A story · Ramayana · After the War

The Sages Come to Rama

Valmiki Ramayana 7.1 · read aloud in the app

The story · English

When the Rakshasas lay slain and Rama had won back his kingdom, ascetics came from every direction to congratulate him. From the east came Kausika, Yavakrita, Gargya and Galava, and Kanva, the son of Madhatithi. From the south, travelling with Agastya, came the revered Swastyastreya, Namuchi and Pramuchi, the worshipful Atri, Sumukha and Vimukha. From the west came Nrishadgu, Kahashi, Dhaumya and the mighty sage Kauseya, with their disciples behind them. From the north, where they had always lived, came Vasishtha and Kasyapa, Atri and Viswamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni and Bharadwaja, and the seven sages. Every one of them glowed like fire. Yet when they reached Raghava's palace they stopped at the gate and waited, so that the doorkeeper could announce them properly.

Agastya was the foremost of them. He knew every branch of learning, and the Vedas and everything that grows from them. He spoke to the gatekeeper. “Tell the son of Dasharatha that the sages have come.” The gatekeeper went at once. He was a capable and patient man who could read a face and knew how things were done at court. He hurried to Rama, who sat there as bright as the full moon, and told him that Agastya had arrived. Rama answered, “Bring them in, and see that they are comfortable.” When the sages stood before him, Rama joined his palms and honoured their feet with water. With real care he gave a cow to each of them. He greeted them with a quiet, collected mind and asked for seats to be brought.

They sat according to rank, on seats of kusa grass and deerskin worked with gold, with their disciples and leaders around them. Rama asked after their welfare, and they answered him. “Mighty-armed son of Raghu, all is well with us. It is our good fortune to see you like this, with your enemies finished. Ravana, the destroyer of living things, has died by your hand, and his sons and grandsons with him. For you that was no great matter. With your bow you could bring down the three worlds. What gladdens us is to see you victorious with Sita at your side, and with Lakshmana, who has always looked to your good. Today we see you among your mothers and your brothers again. That is the good fortune we came to bless.”

“Prahasta is gone, and Vikata, Virupaksha and Mahodara, and Akampana, whom no one could conquer. You brought down Kumbhakarna, who was larger than anything that walks the earth. Trishiras and Atikaya, Devantaka and Narantaka are all slain. You met Ravana hand to hand, a Rakshasa the gods themselves could not kill, and you won. Yet defeating Ravana was the small thing. The real good fortune is that his son, who stood against you in battle, is dead. That enemy of the gods moved like Time itself. You were caught in his bonds, and you were freed, and you won. No creature could kill Indrajit, and he fought with great powers of illusion. When we heard he had fallen, we were amazed. You have freed us from fear, Kakutstha. May your victories grow.”

Rama listened, and a great wonder came over him. He joined his palms. “Revered ones, why do you pass over Kumbhakarna, and Ravana himself, and praise Ravana's son? Mahodara and Prahasta and Virupaksha, Matta and Unmatta, Devantaka and Narantaka were all heroes. Atikaya and Trishiras and Dhumraksha had great prowess. Why do you leave them aside and speak only of him? What was his strength, and what was his might? How did he come to surpass his father? I am not ordering you. If this can be told, I would like to hear it. How did he defeat Shakra? How did he get his boon? Why was the son so powerful when the father was not? Foremost of sages, I am asking you. Tell me all of it today.”

Agastya, who is also called Kumbhayoni, began to answer him. To understand Indrajit's energy and might, he said, Rama had to know his family, so he would tell him of Ravana's race and birth. Long ago, in the Krita age, there lived a Brahmarshi named Pulastya. He was a son of Prajapati and very like the great grandfather himself. His goodness was beyond describing, and the gods and every creature loved him. Pulastya went to the hermitage of Trinavindu, beside the great mountain Meru, and settled there to study the Vedas and practise austerities. But the forest was lovely in every season, and girls came there to play. They were daughters of sages, of Pannagas, of royal sages and of Apsaras. They sang, played instruments and danced near him, meaning no harm, and they kept breaking into his rites.

At last Pulastya grew angry. “Any girl who comes near me will conceive,” he said. The girls were afraid of a Brahmana's curse, and they stopped coming. But Trinavindu's daughter had not heard. She wandered into the hermitage without fear, looking for her friends, and found none of them there. Pulastya was reciting the Veda. She heard the sound of his recitation and saw him, and her body turned pale, and the signs of pregnancy appeared in her. She was frightened. “What is this?” she said, and went home to her father. Trinavindu looked at her. “Why does your body look so different?” She folded her hands, miserable. “Father, I don't know. I went alone to Pulastya's hermitage to find my friends, and none of them were there. Then I saw this change, and I came home afraid.”

Trinavindu's austerities had made him radiant. He sat in contemplation and saw what the sage's words had done. Then he took his daughter to Pulastya. “Revered one, accept my daughter. She has come to you of her own accord, like alms. She will look after you while you practise your austerities and your senses grow tired.” Pulastya agreed and married her with the proper rites. Her father went home, and she stayed. She was good to her husband in every way, and he came to cherish her character. “I am very pleased with you,” he told her. “So I will give you a son like yourself, who will carry on both our families and be known as Paulastya. You heard me reciting the Veda, so he will be called Visrava.” Before long, full of joy, she gave birth to Visrava.

Visrava grew into an ascetic like his father. He was truthful and self-controlled, devoted to study, and indifferent to pleasure. The sage Bharadwaja saw this and gave him his own daughter, Devavarnini, as his wife. Visrava was very happy, and he thought carefully about the good of the children to come. She bore him a wonderful son, full of energy and every Brahma quality. His grandfather Pulastya rejoiced. He saw the boy's sharp mind and foresaw that he would be lord of riches. With the divine sages he named the child Vaisravana, after his father. Vaisravana went into the forest of austerities and grew in power like a fire fed with offerings. For a thousand years he kept the hardest vows. He lived first on water, then on air, then on nothing, and the thousand years passed like one.

Then Brahma came with Indra and the gods. “Child, I am pleased with you. Ask for a boon.” Vaisravana said, “Let me protect and sustain the people.” Brahma gladly made him the fourth guardian of the world, beside Yama, Indra and Varuna, and lord of riches. He also gave him Pushpaka, a chariot that shone like the sun. When the gods had gone, Vaisravana said to his father, “I have my boon, but no home. Find me a place where no creature will come to harm.” Visrava said, “On the southern sea stands the mountain Trikuta. On its summit is Lanka, the golden-walled city Viswakarma built for the Rakshasas. They abandoned it from fear of Vishnu, and it is empty now. Live there in peace.” So Vaisravana settled in Lanka with thousands of happy Rakshasas, and under his rule the city prospered. Now and then he rode Pushpaka home, humbly, to visit his father and mother.

कथा · हिन्दी

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• Next: Sukesha's Sons and the War with Vishnu · Valmiki Ramayana 7.4
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