Did he not know? Really?

Vibheeshana was standing beside Rama as Raavana approached the battlefield for the final war. He was enraged by the death of his brother Kumbhakarna, son Meghanaada and many other trusted warriors in the battle, till then. He was now left all alone to fend for himself. A mere look at Vibheeshana added fuel to the fire and Raavana could not control his fury. The setbacks so far he had in the war were directly or indirectly due to this brother. Having joined the rival camp, his own brother was leaking out the inner secrets and weaknesses of these warriors and helping the enemy to eliminate them one by one. That he had himself insulted and banished Vibheeshana from Lanka did not matter now. Whatever may be the reason and the differences between the brothers themselves, this betrayal by his own brother could not be overcome by Raavana. He thought it fit to kill Vibheeshana even before turning his attention to Rama. That Vibheeshana was not taking any direct part in the war did not really matter to him now.  He picked one of his most potent weapon and hurled it with all his might in the direction of Vibheeshana.

Lakshmana was keenly watching the movements of Raavana and was expecting the attack to come in the direction of his brother Rama or himself. When the first attack was directed at Vibheeshana, Lakshmana felt that it was his duty to protect Vibheeshana. He tried to repulse the attack with a weapon of his own but did not succeed. As he had moved between Vibheeshana and Raavana's weapon in the process, the Shakthi hurled by Raavana hit Lakshmana with all the force and felled him. Lakshmana was now floored and became unconscious. Hanuman swiftly lifted Lakshmana from the scene and moved him to safety away from the battlefield. Raavana was satisfied that one of his main enemies was killed and left to his fort to celebrate the victory. There was a temporary withdrawal of hostilities. Rama's camp was in deep sorrow and Raavana's camp was busy celebrating the success. 

Everyone thought that Lakshmana had indeed died and Rama was overcome with grief and deep sorrow. He recounted the devotion with which Lakshmana served him and was always available for anything he wanted. Senior Doctor Sushena was summoned to examine Lakshmana and find out the possibility of reviving him. Sushena examined Lakshmana in detail and said that Lakshmana was in deep trouble, but could be revived if some invaluable herbs were made available to him before sunrise. The only trouble was that these precious herbs were not available nearby. They were found only in a section of the Himalayas. The need now now for someone to fly to Himalayas, find the herbs and bring them before sunrise. Any delay would render the mission useless as the time for revival of Lakshmana would elapse by sunrise and it would not be possible to revive him after sunrise even with those herbs. From Lanka to Himalayas and back in a few hours. Lord Hanuman was the only one who could be entrusted with such a task. Hanuman was off on the mission even before others realized the enormity of the task. (This is how it happened and not when Lakshmana was hit by a weapon hurled by Meghanaada (Indrajeet), as popularly believed. Sarga (chapter) 101 of Yuddha Kaanda explains this particular episode). 

What was expected to be accomplished by Hanuman on this mission? He was required to bring these five herbs from the Himalayas:

1. Vishalyakarani: Herb that helps in expelling an arrow or weapon from the body, heal the resultant wound and relieve the pain. (Shalya means a sharp object like a javelin)  
2. Savarnakarani: Herb that helps in counteracting discoloration of the skin and restores its original color. 
3. Sanjivakarani: Herb that brings an unconscious person to consciousness. 
4. Sandhanakarani: Herb used for joining fractured bones.

(Experts also opine that there is another herb called Mrutasanjeevani that can bring a dead man to life within a defined period under certain circumstances. It may be recalled that there are instances when dead people are found alive after sometime. The recent example is of Pakistani cricketer Hanif Mohammad who was declared dead, but came back to life after a few hours. He died later on the same day). 

Hanuman accomplished his mission and arrived well before sunrise. However, instead of bringing the required herbs, he lifted a part of the mountain itself and placed it before Sushena. When asked as to why he did not bring the herbs alone, he said that he was unable to identify the herbs and hence brought the entire parvata (hill) to enable Sushena to identify them and use in required quantities. Having brought the herbs including Mrutasanjeevini, he is also known by the name "Sanjeeva Raaya".

Hanuman is considered as the most intelligent person of his time. It is also believed that he knew all the different branches of knowledge in entirety. Yet, he said he could not identify these herbs. Did he not know?  Really?

***** 

The young officer had just returned from a training program at the bank's training college. He was attending to his duties at his desk, outside the Branch Manager's cabin. He saw a customer enter the Manager's cabin and talking to him. He heard the words "DPG" (Deferred Payment Guarantee) being mentioned and became attentive. The customer was requesting for issue of a DPG. Branch Manager told him that he was not aware of the term and he had not handled that type of business earlier. The customer was disappointed and left the cabin.

The officer entered the Manager's cabin and told him that he was familiar with DPG as it was covered in the training program. He asked the manager whether he can call back the customer and explain about it. The manager smiled and said that he too knew about DPG and had handled such transactions in his earlier branches. The young officer was perplexed and asked him as to why he had told the prospective customer that he did not know about it.

"The person who came here and inquired about DPG is not a direct client but a middleman. His reputation is not good. My friends who entertained business through him are now facing trouble. It is not advisable to deal with such people. Instead of further discussing the issue I disposed off the case by saying I do not know about DPG. It is one way of dealing with undesirable parties and that is what I did in this case", he told the young officer. Mere knowledge of things is not enough and one should know how to handle issues without trouble, he added. the young officer learnt another important lesson; Knowledge and Wisdom were, indeed, two different things.

*****   

Hanuman knew that the valuable herbs were available only in the Himalayas. He also knew that there would be other people who need these herbs, in the times to come. He was aware that others could not reach there and get the herbs in time when required. There was a need to distribute these herbs for the welfare of the people at large. When he lifted the mountain and flew in the air to Lanka, the herbs fell in many places on the way. A part of the mountain itself reached south. Sushena later on used them to treat others who were affected in the war. Thus the treasure was distributed to help the needy. These herbs are even now used by skilled doctors to treat patients.

Hanuman knew what he was doing. Instead of explaining all these things, he simply said that he could not identify the herbs. That others believed those words and thought that he could not identify the herbs did not make any difference to him!

He is a "Big Yardstick!"

They had come from far and wide; from all parts of the country.  There were families with young boys and girls, old couples and young men and women.  All of them assembled at Gate 15 of the Departure lounge of the Delhi International Airport.  The gate enclosure itself was a small area with not even sufficient chairs to seat the older people.  They stood for over an hour at the boarding gate for the announcement of a flight that had a special number - 555.  Almost all of them were on a vacation and were visibly excited.  That the lounge was small did not dampen their spirits; it probably enhanced their excitement.

The flight was expected to take one and half hours.  It took off on schedule and the first one hour was uneventful.  Suddenly some kids got up and started to take pictures from the aircraft’s windows.  Those on the window side seats were probably doing that already.  Taking pictures from the aircraft is prohibited, but nobody seemed to bother about it.  Even the air hostesses smiled away.  For a few minutes most of the passengers were out of their seats and clicking.  Mobile phones have made photo-taking very easy now.  Of course, the thrill of carrying a camera, purchasing film, loading them, clicking photos, sending it for developing and printing and thereafter waiting eagerly for the printed snaps is long dead and gone.  I strongly suspect that the value of photos itself is now compromised.  Whatever it is, this was a time to click away.  And all of them did it in plenty.  Most of them would not have read or heard about Kumarasambhavam.  But to understand Himalayas that was not required.  His very presence was enough and more.

Mahakavi Kalidasa has described Himalayas as the majestic yardstick, standing to the north of our country and the King of Mountains.  Kalidasa starts his celebrated Mahakaavya “Kumara Sambhavam” with this praise of the Mountains.  The Himalayas is not just another mountain range for the Mahakavi; he is the symbol of the ethos of our lofty values.  His size is just too great and hence he is called a yard stick.  Was he justified in calling Himalayas as a yardstick?  He is a yardstick for measuring the Earth.  When we consider the size of the Himalayan Range we realize how right Mahakavi Kalidasa was!  To measure the size of the Earth, we require a yardstick of the size of Himalayas as nothing else will suffice.  Earth’s diameter is said to be about 12,720 Kilometers or 7900 miles.  The Himalayan Range extends from west to east for a length of 2400 Kilometers or 1500 miles.  Therefore, it is easy to measure the size of the earth using the Himalayas as the yard stick.  Earth’s diameter is 5.3 yards if Himalayas is one yard!  This is not a yard of three feet.  That yard is only for measuring very small things. 

Those on the flight could get a clear view of the Himalayas as the flight was approaching Srinagar.  It was a clear and sunny day and enabled viewing the snow clad mountain peaks, flowing rivers and the evergreen forests.  It did not matter that they were flying at 34,000 feet. They were not looking at a small hill; it was the Himalayas who stretched as far as the eyes could see and comprehend.

The Himalayan range has nine out of ten highest peaks in the world.  Geologists say that this is one of the youngest mountain ranges in the world.  The range gives birth to innumerable rivers and the big three siblings are The Sindhu (Indus), Ganga and Brahmaputra. Brahmaputra is considered a brother.  600 million people depend and live in the cradles of these mighty rivers.

There is a Hindi film by name “Yaatrik”, produced in the year 1952 and directed by Kartick Chatterjee.  It is the story of a group of people on a trek in the Himalayas during their pilgrimage. The film brought considerable boost to the career of the well-known actor of yesteryear, Abhi Bhattacharya who has played the role of a young Bramhachari. There is a song in this film, sung by Pankaj Mullick who was at his peak as a play back singer then.  The recording is available and can be heard on YouTube.  The stanzas of the song are taken from the verses of Kalidasa’s Kumara Sambhavam.

When we hear that song and recall the words of the Mahakavi Kalidasa, there is no doubt that he is a Yardstick.  But he is not just a yardstick; he is a big yardstick indeed!