Hari Om.
Let us begin the sixty second sarga of the kishkindhA kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
The vulture sampAti recalled the sportive gesture with which he tried to protect his brother jaTAyu and got his own wings burnt by the scorching sun. Giving an astounding and graphical description of their ascent towards the sun, sampAti described the bird’s eye view of the earth. As they soared higher, the cities looked like the wheels of a chariot, further up, the earth appeared filled with water with land and the mountains appearing only here and there, the forests resembling the spread of a lawn. They soared so high that both the sun and the earth appeared same in size! And then, they got disoriented scorched by the rays of the sun and being very tired! Overcome by affection sampAti tried to cover his brother jaTAyu and in the process got burnt. He fell down unconscious near the hermitage of sage niSAkara. This saga and his prayer to the sage to save him was narrated in flashback mode presently by samapAti to the vAnaras. The sage spoke. Onwards…
As sampAti cried piteously and submitted to the sage, contemplating for a while, the sage said –
“You will surely regain your wings and feathers, your life force, your vision as well as the might and valor. By virtue of my penance, I am aware and I see that a very important deed shall be accomplished by you in due course of time.
पुराणे सुमहत्कार्यं भविष्यति मया श्रुतं।
दृष्टं मे तपसा चैव श्रुत्वा च विदितं मम4.62.3।।
There will be a king in the ikshvAku dynasty by name daSaratha. He will have an illustrious son by name rAma. By the command of his father, rAma whose valor is truth, shall go to the forests accompanied by his brother lakshmaNa and wife sItA. In the forest, a demon by name rAvaNa, who is unconquerable by demons and the gods will abduct his wife sItA. The demon will try to woo sItA by oiffering many pleasures and varieties of food. But immersed in grief, she will not touch any of it.
Recognizing sItA, lord indra (ordered by lord brahma) will offer nectarine porridge, not available to even the gods to maithilI. Knowing him to be indra, vaidEhI will offer the porridge to rAma first by pouring a part of it on the ground and pray – ‘where ever my lord rAma and his brother lakshmaNa are, either in this world or the other, may this offering be accepted by them’.
यदि जीवति मे भर्ता लक्ष्मणो वाऽपि देवरः ।
देवत्वं गच्छ्तोर्वापि तयोरन्नमिदंत्विति ॥ 4..62.10
एष्यन्ति प्रेषितास्तत्र रामदूताः प्लवंगमाः ।
आख्येया राम महिषी त्वया तेभ्यो विहङ्गम ॥ 4.62.11
As rAma’s emissaries, vAnaras will go in quest of sItA and will arrive here. You, O great bird, shall narrate to them the information about the consort of rAma. Where will you go away in this state, O sampAti. Stay here and await the right time. You shall regain your wings.
उत्सहेयमहं कर्तुम् अद्यैव त्वां सपक्षकम् ।
इहस्थस्त्वं तु लोकानाम् हितं कार्यं करिष्यसि ॥ 4.62.13
I can actually get you back your wings right away, but by being here, you shall do good to the worlds. You should share the mission of the princes duo (rAma and lakshmaNa) and the goal of the brAhmanas, gurus, sages and indra. I also would like to behold the brothers rAma and lakshmaNa. However I cannot hold on to my life for so long and will shed my body.
Thus the clairvoyant sage prophesied about the future”.
Here we conclude the sixty second 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: 4.63. The prophecy comes true and sampAti flies again
Previous: 4.61. Misadventure of the mighty vultures
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 
