Śri Maha-ganapataye namah

Once, it so happened that Vali had to combat the infallible demon Mayavi. This combat, which stretched endlessly for many days, took place in an enormous cave in the forests. After the passage of many days, suddenly blood began to gush from the cave. Vali’s associates, who were waiting outside the cave for his reappearance immediately concluded that Vali had died in the battle. Fearing the demon, they were terrified to step into the cave and assess the situation. Everyone, including Hanuman, was convinced that Vali had died in the combat.

Hanuman and Sugriva who concluded that Vali was dead, now wanted to ensure that demon Mayavi would not emerge from the cave. In order to seal him inside the cave, they moved a mammoth boulder and sealed the entrance of the cave. Thereafter they returned to their capital.

Hanuman thereafter held consultations with all other ministers and compelled Sugriva, who was reluctant to assume kingship, to ascend the throne for the well-being of the citizens. Giving in to their request, Sugriva at last ascended the throne presuming his brother to be dead, when in reality his presumption was far from true.

In the combat between Vali and Mayavi, which had taken place in the cave, it was not Vali who died but it was demon Mayavi who had met his end in Vali’s hand. In great jubilation, Vali wanted to return home and as he walked to the entrance of the cave he found his path blocked by the mammoth boulder which had sealed the entrance. Vali, who was drained out after the endless battle which had stretched for many nights and days, found it tiresome to move the boulder. In the process, he felt as if his life-force was on the verge of being drained from him. With enormous effort, he, at last, managed to move the boulder and exit from the cave.

The exhausted Vali thought, ‘Aha, this definitely is the work of my evil-minded brother Sugriva. He wanted to ensure that I met death even after being victorious in the combat with this demon Mayavi’. This is how evil thoughts stem in the minds of the wicked. While Sugriva had grieved over the death of his brother and had blocked the path using the boulder solely with the intent of preventing the demon from exiting the same, Vali understood it wrongly.

It is said that when the time does not favour the person, evil thoughts emerge in his head. Thinking will be perverted. When time favours, good thoughts emerge. During bad periods, people perceive only negativity, misconstrue even good happenings as wicked, listen only to negative advice and the like. More importantly, they accuse others of listening to harmful advice and of thinking negatively.

In such situations, could it be possible that their minds would have undergone negative transformation? No. Remember that their own arrogance, ignorance, and stubbornness is solely responsible for their degraded condition. They have brought this upon themselves. It has caused them to accuse all the good people as wicked.

It was the same with Vali. He perceived every happening with a negative outlook and interpreted everything wrongly. He concluded, ‘They have deliberately locked me within the cave seeking that I should suffocate to death here’. Slowly this suspicion intensified in Vali. He shattered that large boulder and marched angrily into his kingdom. He entered the court to find his younger brother Sugriva seated on the throne.

To Vali, the sight of Sugriva on the throne was proof of the conspiracy against him. He was now totally convinced that his understanding of the situated was perfect. He concluded that greedy for the throne, Sugriva had acted thus.

Jaya Guru Datta.