Amṛta Varsha (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa)

After the fall of Rāvaṇa, the devas (gods) came to bow to Rāma. Indra, the king of the devas, then stood before Rāma and offered a prayer of thanks. Rāma asked Indra for one boon: that the vānaras (forest-dwelling people) and bears who gave their lives for him be brought back. Indra sent a rain of amṛta (the nectar of immortality) over the whole battlefield of Laṅkā, and every fallen vānara and bear rose up again.

This episode is told in the Laṅkā Kāṇḍa of Tulsīdāsa’s Rāmacaritamānas, as retold in the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa. It is told by Kākabhuśuṇḍi to Garuḍa, and by Bhagavān Śiva to Pārvatī.

Indra’s prayer of thanks

King Daśaratha had received jñānabodha (the teaching of knowledge) from Rāma and gone to paramapada (the highest state). Then Indra, lord of the devas, came forward before Rāma. He stood with folded hands and his voice was thick with feeling. He said:

“O Śobhānidhi! Bhaktāśraya! Śara-kodaṇḍa-pāṇī! Raghunātha! May victory be yours. O Khara-Dūshaṇa-Rāvaṇādi Rākshasāntaka! Today our suffering is ended. Having received your refuge, we have become sanātha (people who have a protector).”

Indra then spoke of his own fault. “O Sītāpati! Dīna-bāndhava! I tell you the truth. I had grown proud, thinking that no one was my equal. Prabhu Rāma, the sight of your feet has dissolved that pride. O Ramā-Ramaṇa! Others may worship the nirguṇa Brahman described in the Vedas. For my part, I shall worship only Śrī Kosala-Rāma, who has form (saguṇa-rūpa). O Rāma! May you always live in my heart, together with Sītā and Lakshmaṇa. This is my deepest wish.”

Indra then asked Rāma what he should do.

Rāma asks for the vānaras

Rāma was deeply moved by Indra’s prayer and by the sincerity of his words. He answered warmly, but he asked nothing for himself. He spoke for others.

Amarēśvarā! Nā nimittamāi tama prāṇamulanu viḍanāḍina ī vānara bhallūka samūhamunu bratikim pajēyumu

“O lord of the immortals! For my sake these vānaras and bears gave up their lives. Please bring them back to life.”

The rain of amṛta

Indra granted the request at once. He made amṛta rain down from the sky over the whole battlefield of Laṅkā. The drops fell on every fallen vānara and bear. When the amṛta touched their bodies, life returned to them. Every hero who had died in Rāma’s service rose from the ground, from the least soldier to the greatest commander. Wounds healed and cut limbs were made whole. Every vānara and bear who had given his life in the battle stood again in full health and strength.

The vānara host burst into joy and called out praises to Rāma and to Indra.

Why the rākshasas were not revived

The amṛta fell on the bodies of the rākshasas as well. But the rākshasas did not rise again as living beings, while the vānaras did. The text gives the reason:

Yuddamu cēyucunnappuḍu rākshasulu manasulu rāmunimīda lagnamayiṃḍinandunanarulu kaivalya padamu cērukoṃḍiṃri. Anduce naktaṃcarula śavamulu vānarula vala sajīvamulu kāvēdu.

“Because the rākshasas had their minds fixed on Rāma while they fought in the battle, they reached kaivalya-pada (the state of liberation). So the bodies of the night-roamers did not come alive again, as the bodies of the vānaras did.”

The rākshasas gained something greater than mortal life. They gained the liberation that great munis seek through long tapas (austerity). The vānaras are deva-aṃśa-sambhūtulu (born from portions of the devas). Through the shower of amṛta, their life-breaths (prāṇas) returned to those original portions of the devas.

Rāma’s arrows and moksha

Kākabhuśuṇḍi tells Garuḍa, and Śiva tells Pārvatī, the chief point of this episode:

O Vinatāsutā! Avadēśuni hṛdayamu ati agādhamainaṭidi. Ā mahāmahuni bhāvagaṃbhīratanu telusukōṭaku mahāmunulē samarthulu. Sarvaśakti sampannuḍagu ā jagadīśvaruḍu dēvēṃdruni gauriṃcuṭakai aṭlādēśiṃcenu.

“O son of Vinatā! The heart of the lord of Ayodhyā is very deep. Only great munis can understand the depth of that great one’s purpose. The all-powerful lord of the world gave that instruction to honour Devendra.”

And of Rāvaṇa’s death:

Rāvaṇuḍu dushṭuḍainanu rāmabāṇamulu vānikī munīśvaralaku labhyamu kāni muktipadamunu prasādiṃcenu

“Though Rāvaṇa was wicked, Rāma’s arrows gave him the mukti-pada (state of liberation) that even the great munis cannot gain.”

The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa thus says that Rāma’s arrows give moksha even to the worst of his enemies.

Sources

• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Laṅkā Kāṇḍa, Surēśuḍu Kōsalēśunaku Kṛtajñatalu Delpu Koṇuṭa section
• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Laṅkā Kāṇḍa, Amṛta-Varsha section
• Rāmacaritamānas of Tulsīdāsa, Laṅkā Kāṇḍa