Hari Om.
Let us begin the nineteenth sarga of the kishkindhA kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
As sugrIva and vAlI fought bitterly and rAma’s unerring and swift arrow felled vAlI, the enmity of the two brothers ended and rAma fulfilled his promise made to sugrIva. However, thanks to the golden necklace that vAlI wore which was given by lord indra, vAlI, although felled, didn’t lose his life yet. Writhing in pain, he beheld the brilliant rAma and soon understood the import of tArA’s fervent warnings before he entered the combat with sugrIva. The felled warrior couldn’t stomach this apparent breach of dharma by the mighty rAma who is hailed as the very embodiment of dharma. He questioned rAma about the appropriateness of this attack. He was angry. He even sneered at the agreement with sugrIva for help in rescuing sItA and boastfully said, he could have accomplished it in half a day! So he wanted to know why rAma treated him thus. He sought answers earnestly. So rAma gave him a lesson in dharma. He made it abundantly clear that his relation with sugrIva is not transactional but is brotherly. He is like bharata or lakshmaNa for that matter. Secondly, vAlI was told in clear terms that the ikshvAkus who rule the earth safeguard dharma and wherever there is adharma, they are free to take suo motu action. bharata who justly ruled over the earth is charged with the duty of upkeep of dharma which all the kings under him do. That is what rAma did as well, merely abided by bharata’s instruction to upkeep dharma which was violated by vAlI through the violation of ruma, the wife of his younger brother sugrIva. Thirdly, vAlI was a vAnara who could be hunted by the royals. Hunting permits the use of snare, ropes and the prey can be caught by deceit or otherwise. Understanding the subtleties and nuances of dharma, vAlI realized his folly and prayed for forgiveness. His only wish was that his son angada and tArA should be looked after well byb sugrIva. rAma assured him that it would be so. Onwards…
The felled warrior vAlI had no answer to the nuanced reply that rAma provided to his questions about the appropriateness of his being felled while not being in sight. Having copped quite a blows through stones, trees and feet hurled by sugrIva and to top it all, felled by the arrow of rAma, vAlI’s end was nearing and he lost his consciousness. Meanwhile tArA learnt of the tragedy that the arrow of rAma brought about in felling the vAnara warrior and hastened out of the caves along with her son angada and his mates to the place where vAlI was lying. Beholding rAma holding the bow, the mighty mates of angada ran away in fright. A sorrowful tArA saw the vAnara warriors who were scared and running helter-skelter as if being chased by rAma’s arrows and said –
“O vAnaras, you have walked by the side of the lord of vAnaras in the past. Why are you running away from him in such fright? He has been felled by his angry brother for the sake of the kingdom using the swift and far reaching arrows of rAma. (Why are you running away in fear?)”
Those vAnaras who were capable of changing their forms at will, replied to tArA and the end of their question and said –
“You know that rAma has sliced through the trees with his thunderbolt like arrows and felled our king vAlI who was like indra in prowess. In fact the lord of death yama has come in the form of rAma. So we are frightened and running away. Your son angada is alive. Take him away and go to a safe place. Go back into the fortress, we shall close the gates and crown angada as the king. The vAnaras will surely throw their weight and rally behind angada. O lovely faced tArA, the vAnaras can take up positions in the fort right away. It is not proper for you to be here, please go back. There are those vAnaras who are without their wives and then there are those who have taken away their wives. We have not treated some of them kindly and we have reason to fear them now”.
Understanding the mundane concerns and lack of depth in their thinking, tArA who spoke with a smile always, spoke words that were appropriate to her wisdom and persona –
“When the lord of the vAnaras, my husband is dead, what have I got to do with my son or the kingdom or my own life? I shall go and fall at the feet of that great vAnara who has been felled by rAma”.
With those words, tArA firmly headed towards vAlI, sobbing all the while and cursing her fate.
क्षेप्तारं पर्वतेन्द्राणां वज्राणामिव वासवम्।
महावातसमाविष्टं महामेघौघनिस्स्वनम्4.19.22।।
Soon tArA beheld vAlI, who could hurl mountains like indra hurled his thunderbolt, who had the speed of the wind, who could roar like the thunder, who was equal in prowess to indra now lay on the earth like a rain cloud drained out, felled down by another warrior. He looked like a lion hunted down by tiger for the sake of the meat.
अर्चितं सर्वलोकस्य सपताकं सवेदिकम्4.19.24।।
नागहेतोस्सुपर्णेन चैत्यमुन्मथितं यथा।
The fallen vAlI seemed like a tree with an altar sporting a vEdI and auspicious flag, worshipped by all was brought down by the garuDa since a snake was hiding in it! Then tArA beheld sugrIva along with rAma and lakshmaNa who were leaning on their robust bows. Crossing them, tArA reached vAlI who had fallen down n the combat and was devastated and herself collapsed. She regained her senses after a while and sobbed piteously beholding vAlI who was almost surrounded by his end. She was followed by her son angada and they both could not take the state vAlI was in and wept. Seeing the grief of tArA like a she-hawk, sugrIva felt the pain.
तामवेक्ष्य तु सुग्रीवः क्रोशन्तीं कुररीमिव।
विषादमगमत्कष्टं दृष्ट्वा चाङ्गदमागतम्4.19.28।।
Here we conclude the nineteenth sarga of the kishkindhA kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
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Next: 4.20. Wisdom in times of grief
Previous: 4.18. rAma preaches dharma, vAlI realizes folly
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 
