Śri Maha-ganapataye namah

Sugriva had no enmity with Ravana. As he was equal in might to brother Vali, he was competent to defeat Ravana in any combat. As such, he could have, when he heard the distressed wails of the woman in the chariot, rushed and attacked Ravana and saved her. Yet, as he was depressed and weighed down with his own personal problems, he did not attach much weightage to the lady’s wails. Secondly, fearing for his life he dreaded to step down from the mountain even for a moment.

Having decided to hand over the bundle flung by the lady to any of her relations who would come searching for her, the vanaras kept it safely in a cave without even checking its contents. A few days after this incident came the news that Ravana had stealthily abducted the wife of Dasaratha’s son Śrirama.

We had discussed earlier that Sugriva had many informers who brought to him the news from all surrounding forests and from Vali’s kingdom. This was the wireless communication system of the past. In fact, these messengers had the ability to convey information even without meeting face to face. Akin to the Morse code used for telegraphic communication, they too had very special secretive codes for conveying messages to vanaras situated at far distances. The recipient would decode the signal and grasp the message. It was a very important method of communication in the era of Vali and Sugriva.

One vanara would shake/hit a tree in a particular fashion, which would generate a particular code message. The messenger seated miles away would hear this coded message and he would, in turn, similarly shake another tree so as to transmit the message to the next messenger who was located further away. The messenger located near Kishkinda would hear this message and would carry the same to Sugriva.

The moment Sugriva and his team members learnt of Sita’s abduction in the hands of Ravana, they remembered the scene of the flying chariot and the wailing woman which they had witnessed previously. They understood that the lady in the chariot was none other than Rama’s wife Sita.

Hanuman meeting Rama and Lakshmana. Let us understand this.

Close to the Rushyamukha mountain, wherein Sugriva resided, was the sacred river Pampa. The mention of this river brings many memories and causes my hair to stand up. In West Indies, when we had gone for the consecration of the huge Hanuman, we had gone to visit the River Aripo flowing there. This river branches into 5 divisions and falls into a small pond. Bathing in this pond bestows good health and vitality to the person. To the people of West Indies, it is the sacred River Ganga. When Pampa lake is mentioned, Swamiji instantly recollects this pond created in the River Aripo.

Jaya Guru Datta