Hari Om.
Let us begin the third sarga of the kishkindhA kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
The vAnara, sugrIva, the son born of the will of the Sun god lived on the RshyamUka mountain having been banished from kishkindhA by his brother vAlI. He lived there with four other vAnaras who were his followers as well as offered him ministerial advise. sugrIva alerted all of them as he sighted the mighty, bow and sword wielding, resplendent duo rAma and lakshmaNa. The mortal fear that he has of vAlI made him think the two were sent by his enemy brother to eliminate him. He asked them to keep an eye on the duo. The four of them leapt from peak to peak to get a good peek of the duo. And they were terrrified too! They rushed to sugrIva in panic. As the leader poured out his anxiety and apprehension, the minister hanumAn tried to reason with him. He reminded him that this was a prohibited area for vAlI (more on that later) and that it was unlikely that the duo were sent by him. sugrIva was not ready to buy this. He asked to hanumAn to go in disguise and inquire with the duo as to who they were. He further asked him to strategically stand facing him while he spoke with them sweetly and extracted the true intention of theirs so that he gets an additional few moments to make his escape good should they turn out to be as he imagined. Obeying his command, the articulate hanumAn, the great accomplisher swung into action. Onwards…
Having understood the command of sugrIva, hanumAn set out to meet the rAghavas. Changing his guise in to that of a mendicant, with a deceitful intention not to give away their identity until he is sure of who they were, he leapt from RshyamUka and approached rAma and lakshmaNa, humbly bowed to them, offered his respect and began to address the valorous duo in polite and pleasant words –
राजर्षिदेवप्रतिमौ तापसौ संशितव्रतौ।
देशं कथमिमं प्राप्तौ भवन्तौ वरवर्णिनौ4.3.5।।
“You two of brilliant complexion, ascetics resembling sagely kings and gods, true to your vows, how did you deign into this region? As you two walk along beholding the foliage on the banks of this pampa, you are lending great beauty to these waters while the beasts and other forest rangers appear to be terrified of your presence here. Courageous, lustrous in complexion, wearing bark clothes, breathing deeply, having mighty arms, with the gaze of lion, wielding bows resembling that of lord indra, vanquisher of enemies, auspicious to behold, blessed with a great form, best among valorous warriors, you resplendent men, this hill is glowing in your glorious luster. Resembling the immortals, you deserve to be ruler of the land, how did you happen to come to this land.
You warriors, you have lotus like beautiful eyes, you are wearing matted hair, you resemble each other and verily look like you have come here from the world of the gods, as if the glorious sun and the moon have landed on the earth of their own will. You are men resembling gods, have broad chests, mighty like the lion, proud like the bull, your arms are round and long and strong, you deserve to be bedecked with jewels, why have you not worn any ornaments? You both are fit to rule over the land blessed with the seas and great mountains like the mEru and vindhya.
The two bows that you have are beautifully decorated, they shine forth like the dreadful thunderbolt of lord indra, your quivers are full of deadly arrows resembling poisonous snakes, you are armed with broad golden swords looking like venomous snakes leashed.
I have been talking so long, but how come you are not saying anything?
There is a righteous vAnara by name sugrIva who has been slighted and banished by his brother vAlI and roams the world grieving. I am a vAnara by name hanumAn, the son of the wind god and have been sent here by that great sugrIva, the leader of the vAnaras. I am his minister. I have come from the mountains of RshyamUka. For the sake of sugrIva and to please him I have come here in the guise of mendicant. I can assume any form and go any where that I will to.
प्राप्तोऽहं प्रेषितस्तेन सुग्रीवेण महात्मना।
राज्ञा वानरमुख्यानां हनुमान्नाम वानरः4.3.21।।
युवाभ्यां सह धर्मात्मा सुग्रीवस्सख्यमिच्छति।
तस्य मां सचिवं वित्तं वानरं पवनात्मजम्4.3.22।।
The righteous sugrIva intends to befriend you both”.
Having spoken thus to the diligent duo in impeccable terms, the eloquent hanumAn didn’t speak more.
Hearing the words of hanumAn, rAma was delighted and said to brother lakshmaNa –
सचिवोऽयं कपीन्द्रस्य सुग्रीवस्य महात्मनः।
तमेव काङ्क्षमाणस्य ममान्तिकमुपागतः4.3.26।।
“O saumitri, he is the minister of sugrIva whom I am desirous of meeting. He has come to me himself. You speak to this articulate minister in sweet terms.
नानृग्वेदविनीतस्य नायजुर्वेद्धारिणः।
नासामवेदविदुषश्शक्यमेवं विभाषितुम्4.3.28।।
One who has not taken to the Rg vEda, one who has not mastered the yajurvEda and the one who is not an expert in sAma vEda cannot articulate like this.
नूनं व्याकरणं कृत्स्नमनेन बहुधा श्रुतम्।
बहु व्याहरताऽनेन न किञ्चिदपशब्दितम्4.3.29।।
Certainly he has mastered the entire grammar, for, even he spoke a lot, there was not a bit of mispronunciation anywhere.
न मुखे नेत्रयोर्वापि ललाटे च भ्रुवोस्तथा।
अन्येष्वपि च गात्रेषु दोषस्संविदितः क्वचित्4.3.30।।
As he spoke, no fault can be observed in his body anywhere, either in the eyes or forehead or eyebrows or anywhere else. He didn’t raise his voice, didn’t drag his speech, didn’t rattle off in a hurry, his words came from the chest and delivered impeccably in a medium tome. His words are auspicious, pleasant and captivate the heart.
अनया चित्रया वाचा त्रिस्थानव्यञ्जनस्थया।
कस्य नाराध्यते चित्तमुद्यतासेररेरपि4.3.33।।
His wonderful words come in the high, medium and moderate notes arising in the three places, the head, throat and the chest respectively. Whose mind won’t be delighted to revel in such words even if they come from an enemy holding up a sword?
एवं विधो यस्य दूतो न भवेत्पार्थिवस्य तु।
सिद्ध्यन्ति हि कथं तस्य कार्याणां गतियोऽनघ4.3.34।।
If a king doesn’t have an emissary like this, how will his mission be ever accomplished, O lakshmaNa? Whoever has such emissaries, without doubt, they will be fulfilled with achievements with their help”.
एवं गुणगणैर्युक्ता यस्य स्युः कार्यसाधकाः।
तस्य सिध्यन्ति सर्वाऽर्था दूतवाक्यप्रचोदिताः4.3.35।।
Exhorted thus by rAma to speak to hanumAn, the diligent saumitri addressed the articulate hanumAn and said –
“O hanumAn, we are in search of the great sugrIva and having heard of his virtues from you, we are eager to meet him. You have been sent by sugrIva and so we will do as you say”.
The son of wind god, hanumAn was very pleased to listen to these words from lakshmaNa and could visualize success in his mind. He decided to extend friendship towards them.
Here we conclude the third sarga of the kishkindhA kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
Click on the above link for word by word meaning from IITK website
Click on the above link to listen to the audio by SrIrAma ghanApATi
Next: 4.4. hanumAn visualizes a win-win alliance
Previous: 4.2. The accomplisher in action
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 
