Lord Rama has vanquished the demon Ravana, and Hanuman takes the message of Rama’s victory to Sita. Sita is overjoyed, and wishes that she could give Hanuman a gift. Hanuman then tells Sita that he wants to kill the demon women who have been tormenting Her. Sita says that Hanuman should not harbour ill-will against them, said V.S. Karunakarachariar, in a discourse. They were only doing their duty. Ravana had wanted them to threaten Sita into changing Her mind. How could they refuse to do what their master wanted them to do for, after all, they were the servants of Ravana? Sita refuses to blame them for their conduct and says She was destined to suffer for a certain period of time. A virtuous person will be kind even towards those who err for, after all, whose conduct is without blemish? She then narrates the story of a bear and a tiger.
A man was chased by a tiger, and he clambered up a tree. That tree happened to be the dwelling place of a bear. The tiger then said to the bear, “Push the man down. You must never trust human beings.” But the bear said that the man had sought refuge in its tree, and it would not harm him. The bear then told the man to sleep. When he woke up, it was the bear’s turn to sleep. Now the tiger said to the man, “Push the bear down. I will spare your life.” The man promptly pushed the bear down. The tiger then pointed out to the bear how untrustworthy the man was. It now urged the bear to go up the tree and push the man down in revenge. The bear went up the tree, but refused to do as the tiger wanted it to. The bear said that even though the man had betrayed it, it would not push him down. Thus, the bear, through its conduct, showed that goodness lay in forgiving people who had done wrong. Revenge is always undesirable.