Vibhishana arrives at Rama’s camp, and wants to cross over to Rama’s side. But the monkeys are skeptical about his motives. They view him with suspicion, and when Rama asks them for their opinion, they all warn Him against trusting Vibhishana, said Akkarakkani Srinidhi, in a discourse.
Hanuman strikes a contradictory note, when he says that Vibhishana is trustworthy. Rama gives everyone a patient hearing. He then sets forth His reasons for wanting to welcome Vibhishana. To get across His point about the need to welcome anyone who surrenders, Rama narrates the story of a hunter and two pigeons.
A hunter walks through a jungle in search of animals to hunt. But at the end of the day, he doesn’t manage to kill any. Tired and hungry, he sits down under a tree, and decides to spend the night there.
Two pigeons — a male and a female — are nesting in the tree. As evening gives way to night, it turns cold, and the hunter begins to shiver. Noticing this, the female bird says to her partner that the hunter has to be provided with warmth.
The male bird then fetches leaves and lights a fire, so that the hunter will not feel the cold. But the birds realise that the hunter is hungry. One of the birds then throws itself into the fire, so that the hunter can eat its cooked flesh. All that the hunter has done is to shelter under a tree that has served as the birds’ home. If just for this reason, they have done so much to protect him, then how much more will the Lord do for us, if we surrender to Him? It is to drive home the significance of Saranagati that Rama narrates this story.
Published - August 30, 2016 09:55 pm IST
