Jāmbavanta

Jāmbavanta is the great king of the bears (ṛkshas). He was one of the senior elder-warriors in the alliance of Sugrīva, and he was known for his great age, wisdom and counsel. In the Sundara Kāṇḍa he speaks at two turning points. First, he reminds Hanumān of his own power when the search party cannot cross the ocean. Second, he is the first to understand Hanumān’s roar when Hanumān comes back from Laṅkā.

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa and the Padma Purāṇa tell more. Jāmbavanta served Bhagavān Rāma in the Tretā Yuga. In the Dvāpara Yuga he fought Bhagavān Kṛshṇa for twenty-one days over the Syamantaka gem. Then he knew Bhagavān Kṛshṇa as Bhagavān Rāma, and he gave Him both the gem and his daughter Jāmbavatī.

His nature and standing

Jāmbavanta was ancient. He was one of the oldest beings in Sugrīva’s council, and his memory went back beyond the events of the Rāmāyaṇa. He was not mainly a warrior in the usual sense. He was a being of great wisdom, experience and authority. When he spoke in the assembly of the vānaras, his words carried the weight of long ages of knowledge. He was also strong. He was a ṛksha king, a lord of bears, with great strength of his own. But his greatest gift was discernment. The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Sundara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 1, shows him in this role.

Divine origin

The Bāla Kāṇḍa of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa tells of the vānara sṛshṭi, the creation of the vānaras, which Brahmā commanded. Bhagavān Vishṇu had agreed to be born as Rāma to destroy Rāvaṇa. So Brahmā told the devas, the ṛshis and the celestial beings to bring forth strong vānara warriors who would serve in Rāma’s campaign.

Jāmbavanta, the great bear king (ṛksharāja), was born from an aṃśa (part) of Brahmā himself. He came forth from Brahmā’s own being as part of this creation. The Bāla Kāṇḍa (Chapter 17) gives this as the source of his great strength, his life across the ages from the Tretā Yuga to the Dvāpara Yuga, and his wisdom, which made him the counsellor and inspirer of the vānara army.

Lineage and nature

Jāmbavanta belongs to the Tretā Yuga. He had been alive since the time of Bhagavān Rāma’s campaign against Rāvaṇa. He served Rāma as a general of the vānara and ṛksha army (an army of monkeys and bears). He is praised for his wisdom, his strength and his devoted counsel throughout the Rāmāyaṇa. By the Dvāpara Yuga, the age of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, he was very old.

Awakening Hanumān’s power

The search party sat on the southern shore in shared despair. No one could cross the ocean of a hundred yojanas. This is one of the great turning points of the Rāmāyaṇa. Aṅgada had said that their task was to find Sītā or not return, yet no one could make the crossing. Sampāti, the brother of Jaṭāyu, had told them that Sītā was in Laṅkā, but this knowledge only made the despair deeper.

Jāmbavanta looked over the assembly. With his deep knowledge of birth and power, he turned to Hanumān. He spoke to Hanumān directly. He reminded him that he was born of Vāyu and a divine apsarā, and he recalled his great deeds as a child and the varas (boons) the devas had given him. He said:

“O son of Vāyu, why do you sit silent while others despair? You alone can cross this ocean. You are not merely equal to Rāma’s vānara generals — you exceed them. The power within you is the power of your father, the most mobile force in all creation.”

He described the qualities of Hanumān in detail, and Hanumān remembered his own nature. The effect was immediate and complete. Hanumān rose, made his body larger, climbed Mahendra mountain and leaped. The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Sundara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 1, tells this.

The meaning of the returning roar

The search party waited on Mahendra mountain for days after Hanumān left, in anxious suspense. At last the roar of the returning Hanumān reached the shore. Jāmbavanta was the first to speak. He told the others:

“A vānara who has failed does not roar like this. Only a vānara returning with success makes a sound of this quality and power. Hanumān is returning. He has found her.”

The other vānaras trusted his certainty and waited for Hanumān to arrive. This is told in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Sundara Kāṇḍa, Chapter 57.

The Syamantaka account

Prasena, the brother of Satrājit, was killed by a lion during a hunt. Jāmbavanta then killed the lion. He took the Syamantaka gem to his cave as a prize and placed it in the cradle of his infant child. Meanwhile an accusation fell on Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa followed the trail to the cave of Jāmbavanta.

A great fight broke out. It was one of the most extraordinary single combats in the Purāṇas, for Jāmbavanta’s strength was ancient and of cosmic origin. The fight lasted twenty-one days, and neither side gave way.

At last Jāmbavanta grew weak. He looked into the eyes of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa and saw the one he had loved and served across all time, Śrī Rāma Himself. He fell at the feet of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, full of love and awe, and said:

“You are the same one I served in Tretā Yuga. My Rāma. You have come again in this Dvāpara age.”

The gift of Jāmbavatī

Full of gratitude and devotion, Jāmbavanta offered the Syamantaka gem to Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. He also gave his daughter Jāmbavatī in marriage, with suitable wedding gifts. Jāmbavatī became one of the eight chief queens of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa in Dvārakā. This is told in the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 122.

Rāma and Kṛshṇa

The Purāṇas teach that Bhagavān Rāma and Bhagavān Kṛshṇa are the same Parabrahman in different divine forms in different yugas. Jāmbavanta served Bhagavān Rāma in person. Later he had the grace to know the same Rāma in a new form of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. The Purāṇas present this as the highest reward of a life of pure bhakti (devotion).

The Jāmbavateśa Śivaliṅga at Jambūtīrtha

After Bhagavān Rāma won the war against Rāvaṇa, Jāmbavanta set up a Śivaliṅga on the bank of the Śābhramatī river, at the place that came to be called Jambūtīrtha. The Śivaliṅga was named Jāmbavateśa. It is also called Ruksharājeśa, “the master of the king of bears”. It keeps alive the memory of his service to Rāma and of Śrī Rāma’s victory over Rāvaṇa, the rākshasa king. Jambūtīrtha with its Jāmbavateśa Śivaliṅga stands as a lasting sign of the bear king’s devotion and thanks after the campaign in Laṅkā. This is told in the Padma Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 150.

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Sundara Kāṇḍa, Chapters 1, 57
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla Kāṇḍa, Chapter 17
• Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa (Chapter 122)
• Padma Mahā Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa, Chapter 150
• Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Pūrṇa Kāṇḍa, Chapter 5