Kids · लङ्काकाण्ड Laṅkā Kāṇḍa · Ages 8–12
The Sky-Chariot with Room for Everyone
The war for Laṅkā is over. Mother Sītā is at Lord Rāma's side, the vānaras and bears who fell in the fight are on their feet again, and Laṅkā has a good new king — Vibhīṣaṇa, Rāvaṇa's brother, who chose what was right.
Now King Vibhīṣaṇa wants to say thank you. He has a golden city, a full treasury and every comfort a palace can hold, and he longs for Lord Rāma to stay and enjoy them. This is the story of why the Lord said no — and of the wonderful way everybody set off for home. Sage Vālmīki and Gosvāmī Tulsīdās both tell it, each with treasures of his own.
'Stay and rest in my palace'
King Vibhīṣaṇa came before Lord Rāma. In Sage Vālmīki's telling it is morning; he stands with joined palms, and everything is ready: baths, sandal paste, fine clothes, jewels and garlands. 'Stay a while,' he begs, 'you and Lakṣmaṇa and Mother Sītā, and let me look after you and your whole army. I ask as your servant. I would never force you.' In the Mānas he bows at the Lord's feet and asks him to bless his home by stepping into it and to rest after the long battle — and to give whatever he likes from the treasury to the vānaras.
In both Rāmāyaṇas
The brother who was counting the days
But Lord Rāma was not thinking of baths or jewels. He was thinking of his brother Bharata, far away at home, waiting for the fourteen years to end. 'Bharata is suffering for my sake,' he says in Sage Vālmīki's telling. 'Without him, baths and fine clothes and jewels mean nothing to me.' In the Mānas the Lord's eyes fill with tears. 'Your treasury and your palace are already mine, brother,' he says. 'But Bharata is living like a hermit and repeating my name, and every moment feels like an age.' Still, he would not hurt a friend. 'You have honoured me already,' he tells King Vibhīṣaṇa in Sage Vālmīki's telling, 'by your good advice, by your brave help, and most of all by your friendship. Please do not be disappointed.'
In both Rāmāyaṇas
A chariot as quick as a thought
Ayodhyā was a very long way off. In Sage Vālmīki's telling the Lord says that the road on foot is hard, and King Vibhīṣaṇa answers, 'I can have you there in a single day.' He calls for the Puṣpaka — a sky-chariot that had belonged to Kubera, the god of riches, until Rāvaṇa took it from him. Sage Vālmīki describes it: golden and bright as the sun, as tall as a mountain peak, with halls and jewelled seats, flags flying, and rows of little bells that rang sweetly. It went wherever its rider wished, as quick as a thought. Even Lord Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa were astonished to see it.
Sage Vālmīki
Jewels from the sky
Before he would step aboard, the Lord thought of his army. In Sage Vālmīki's telling he says, 'These vānaras and bears fought with all their hearts and never turned back. Honour every one of them with gems and gold.' And King Vibhīṣaṇa does. Gosvāmī Tulsīdās tells it with a smile. The king fills the sky-chariot with jewels and beautiful clothes, and the Lord says, 'Friend, climb in, rise into the air, and shower them down!' Down they came, glittering. The vānaras picked up whatever they liked. They popped the shining stones into their mouths, the way you might try a berry — and dropped them again. Lord Rāma, Mother Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa laughed. Then the whole army came before the Lord dressed in their new finery, and he laughed again and again to see them.
In both Rāmāyaṇas
'It was by your strength that I won'
Then the Lord looked at them all with love. 'It was by your strength that I defeated Rāvaṇa and made Vibhīṣaṇa king,' he says in the Mānas. 'Now go to your homes, all of you. Remember me, and be afraid of no one.' The vānaras joined their palms. 'Lord, you rule the three worlds,' they said. 'Hearing such praise from you makes us hang our heads. Can a mosquito help Garuḍa, the king of birds?' In Sage Vālmīki's telling the Lord speaks from the sky-chariot: 'You have done all that a friend could do. Now you are free to go home.'
In both Rāmāyaṇas
Room for everyone
But nobody wanted to say goodbye. In Sage Vālmīki's telling the vānaras and King Vibhīṣaṇa say so, with joined palms: 'Take us with you to Ayodhyā! We will roam happily in its groves and gardens. Let us see you crowned, and greet Mother Kausalyā. Then we will go home.' The Lord was delighted. 'Nothing could please me more than to arrive with all my friends,' he said. 'Climb in!' And vānaras, bears and King Vibhīṣaṇa with his ministers all took their seats in comfort, with no one in anyone's way. In the Mānas the great army sets off for home as the Lord has asked, carrying him in their hearts. But King Sugrīva, Hanumān Jī, Aṅgada, Jāmbavān and the other chiefs, and King Vibhīṣaṇa with them, cannot say a word. They only stand and gaze at him, their eyes full of tears. Seeing how much they love him, the Lord takes them all aboard. Then the sky-chariot rose into the air. In the Mānas it turns north, and everyone shouts, 'Glory to the hero of Raghu's line!' They were going home — together.
In both Rāmāyaṇas
✦ Two tellings, one story
Sage Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa (Sanskrit)
Sage Vālmīki tells this episode in his Yuddha Kāṇḍa. In the morning King Vibhīṣaṇa offers Lord Rāma baths, sandal paste, garments, ornaments and garlands. The Lord asks that the vānaras, led by King Sugrīva, be invited to bathe instead: Bharata is suffering on his account, and without Bharata such comforts are of no value to him. He asks how they may reach Ayodhyā quickly, for the way on foot is very hard. King Vibhīṣaṇa answers that he can bring him there in a day by the Puṣpaka, the sky-chariot of his brother Kubera, which Rāvaṇa had taken, and which goes wherever its rider wills. Then he begs the Lord, with Lakṣmaṇa and Mother Sītā, to stay a while and accept his hospitality with the whole army — asking, he says, out of affection, as a servant, and not to press him. The Lord replies that he has already been honoured by the king's counsel, his efforts in the war and above all his friendship, and that he would not wish to refuse; but his heart is impatient to see Bharata, who came all the way to Citrakūṭa to bring him home, and his mothers, his friend Guha and the people of Ayodhyā. He asks him not to be disappointed. The Puṣpaka is brought — golden, like a peak of Mount Meru, with palaces, jewelled seats, flags and rows of sweet-sounding bells, swift as thought — and the Lord and Lakṣmaṇa are astonished at it. The Lord then asks King Vibhīṣaṇa to honour all the vānaras and bears with gems and riches, for it was with them, who never turned back in battle, that the victory was won; and he does. The Lord boards with Lakṣmaṇa and Mother Sītā and, standing in the chariot, tells King Sugrīva, King Vibhīṣaṇa and the vānaras that they have done all a friend could do and may now go to their homes. With joined palms they ask to come to Ayodhyā, to roam its groves and gardens, see the coronation and greet Mother Kausalyā before returning. The Lord says nothing could please him more than to arrive with all his friends, and bids them climb in. They all take their seats comfortably, without crowding one another, and the Puṣpaka, which bears the figure of a swan, rises into the air.
Gosvāmī Tulsīdās’s Rāmcaritmānas (Awadhi)
Gosvāmī Tulsīdās tells it in the Laṅkā Kāṇḍa, after Lord Śiva has offered his praise and gone. King Vibhīṣaṇa bows and asks the Lord to bless his home, to bathe and rest after the battle, to look over the treasury and palaces and give whatever he pleases to the vānaras, and then to take him along to Ayodhyā. The Lord's eyes fill with tears. He answers that the king's treasury and home are indeed his own, but that when he remembers Bharata — in a hermit's dress, grown thin, repeating his name — each moment passes like an age; let his friend find the way for him to see Bharata soon. King Vibhīṣaṇa fills the Puṣpaka with jewels and garments and brings it. Smiling, the Lord tells him to rise into the sky and shower them down. The vānaras take whatever pleases them; they put gems in their mouths and drop them again, and the Lord, Mother Sītā and Lakṣmaṇa laugh. Here Lord Śiva, who is telling the story, pauses to marvel: the One whom sages cannot reach even in meditation is playing with the vānaras — for nothing wins his grace as pure love does. The vānaras and bears come before the Lord in their new clothes and ornaments, and he laughs again and again. He tells them that it was by their strength that he overcame Rāvaṇa and crowned Vibhīṣaṇa, and that they should now go to their homes, remember him and fear no one. They answer that such words make them ashamed: can a mosquito help Garuḍa? In this telling the army does set out for home, in joy and sorrow together, holding the Lord in their hearts. But King Sugrīva, Nīla, Jāmbavān, Aṅgada, Nala, Hanumān Jī and the other chiefs, with King Vibhīṣaṇa, cannot speak; they stand gazing at him with tears in their eyes. Seeing their great love, the Lord takes them all up into the sky-chariot and turns it north. A great cry goes up — 'Glory to the hero of Raghu's line!' — and the gods shower flowers as it flies.
What this story teaches
Remember who is waiting for you
A palace was ready, and Lord Rāma had surely earned a rest. But his brother was counting the days at home. When someone who loves you is waiting, their waiting matters more than your comfort.
Give the credit away
'It was by your strength that I won,' the Lord told his army — and the army answered that a mosquito cannot help Garuḍa. Each gave the honour to the other. That is how friends talk after a victory.
Make room
When his friends longed to come with him, the Lord did not leave them behind. He took them along to share the happiest day of all. Joy grows bigger when you make room in it for others.
Words to know
- Puṣpaka · a great golden sky-chariot (vimāna) that flies wherever its rider wishes
- Kubera · the god of riches, to whom the Puṣpaka belonged before Rāvaṇa took it
- King Vibhīṣaṇa · Rāvaṇa's brother, who stood with Lord Rāma because it was right, and became the new king of Laṅkā
- Bharata · Lord Rāma's younger brother, who cared for Ayodhyā for fourteen years and waited for him to come home
- Garuḍa · the mighty king of birds
- vānaras · the noble forest people who fought beside Lord Rāma and helped win the war
A true episode from just after the war, told in both Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa — Yuddha Kāṇḍa — and Rāmcaritmānas — Laṅkā Kāṇḍa. The morning offer of baths, sandal paste, garments and garlands, the Lord's words that such comforts mean nothing without Bharata, the hard road on foot and the promise of a single day's journey, the Puṣpaka's history and its description, the Lord's thanks for King Vibhīṣaṇa's counsel, help and friendship, the gems and gold given out at the Lord's word, his farewell from the chariot, the request to see the coronation and greet Mother Kausalyā, and everyone seated in comfort are Sage Vālmīki's. The Lord's tears, his words that the treasury and palace are already his and that each moment feels like an age, the shower of jewels and clothes from the sky, the gems tried in the mouth and the laughter, 'it was by your strength', the mosquito and Garuḍa, the army setting out for home while the chiefs stand silent, the turn to the north and the cry of glory are Gosvāmī Tulsīdās's. King Vibhīṣaṇa's wish to honour the Lord, the Lord's longing for Bharata, the bringing of the Puṣpaka, gifts for the vānaras and bears, and the Lord taking his friends aboard as the sky-chariot rises are in both tellings.