’s place and comes along. From now on we are going to witness the very important and one of the most interesting phases of the Ramayana – Hanumad Prabhaavam. Starting from this point itself, we can witness at every instance of the Ramayana as to how did Hanuman be of selfless service to both Sita and Rama! We shall wait till the next episode to commence the “Hanumad Prabhaavam” in detail!
The Indian Dharma 