Tārā

Tārā was the wise and devoted wife of Vāli, the vānara king of Kishkindhā, and the mother of Aṅgada. She was born from the aṃśa (part) of Bṛhaspati, the guru of the devas. She had sharp insight and could see beyond the surface of events.

She warned Vāli clearly of the danger in Śrī Rāma’s friendship with Sugrīva, but Vāli, bound by a warrior’s pride, would not listen. After Vāli fell to Rāma’s arrow, Tārā came to the battlefield and cried out in a grief that moved all the warriors there. Her lament told of Vāli’s great deeds and showed her insight into Rāma’s divine nature. Rāma comforted her. She stayed in Kishkindhā afterwards and was honoured there during Sugrīva’s reign.

Divine origin in the Vānara Sṛshṭi

The Bāla Kāṇḍa tells of the Vānara Sṛshṭi, the making of the vānaras (chapter 17). Brahmā commanded the devas to bring forth vānara warriors and companions to serve Rāma’s work. Tārā was born from the aṃśa of Bṛhaspati, the teacher of the devas and the lord of wisdom and speech. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, chapter 17)

Her advice before Vāli’s death

Sugrīva’s roar sounded a second time outside the gates of Kishkindhā. The first fight had failed, and Rāma had arranged a flower garland to mark Sugrīva. Vāli sprang up in anger, ready to rush out again. Tārā held him back with words of both love and wisdom.

She said to him: “My husband, I have sure news that the sons of Daśaratha, Rāma and Lakshmaṇa, have come to Ṛshyamūka and made friends with Sugrīva. Rāma is no ordinary being. He is first among warriors, beyond any rākshasa or human in battle. This Sugrīva came once and was nearly destroyed, and yet he returns with new fierceness. Something has changed. If Rāma stands behind Sugrīva, this fight will end differently from the last.”

She urged him to make peace: make Sugrīva the yuvarāja (crown prince) and seek friendship with Rāma, not enmity. She wept with true love and warned that no one could live through Rāma’s arrows. She went on: “I do not doubt your courage. In all the worlds there is no one to match you in single combat. But this Rāma is no ordinary being. He is all the Vedas and all the śāstras in a body. A fight with Rāma’s chosen friend is not one you can win by force alone.”

Vāli heard her patiently but was not moved. He said: “A kshatriya (warrior) does not turn away from a challenge. Even if Rāma himself stands against me, I will face it.” He embraced Tārā and went out. Her heart broke, for she knew what was coming. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa, chapter 15)

Her grief on the battlefield

Vāli fell, struck by Rāma’s arrow while fighting Sugrīva. Tārā ran to the battlefield with Aṅgada and threw herself on her husband’s body. Her weeping moved even the warriors who watched. Sugrīva could not bear the sight and turned away in sorrow.

Her lament was more than weeping. It told clearly who Vāli had been. She recalled his great deeds. He defeated the gandharva Golabha in a battle that lasted fifteen days and nights without a break. In that contest neither warrior took food or rest the whole time. She recalled how he shamed Rāvaṇa. The ten-headed king of the rākshasas came in pride to challenge Vāli, and Vāli tucked him under his arm like a small animal while he calmly finished his sandhyā (prayer at the junctions of the day) at the four oceans. She wept over the divine golden ornament on his chest, the sign that he was born of Indra. She spoke of his speed, his radiance and his unmatched strength. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa, chapters 19 to 22)

Her recognition of Rāma’s divine nature

Even in the depth of her grief, her sharp insight did not leave her. As she wept, she looked up at Rāma and saw clearly what she had already told Vāli: he was no ordinary warrior. She spoke to Rāma directly: “You have taken my husband. Take me too. I cannot stay in this world without him.” In the same breath she told the gathered vānaras who he was. This Rāma was not human. He was the Vedas in bodily form. All the wisdom of all the śāstras was in him. He was beyond time and death. (Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa, chapters 22 and 23)

Comfort from Rāma

Śrī Rāma spoke to Tārā gently. He said: “Grief is the nature of all who have bodies. What is born will pass. What has left the body cannot be won back by weeping. The duties of life remain. Care for Aṅgada. The work before you is great and sacred.” He reminded her of Vāli’s last words: his charge to Sugrīva to care for Aṅgada, and his charge to Aṅgada to serve Rāma without holding back. Hearing these words, Tārā turned from grief that could not be mended toward her dharma as a mother and toward the work Rāma had begun. (Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa, chapters 23 and 24)

Her place in Sugrīva’s court

After the coronation, Tārā stayed in Kishkindhā and remained in Sugrīva’s inner court. Lakshmaṇa came to Kishkindhā in fury, bringing Rāma’s ultimatum. Sugrīva was then found in a drunken state in Tārā’s company. The ministers Plaksha and Prabhava quickly warned Sugrīva that Lakshmaṇa had come in anger. Tārā herself urged Sugrīva to go out and meet Lakshmaṇa with proper courtesy. She told him that Rāma’s anger, though fearful, could be calmed by devotion. In this moment she steadied Sugrīva and turned him back toward his duty. (Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa, chapter 31)

In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa

Warning Vāli and declaring Rāma’s divinity. In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Tārā’s warning to Vāli before the second battle has a devotional character. She does not only say that Rāma is a strong warrior. She says openly that Rāma is Bhagavān Rāma himself, come in human form. She fell at Vāli’s feet in tears and begged him not to go. Vāli’s own thought was revealing. He thought to himself that if Tārā was right and Rāma was truly Bhagavān Rāma, then death at Rāma’s hands was moksha (liberation), a great blessing, and not a defeat. He went out with this understanding hidden under his outer warrior’s pride.

Calming Lakshmaṇa. In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa’s account of Sugrīva’s repentance, Sugrīva called Hanumān. He told him to bring Tārā along with Aṅgada when they went to calm the angry Lakshmaṇa. Tārā’s dignity, wise counsel as a wife and known standing in Kishkindhā were seen as strong enough to calm even an angry Lakshmaṇa. When the three of them, Tārā, Aṅgada and Hanumān, came to him, Lakshmaṇa’s anger at once cooled.

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, chapter 17
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa, chapters 15, 19 to 24 and 31
• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa