Nala the Vānara

Nala was a vānara (a forest-dwelling being of Rāma’s army) and the engineer of the Rāma-setu. This is the causeway across the ocean to Laṅkā. He planned it and oversaw its building at the command of Śrī Rāma. He was the son of Viśvakarmā, the divine builder, and he had his father’s gift for building. Rocks and trees that he threw into the ocean floated and stayed in place instead of sinking. This made the bridge possible.

Who Nala was

Nala was the son of Viśvakarmā, the celestial builder of the devas. Viśvakarmā built the vimānas (flying chariots), the palaces and the cities of svarga (heaven). From his father Nala received the gift of building. He also received a vara (a boon): any stone, log or other thing that he put into the water with his hands would float and stay steady, and would join the causeway. This made him the one person able to do the work that stood between Śrī Rāma and Laṅkā. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 22)

The building of the Rāma-setu

At first the ocean would not part for Śrī Rāma. It gave way only after Rāma raised his bow in anger and threatened to dry up the sea. Then Samudra, the deva of the ocean, appeared and said to Rāma: “Let Nala build a bridge. My waters will bear it.” Śrī Rāma agreed.

Under Nala’s direction the whole vānara army set to work. They tore up mountains, cut down trees and carried great rocks and logs to the shore. Nala watched over the placing of each one. The causeway grew to a hundred yojanas (a measure of distance) in length and ten yojanas in width. It was finished in five days. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapters 22–24)

The causeway is also called the Nala-setu, after its builder, and the Rāma-setu. The Setubandha is also a great holy kṣetra (sacred place) that gives much puṇya (merit). On the return journey in the Puṣpaka Vimāna, Śrī Rāma told Sītā that all the pāpa (sin) of those who see it is destroyed. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 126)

The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa: how Nala and Nīla came by the gift

The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa tells how Nala and Nīla came to be able to make things float on water. Samudra appeared before Rāma in the form of a brāhmaṇa and proposed the bridge. He then explained where the gift came from.

When Nala and Nīla were boys, they were full of mischief and loved pranks. They used to pick up the śālagrāmas (sacred stones) of munis from the places where the munis sat in meditation, and throw them into the water for fun. The munis grew tired of being disturbed again and again, and they spoke a śāpa (curse): “O tricksters! May every object you throw into water float and not sink!”

At the time this looked like a punishment. By divine arrangement it became the means for Rāma’s work. Samudra told Rāma: “Let Nala and Nīla direct the building of the setu. Whatever they throw into me will hold its place, and I will bear it. In this way your glory, as the one whose army built a bridge across the endless ocean, will shine forever.” (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Sundara Kāṇḍa)

In the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Nala’s gift comes from his birth as the son of Viśvakarmā.

At the coronation

At Śrī Rāma’s coronation, Nala was one of the commanders whom Śrī Rāma honoured with gifts “according to his wish and preference.” (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 131)

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapters 22–24, 126 and 131
• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Sundara Kāṇḍa