Kabandha Vadha
In the Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Bhagavān Rāma and Lakshmaṇa met the fearsome dānava Kabandha in the Krauñcha forest. Kabandha was a headless trunk with his face in his belly, held under a śāpa (a curse). The two brothers cut off his huge arms and burned his body, and he rose from the fire in his own shining form. He then told Rāma to seek the friendship of Sugrīva at Rishyamūka. This turned Rāma toward the alliance that led to victory.
The meeting
The brothers went south through the forest after the funeral of Jaṭāyu and entered the Krauñcha forest. There they met Kabandha, one of the most terrifying beings in the kāṇḍa. He was a huge trunk of a body with no proper head. His face was set in his belly, with a wide mouth full of dreadful teeth. His arms reached a yojana in each direction and swept everything within reach into that mouth. His arms shot out and seized both brothers at once, and they could not break free of his grip. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapter 70)
Words and recognition
Held tight in Kabandha’s huge arms, Rāma spoke to him. Kabandha asked who they were, and Rāma and Lakshmaṇa told him their names. Kabandha knew that these two were his liberators, the ones whose act was fixed to end his śāpa. He told them what was needed: cut off his arms and burn his body. He explained his situation and said he was relieved that his liberation had at last come. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapter 70)
Liberation
Rāma and Lakshmaṇa drew their swords and cut off Kabandha’s two huge arms. His grip loosened. They dug a pit, laid his body in it, lit a fire and burned it with proper rites. From the fire Kabandha rose in his own form, a divine being of great beauty and light, free of the monstrous form that had held him. He praised Rāma and the liberation he had received. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapter 71)
The counsel to seek Sugrīva
Kabandha was grateful and free. He gave Rāma the most important information he had received since the dying words of Jaṭāyu.
He told Rāma to go south, to Lake Pampā and Mount Rishyamūka. There lived Sugrīva, the vānara king and son of Sūrya. His elder brother Vālin had driven him out of his kingdom. Sugrīva lived under the śāpa of a ṛshi that kept him safe on Rishyamūka, because Vālin could not enter that mountain. Sugrīva had vānara forces in all directions of the world, so he was in a position to search everywhere for Sītā.
Kabandha urged Rāma to make a solemn pact of friendship with Sugrīva, a covenant of alliance. Sugrīva had his wide network, and he knew from his own life what it is to be wrongly driven out and parted from what is dear. He would be the right ally. Together they could find Sītā and destroy Rāvaṇa. Kabandha described the road to Pampā and the qualities of Sugrīva. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 71–72)
In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa
The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa gives an account of Kabandha’s first śāpa. In it, Kabandha was a gandharva in the assembly of Indra. There he mocked the singing of the great ṛshi Durvāsa, laughing at it or speaking against it before the court. Durvāsa was known for his anger, and his śāpas could not be undone. He at once cursed the gandharva to become a monstrous headless form with his face in his belly. After that, Indra’s vajra struck Kabandha with such force that his head was pressed into his body.
The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa says that the first śāpa was given by the ṛshi Sthūlaśiras. In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Kabandha’s monstrous form came from mocking the sacred art of a great ṛshi, and his liberation at Rāma’s hands came through the great grace of Bhagavān Rāma. (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa)
Sources
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 69–72 (the meeting, Chapter 70; words and recognition, Chapter 70; liberation, Chapter 71; the counsel to seek Sugrīva, Chapters 71–72)
- Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa