Hanuman fetches the herbs: Valmiki's account

Classical

In Valmiki the herbs are healed by smell, not applied.

The night after Indrajit's attack, the battlefield outside Lanka was a field of the fallen. Indrajit had loosed the missile of Brahma, a weapon his father's boon had put in his hands, and it had struck down Rama and Lakshmana, along with an army of monkeys that Valmiki counts at sixty-seven crore. The great leaders, Sugriva, Nila, Angada and Jambavan, stood helpless, unsure what to do.

It was Vibhishana, the wise rakshasa who had come over to Rama's side, who steadied them. He told them not to despair. The princes had gone down because they chose to honor the sacred weapon rather than resist it, and the weapon was Brahma's gift to Indrajit. Hanuman agreed, and proposed that the two of them go through the field and revive whoever could still be saved.

So they walked the battlefield by torchlight. It was a grim tour: monkeys missing tails, limbs or heads, the ground scattered with glowing weapons. They found Sugriva, Angada, Nila, Sharabha, Gandhamadana, Gavaksha, Sushena, Mainda, Nala, Dvivida and others lying where they had fallen. Then they went looking for Jambavan, the aged bear chief, son of Brahma, his body pierced with arrows. He could not see, but he knew Vibhishana by his voice.

What Jambavan asked next is the heart of the scene. He did not ask about Rama or Lakshmana. He asked whether Hanuman, son of Anjana and the Wind, was alive. When Vibhishana wondered why, Jambavan explained: if Hanuman lives, the army lives, even if most are dead; if Hanuman has fallen, then everyone still breathing is as good as dead. Hanuman came forward and bowed, taking the old bear's feet, and Jambavan felt as though he had been born again.

Then he gave Hanuman his task. Fly over the ocean to the Himalayas, he said. There you will see Mount Rishabha and the golden peak of Kailasa, and between them a glowing mountain of herbs. On its summit grow four plants: Mritasanjivani, Vishalyakarani, Suvarnakarani and Sandhani. Bring them quickly.

Hanuman swelled with energy, like the sea stirred by wind. He stood on the top of Trikuta and pressed down with his feet, so hard that the mountain sank, its trees burned and its rocks cracked. Lanka shook. He then climbed Mount Malaya, grew to an enormous size, and roared so loudly that the rakshasas of Lanka could not move for fear. Bowing toward Rama, he leapt into the sky with his tail lifted. His speed tore trees and boulders loose and carried off a few ordinary monkeys, who dropped into the sea when the force faded.

He crossed the ocean, hills, rivers and towns, following the path of the sun at the speed of his father the Wind, and reached the Himalayas. Valmiki lingers here over the holy places he sees: the homes of Brahma, Shiva, Indra, Agni and Kubera, the spot where Brahma's head fell, and the earth's navel that leads down to Patala.

Then the problem. The mountain shone with herbs, but the herbs knew someone was looking for them and vanished. Hanuman's eyes went red. He told the mountain that it had no compassion for Rama, and vowed to break it. Instead he gripped the whole peak, trees, elephants, gold, minerals and all, and sprang back into the air, shining like a second sun and resembling Vishnu with his discus.

He landed in the middle of the army to cheers, while Lanka roared in alarm. He greeted the leaders and embraced Vibhishana. The scent of the herbs alone did the work. Rama and Lakshmana were healed, and the monkeys, even those who had seemed dead, rose as if waking from sleep. Valmiki adds that Ravana had ordered his own fallen demons thrown into the sea, so the monkeys would not learn how many had died. Hanuman then carried the mountain back to the Himalayas and rejoined Rama.

This episode shows what Hanuman is to the war: the one soul the army cannot do without. Later tellings add episodes on the way to the mountain that this sarga does not contain.

Who: Hanuman, Jambavan, Rama, Lakshmana

Bound to

Dronagiri: villagers who withhold Hanuman located-at

Rumassala: a fallen piece in Galle located-at

Veezhumala: 'the fallen mountain' in Kerala located-at

Indrajit's Brahmastra, Nagapasha and Garuda caused-by

The Shakti spear and Lakshmana same-story-other-version

Mahiravana and Hanuman's five faces mirror

Places: Himalayas (Rishabha, Kailasa)

Where this comes from

valmiki · valmikiramayan.net Yuddha Kanda sarga 74 Yuddha 74
read for this telling · valmikiramayan.net Valmiki Ramayana Yuddha Kanda sarga 74

See it on the tree · All stories

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