Śri Maha ganapataye namah

We discussed that Vali ridiculed his wife who was trying to prevent him from going to battle. He said, ‘Tara, what do you know of Rama’s glory? He is known to be extremely righteous. I have not harmed him in any way. Why then will he harm me?’ saying so, he madly rushed forward to battle.

When deeply scrutinized we realize that Vali was highly intelligent. He was no ordinary monkey as we presume. He was destined to meet his end in the Lord’s hand. There is a deep significance behind him obtaining liberation in the Lord’s hands.

Vali and Sugriva were once again locked in terrible combat. As time went by, Sugriva began to lose and was being mercilessly thrashed by his brother. Time was flying by, the intensity of his pain was increasing, yet there was no sign of relief. Lakshmana was thinking to himself, ‘Yes, for having doubted my brother’s abilities, this Sugriva has to undergo some more pain. There is no urgency in killing Vali’.

Words fail to justly describe this combat. Can we call it a mega sumo wrestling? What style of combat-wrestling was this? Just as sumo wrestlers throw each other down, these two brothers were trying every possible means to kill each other.

Vali had in him the might of 10 elephants. Added to this was the boon that half the strength of his opponent would automatically enter into him during any combat. Just as Sugriva was about to be finally defeated, Rama, the epitome of compassion, released the arrow.

Rama was all-knowing. He had brushed off the anger that Sugriva had shown towards him a few hours before. He was aware of the role that the vanaras would play in the forthcoming war with demons. He knew of their necessity in building the bridge across the ocean. He knew that the vanaras were skilled in using illusionary techniques and hence were aptly suited to fight the demons who were proficient in that skill. Last and more important was the fact that Sugriva was righteous in nature.

Vali, on the other hand, considered it apt to behave unrighteously while expecting all others to behave righteously. He had different rules for himself and different for the rest. He was a demon in the guise of a vanara. He, therefore, had to be eliminated.

Jaya Guru Datta