Vibhīshaṇa Hitabodha (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa)

After Hanumān burned Laṅkā, Rāvaṇa called a war-council in his royal sabhā (court). In the Sundara Kāṇḍa of the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, his rākshasa commanders boast that they will defeat Bhagavān Rāma’s army with ease. Vibhīshaṇa, Rāvaṇa’s younger brother, then rises and speaks a counsel of dharma, wisdom and hard truth. The elder Mālyavān supports him. Rāvaṇa answers with rage, strikes Vibhīshaṇa and drives him out of the sabhā. Vibhīshaṇa then leaves Laṅkā for Rāma’s camp.

The war-council

Rāvaṇa called his sabhā and looked over the rākshasa heroes gathered there. He put a question to them as a choice. Should they ask for a shameful peace with the nara-vānaras (men and vānaras), or crush the invaders in battle and take the glory of victory? The question was only for show, since Rāvaṇa had already decided, but he asked for their advice.

The rākshasa commanders answered with their usual pride.

Kumbhakarṇa said that no being in the three worlds could match him in battle. Then he called the matter small and went off to sleep.

Meghānāda (Indrajit) roared that the three mūrtis and the thirty-three crore devas trembled at his name. What were mortal men and vānaras to him?

Atikāya said that the army gathered before him could be destroyed in one stroke, if only Rāvaṇa would give the word.

Kumbha and Nikumbha slapped their shoulders and said: “With such warriors standing by, why all this talk about mere nara-vānaras?”

Akampana thundered that no warrior on this earth could face him in single combat.

Mahodara waved Rāma’s army away with scorn: “Not enough to feed me for one meal.”

Durmukha and Makarāksha boasted that they were ready to crush the enemy in a moment whenever Rāvaṇa gave the order.

These vīrālāpas (boasts of heroes) filled the sabhā with the sound of confidence and made Rāvaṇa more eager for war.

Vibhīshaṇa’s counsel

At this moment Vibhīshaṇa entered the assembly. He silenced the boasting commanders and turned to face Rāvaṇa directly. He said:

“Agrajā (elder brother)! Dharma is the root of all things. One who breaks dharma never wins. You have kept in Laṅkā a supremely chaste pativratā, the wife of another man. A person who wants happiness, good fortune and good name will no more look at another man’s wife than at the moon on the fourth day. To desire another man’s wife is pāpa (sin). To act out of kāma (desire) and krodha (anger), the root causes of all naraka (hell), is ignorance.

“Anna Rāvaṇā! Śrī Rāma is not an ordinary man. He is aja (unborn) and ananta (without end), without beginning or end. That same Paramātmā has come down in human form to protect the worlds. The head of the Raghus is honoured by all creation. He came down to uphold the good and punish the wicked. He is the avatāra who is avadheśa (lord of Avadha). I do not tell you this from outside knowledge. A disciple of Pulastya ṛshi came to me in private and gave me this secret: this Rāma is the Paramātmā. So do not, in rash folly, choose enmity with Bhagavān Rāma and bring about the ruin of our family.

“Sodarā (brother)! When we look at the truth of this matter, what wrong has the king of Kosala done to us? None. It is the wicked counsel of our own people, always ready to break dharma, that tempted you to carry off Sītā. And now the same voices push you towards war. You are a paṇḍita (learned man) and a prājña (wise man). Even now, put right the mistake. That is the path dharma approves.

“Annayya (elder brother)! I plead with brotherly love and with a wish for your good. Honour Śrī Rāma’s cause. Give Sītā back to him with respect. Seek his friendship. That is the path of śreyas (the highest good). Rāma removes the sorrow of those who surrender to him. He loves his devotees and his heart is soft with compassion. That Purushottama will forgive your faults and lift you up. I speak this as my last prayer.”

Mālyavān’s support

The elder statesman Mālyavān heard Vibhīshaṇa’s words, rose and spoke to the assembly in support:

“Laṅkeśa! Vibhīshaṇa is viveka-sampanna, full of the highest discernment. Your younger brother has spoken with long sight and understanding of what helps and what harms. Following the path he has shown you is the wisest course in every way.”

Rāvaṇa’s rage

Rāvaṇa was a warrior by birth and tāmasa by nature, and the boasts of the rākshasa heroes had fired him up. He heard the words of Vibhīshaṇa and Mālyavān as thorns in his ears. His eyes turned red with anger and he rose from his throne:

“You are traitors! You eat my salt and point out my faults. You are fools. These enemies within, who praise my enemy, throw them out of here!”

Mālyavān left the assembly at once. Vibhīshaṇa joined his palms and spoke to Rāvaṇa with great humility:

“Agrajā! My words do not please your impure mind today. The wise say that two live in every person’s heart, kumati (evil counsel) and sumati (good counsel). When sumati rules, a person prospers in happiness and wealth. When kumati rules, he meets disaster. At this moment kumati has taken full hold of your mind. That is why you call me an enemy within.

“Rākshaseśvara! You are my elder, the head of the family and the king of the land. When even you act in such haste, the country and the family must fall to ruin. The ruin of the rākshasa family has come. You brought Sītā to Laṅkā like a dark night coming over a lotus grove. Your attachment to her has thrown your reason into disorder. I speak only from love for my brother and for no other reason. Honour Sītā with respect and give her up to Rāma. Live with honour and happiness. This is my last prayer.”

Rāvaṇa strikes Vibhīshaṇa

Daśagrīva (Rāvaṇa, the ten-headed) sat on his throne and could bear no more. He rose in fury and, openly in front of the whole sabhā, kicked Vibhīshaṇa. Each time, Vibhīshaṇa clasped his brother’s feet with respect and would not strike back.

Vibhīshaṇa’s departure

Then Vibhīshaṇa and his ministers leapt into the sky, and he said:

“Agrajā! Your feet have struck me, the blow of one who is like a father to me, and I feel no pain of my own from it. You and the members of your sabhā have lost your senses under the force of time. I now go to Śrī Sītānātha, the one of true resolve. There is not the slightest fault in me for this.”

With these words Vibhīshaṇa left towards the north with his four ministers and crossed the ocean towards Rāma’s camp.

Tulasīdāsa records that as Vibhīshaṇa left, the śrī (fortune, glory and divine presence) of Rāvaṇa’s rule at once became śrīhīna, empty of its divine support.

What Vibhīshaṇa knew

Vibhīshaṇa’s counsel rests on a particular revelation. A disciple of Pulastya ṛshi, from whom the rākshasa line comes, had told him in private that Rāma is the Paramātmā. Maṇḍodarī had earlier told Rāvaṇa the same thing in private. Vibhīshaṇa now said it in public in the sabhā, and Rāvaṇa turned away from both.

Sources

• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa (Tulasīdāsa’s Rāmacaritamānas), Sundara Kāṇḍa.