Vānara Sṛshṭi

The Vānara Sṛshṭi is the making of the vānara army. A vānara is a forest-dwelling ape-like being. The account is in Chapter 17 of the Bāla Kāṇḍa of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa.

Bhagavān Vishṇu had agreed to come down as Śrī Rāma. At once Brahmā told the devas, the great ṛshis and other celestial beings to father a large army of strong vānaras. These would be Rāma’s soldiers against Rāvaṇa. The vānaras of the Rāmāyaṇa are not simple animals. They were born with the śaktis (powers) of their divine fathers.

Brahmā’s command

Bhagavān Vishṇu chose to come down as a human being to destroy Rāvaṇa. Rāvaṇa was guarded by boons given by all the celestial powers. So the army that went with Rāma had to be of a different kind, and yet be able to fight with great courage.

Brahmā found the answer. The devas and other divine beings would father vānara sons. These sons would be kāmarūpin (able to take any form they wish) and mahābalaśālin (very powerful), and they would be born with the qualities of their divine fathers. The vānaras lived in forests. They would not be among the beings that Rāvaṇa’s boons covered.

The divine parents of the vānaras

Brahmā gave the command to all who had come together to ask for Rāvaṇa’s end. These were the devas, maharshis, gandharvas, vidyādharas, garuḍas, yakshas, nāgas, kinnaras and siddhas. They were to father vānara children with apsarases, vidyādharī women, nāga-kanyās (nāga maidens), gandharva women and other celestial women.

The vānaras who were born were not ordinary animals. They were:

• Mahākāyāḥ, of huge size
• Vana-sañcāriṇaḥ, forest dwellers
• Kāmarūpiṇaḥ, able to take any shape they wished
• Mahātejaḥ, full of great radiant energy
• able to pull up great trees and throw boulders from mountains
• able to leap across oceans and fly through the sky
• able to shake mountains by the force of their leaps
• so fierce in battle that their roars could bring down birds in flight

Their strength was like the strength of Garuḍa (Garutmān). They could fight lions, tigers and great snakes. In the end their number was in the crores.

The chief vānaras and their divine parents

These were the best-known vānaras born in this making:

• Vāli (Bāli) was born of a portion (aṃśa) of Indra. He was the son of Ṛksharaja and the greatest of the vānara warriors.
• Sugrīva was born of a portion of Sūrya. He was Vāli’s brother and would become Rāma’s friend and ally.
• Hanumān was born of a portion of Vāyu deva. He was the son of Kesarī and Añjanā. In strength, wisdom and devotion no vānara was equal to him.
• Nala was the son of Viśvakarman, the divine builder. He would plan and build the Setu (bridge) across the ocean.
• Nīla was a foremost warrior.
• Jāmbavān was born of a portion of Brahmā. He was the eldest and the most experienced of the vānara counsellors.

All the chief vānaras gathered under the leadership of Vāli and Sugrīva. Hanumān and the other commanders formed the leadership of what would become Rāma’s great army.

Where the vānaras lived

The vānaras settled in the great forests and mountains of the land. Most lived in and around the Ṛkshavanta range and the forests that would later be linked with Kishkindhā. Some settled on different mountain peaks and others in deep forest groves. Later, after the events that led to Sugrīva’s exile and his meeting with Rāma, these scattered armies would be called back together and gathered for the march to Laṅkā.

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapter 17