Kids · लङ्काकाण्ड Laṅkā Kāṇḍa · Ages 8–12
The Boon That Woke an Army
The war for Laṅkā is over, and Mother Sītā is at Lord Rāma's side once more. The sky above the battlefield is crowded with shining sky-chariots, for the gods themselves have come down to see the one who has freed the world from Rāvaṇa.
But the field below is very quiet. Many of the vānaras and bears who marched to Laṅkā are lying there, fallen in the fight. This is the story of two visitors from heaven — and of what Lord Rāma asked for when he was told he could ask for anything. Sage Vālmīki tells it in full. Gosvāmī Tulsīdās tells it in a handful of lines, with a wonder of his own.
A father comes down from heaven
One of the sky-chariots carried a king. It was Daśaratha — Lord Rāma's own father, who had died of sorrow long ago, soon after his son left for the forest. Now he had come from heaven, shining with his own light. In Sage Vālmīki's telling it is Lord Śiva who points him out: 'There is your father. Greet him, you and Lakṣmaṇa.' The two brothers bowed low. Gosvāmī Tulsīdās says that when the old king saw his son, his eyes filled with tears.
In both Rāmāyaṇas
'Like the sun coming out of the mist'
King Daśaratha took Lord Rāma on his lap and held him tight. 'Even heaven gave me no joy without you,' he said. 'But today, seeing you safe, my sorrow has left me — like the sun coming out of the mist.' The fourteen years were over, he said, and the promise had been kept. Now it was time to go home, where Bharata was waiting, and be king. In the Mānas the Lord gives all the credit away: 'Father, it was the power of your good deeds that won this war.' Hearing that, the old king loved him more than ever.
In both Rāmāyaṇas
A kind word for Queen Kaikeyī
Then Lord Rāma joined his palms. He had one thing to ask of his father, and it was not for himself. It was Queen Kaikeyī's demand that had sent the Lord to the forest, and in his grief the old king had said he would have nothing more to do with her or her son Bharata. 'Please be gracious to Mother Kaikeyī and to Bharata,' said the Lord. 'Do not let those hard words fall on them.' 'So be it,' said King Daśaratha. He embraced Lakṣmaṇa and praised him for serving his brother so faithfully. He spoke gently to Mother Sītā, calling her 'my daughter'. Then his sky-chariot carried him back to heaven.
Sage Vālmīki
'Ask for anything'
When the king had gone, Indra, the king of the gods, came forward, full of joy. In the Mānas he first owns up to something: he used to be proud, sure that nobody was his equal — and standing before the Lord, that pride has gone. 'Tell me what I may do for you,' he says. In Sage Vālmīki's telling he says, 'We are pleased with you. Tell us what your heart wishes for.' Just imagine it. The war is won, and the king of heaven is offering you anything at all. What would you ask for?
In both Rāmāyaṇas
The Lord's wish
Lord Rāma did not ask for gold, or a kingdom, or anything for himself. He thought of the quiet field. 'These vānaras and bears gave up their lives for my sake,' he said. 'Bring them all back to life.' In Sage Vālmīki's telling he says more. They were brave, and they did not count the cost. Because of him they had been parted from their wives and children. He wished to see every one of them whole and well and happy, back with their families. And one thing besides: wherever they lived, let there be flowers and fruit even out of season, and rivers of clear water.
In both Rāmāyaṇas
As if waking from sleep
'That is a hard boon to grant,' said Indra in Sage Vālmīki's telling. 'But I have never gone back on my word. It shall be so.' And all across the field the fallen vānaras and bears began to stir. They sat up, whole and strong, their wounds gone, like sleepers waking in the morning. Their friends stared. 'What wonder is this?' In the Mānas, Indra sends down a shower of sudhā, the nectar of the gods, and the vānaras and bears rise up joyfully and come to the Lord. Then the gods told Lord Rāma it was time to go home to Ayodhyā, and their sky-chariots rose away, bright as the sun. That night, says Sage Vālmīki, the happy army rested, and shone like a night lit by the moon.
In both Rāmāyaṇas
✦ Two tellings, one story
Sage Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa (Sanskrit)
Sage Vālmīki tells this episode in his Yuddha Kāṇḍa, after the war is won. Lord Śiva praises Lord Rāma for lifting the fear of Rāvaṇa from the world and points out his father, King Daśaratha, seated in a sky-chariot, shining with his own light: let the two brothers greet him. They bow. The king takes Lord Rāma on his lap and embraces him. Neither heaven nor the honour of the gods, he says, gave him joy while he was parted from his son; Queen Kaikeyī's words had stayed in his heart; but now, seeing him safe with Lakṣmaṇa, his sorrow is gone, as the sun is freed from mist. He says he now knows who his son truly is, that the fourteen years are complete and the promise kept, and that he longs to see him reunited with Bharata and crowned in Ayodhyā. With joined palms the Lord asks one thing: that his father be gracious to Kaikeyī and Bharata, and that the hard words once spoken against them should not fall on them. The king agrees. He embraces Lakṣmaṇa and praises his faithful service, speaks gently to Mother Sītā, calling her 'my daughter', and rises again to heaven. Then Indra, greatly pleased, invites the Lord to say what his heart wishes. The Lord asks that all the vānaras and bears who gave their lives for him may rise again, whole, healed of their wounds and with their strength restored, and be reunited with their families; and that wherever they live there may be flowers, roots and fruit even out of season, and rivers of clear water. Indra answers that this is a hard boon to grant, but that he has never gone back on his word, and it shall be so. The fallen rise as if from sleep, and the others marvel: what wonder is this? The gods ask the Lord to return to Ayodhyā, to let the vānaras go to their homes, and to see Bharata, Śatrughna and his mothers; then they depart in sky-chariots bright as the sun, and the army rests for the night.
Gosvāmī Tulsīdās’s Rāmcaritmānas (Awadhi)
Gosvāmī Tulsīdās tells it in a few lines, in the Laṅkā Kāṇḍa. King Daśaratha comes; seeing his son, his eyes fill with tears. The Lord and his younger brother bow, and the father gives his blessing. The Lord says that it was by the power of his father's good deeds that he overcame the unconquerable king of the rākṣasas, and at these words the old king's love grows greater still. Bowing to the Lord again and again, he returns joyfully to heaven. In this telling there is no request about Queen Kaikeyī. Then Indra, glad to see the Lord safe with Lakṣmaṇa and Mother Sītā, sings his praise, and confesses that he had been very proud, thinking no one his equal, and that his pride has left him at the sight of the Lord's feet. He asks for a command: what shall he do? The Lord replies that his vānaras and bears, who gave up their lives for his sake, are lying on the ground: let Indra bring them all back to life. Here the poet adds a wonder of his own: the Lord could have done this himself, and asked Indra only to give Indra the honour. Indra rains down sudhā, nectar, and the vānaras and bears rise up joyfully and come to the Lord. The nectar falls on both armies, yet only the vānaras and bears rise — for the fallen rākṣasas, the poet explains, had their minds on Lord Rāma at the end and had already been set free. The gods shower flowers and depart in their sky-chariots, and Lord Śiva comes to offer his own praise.
What this story teaches
Think first of those who helped you
Offered anything in the world, Lord Rāma asked nothing for himself. His first wish was for the vānaras and bears who had stood by him — and for their families, their fruit trees and their rivers too.
Speak up for the one who hurt you
Queen Kaikeyī's demand had cost Lord Rāma fourteen years in the forest. When he met his father again, the one thing he asked of him was kindness for her and for Bharata.
Share the honour
Gosvāmī Tulsīdās says the Lord could have woken the army himself, and let Indra do it so that the honour would be Indra's. When you could do a thing alone, it can be kinder to let someone else have the joy of helping.
Words to know
- boon · a special gift or wish, granted by a god or a great person
- Indra · the king of the gods, who rules in heaven
- King Daśaratha · Lord Rāma's father, the old king of Ayodhyā
- Queen Kaikeyī · Bharata's mother, whose demand sent Lord Rāma to the forest for fourteen years
- sudhā · the nectar of the gods, also called amṛta
- sky-chariot · a vimāna — a shining chariot that carries the gods through the air
A true episode from just after the war, told in both Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa — Yuddha Kāṇḍa — and Rāmcaritmānas — Laṅkā Kāṇḍa. Lord Śiva pointing out King Daśaratha, the king taking the Lord on his lap, his words about heaven and about the sun freed from mist, the Lord's request for Queen Kaikeyī and Bharata, the king's words to Lakṣmaṇa and to Mother Sītā, the Lord's longer wish for the vānaras' families and for fruit and clear water, Indra's answer that the boon is hard but his word is never taken back, the fallen rising as if from sleep, and the army's rest are Sage Vālmīki's. The Lord's words that his father's good deeds won the war, Indra's confession of his pride, the saying that the Lord asked Indra only to give him the honour, the shower of nectar on both armies, and the freeing of the fallen rākṣasas are Gosvāmī Tulsīdās's. King Daśaratha's coming from heaven and his sons' bow, his joy and his return to heaven, Indra asking what he may do, the Lord's wish that the vānaras and bears who gave their lives for him be brought back to life, their rising, and the gods departing in their sky-chariots are in both tellings.