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Padma Puranaपद्मपुराण · Jain Ramayana
हिन्दी

Parva 61

Sugriva and Bhamandala Freed from the Serpent Noose

As Rama and Lakshmana ride out on their lion and Garuda vehicles, the serpent noose binding Sugriva and Bhamandala melts away.

Part of The War of Lanka

Summary

Clad in armour, Rama and Lakshmana enter the battlefield on the lion and Garuda vehicles they have just received. The mere power of the Garuda vehicle scatters the magic serpents binding Sugriva and Bhamandala, who rise as if waking from sleep. Rama tells the astonished Vidyadharas that this splendour is the fruit of the Garuda lord's boon, won by relieving the ordeal of the sages Deshabhushana and Kulabhushana, and all praise service to holy men as the surest source of good fortune.

What happens

5 points

  1. Rama and Lakshmana, wearing splendid armour, mount the Simhavahana (lion vehicle) and the Garudavahana (Garuda vehicle) and advance under lion and Garuda banners into the middle of the battlefield. Lakshmana goes in front, outshining the sun with the glow of his divine weapons.

  2. Vibhishana beholds Lakshmana surrounded by Hanuman and the great Vanara warriors. By the power of the Garuda vehicle and its Garuda vidya (magical science), the serpents of the nagapasha (serpent noose) binding Bhamandala and Sugriva vanish, and the two rise refreshed, as if waking from a happy sleep.

  3. The astonished Vidyadharas worship Rama and Lakshmana, saying they have never seen such vehicles, garments, parasols, chowries, jewels and banners. Rama recounts all that happened since leaving Ayodhya: they removed the upasarga (ordeal) of the sages Kulabhushana and Deshabhushana, who then attained Kevala Jnana (omniscience), and the pleased Garuda lord granted a boon which, recalled just now, brought them these vidyas.

  4. The Vidyadharas and Vanaras rejoice that service to sadhus (holy men) has borne fruit in this very life. No mother, father, friend or brother does as much good as such service, they say, and whoever devotes the mind to sadhus and keeps faith in the Jina attains glory like that of a Baladeva and a Narayana.

  5. Freed from their swoon, Bhamandala and Sugriva worship the Lord, and all the Vidyadharas grow firm in faith and serve Rama and Lakshmana with deep affection. The chapter teaches that service to gurus brings fame in this world and the soul's bliss hereafter, and that devotion to the guru leads through right conduct to moksha (liberation).