Saṃpāti

Saṃpāti was the elder brother of Jaṭāyu and one of the great eagles (mahā-pakshīs) of the Rāmāyaṇa age. In their youth the two brothers raced to fly close to the sun. The sun’s fire burned away Saṃpāti’s wings. The muni Candra Muni found him and taught him. Candra Muni also told him a prophecy. In the Tretā Yuga, vānaras searching for Sītā would come to him. When he told them where Sītā was, his wings would be restored by Bhagavān Rāma’s grace. Saṃpāti lived in a cave near the southern ocean shore, wingless and patient, until that day came. He offered tarpaṇa (water offerings) for his dead brother Jaṭāyu, told his own history and told where Sītā was, in the Aśoka Vāṭikā of Laṅkā. As his reward, his wings grew back by the grace of Bhagavān Rāma.

Who he was

Saṃpāti and Jaṭāyu were sons of the same mother, brothers of one womb. Both were great eagles of huge size and power. They lived together and were very fond of one another. Saṃpāti was the elder.

The race to the sun and the loss of his wings

In the strength of their youth the two brothers made a wager. Who could fly closer to the face of the sun? Both rose into the sky with all their strength. As they climbed higher, the heat of the sun became too great. Jaṭāyu could not bear the burning rays, so he turned and came back down to earth.

Saṃpāti was held by pride and stubbornness. He would not give way before his younger brother. He kept flying upward though the heat was unbearable, until the great fire of the sun burned his wings away completely. He fell from the sky and crashed to the earth far below.

Candra Muni, who healed him and gave the prophecy

Candra Muni found Saṃpāti where he fell, broken and wingless, in a terrible state. The muni was moved by compassion. He nursed Saṃpāti back to health. More than that, he gave him jñāna-upadeśa (teaching of knowledge), which removed the pride and ahaṃkāra (ego) that had caused his fall. By this teaching Saṃpāti’s inner sight became clear.

Then the muni looked at him with the vision of a ṛshi and spoke this prophecy.

In the Tretā Yuga, Parabrahman will take the form of a human being named Rāma, the son of Daśaratha. His wife Sītā will be carried away by the ten-headed Rāvaṇa. Rāma’s servants, the vānaras searching for Sītā, will come to you one day. When you tell them where Sītā is, your wings will be restored by Bhagavān Rāma’s grace.

Candra Muni went away. Saṃpāti settled down to his long wait near the southern ocean, wingless, very old and patient, and he kept the prophecy in his heart.

The meeting with the vānaras

The search party of the south came to the ocean shore in despair and sat down in prāyopaveśa (a fast unto death). Saṃpāti came out of his cave, meaning to eat them. But Aṅgada called out the name of Jaṭāyu, praising the dead eagle, and this stopped Saṃpāti completely. He came forward with compassion and said that he was Jaṭāyu’s elder brother.

The vānaras told him the whole story. They told of Rāma’s exile and of Sītā’s abduction. They told of Jaṭāyu’s brave fight against Rāvaṇa and his fatal wounds. They told how he died in Rāma’s arms, and how Rāma himself performed his funeral rites. Saṃpāti listened with grief and joy mixed together. He grieved that his brother was dead. He felt deep joy that Jaṭāyu had died fighting for Bhagavān Rāma and had received Bhagavān Rāma’s own hands at the end.

Tarpaṇa for Jaṭāyu

Saṃpāti asked the vānaras to take him to the shore of the sea so that he could offer tarpaṇa to his brother. On the shore of the great southern ocean he offered the water offerings and prayers for the dead Jaṭāyu with full ritual care. In this way he did the duty of an elder brother at the sacred border of land and sea.

Telling where Sītā was

After the tarpaṇa, Saṃpāti told where Sītā was, in an Avadhi verse quoted in the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa.

Giri trikūṭa ūpara basa laṃkā,
Tahaṃ rahai rāvana sahaja asaṃkā.
Tahaṃ aśoka upavana jahaṃ rahaī,
Sītā bairi socata ahayī.

It means this. On the Trikūṭa mountain rising from the sea stands the city of Laṅkā. There the fearless Rāvaṇa lives without worry. In the Aśoka garden of that city, Sītā stays in sorrow, pained by being parted from her husband.

He explained that great birds have very sharp far-sight. Even old and wingless, he could see Sītā clearly across the sea of a hundred yojanas (a measure of distance), sitting in grief in the Aśoka Vāṭikā. He also told the vānaras that one among them, a wise servant devoted to Rāma, had the power to cross the ocean and finish the task.

New wings

Saṃpāti finished telling where Sītā was, and so did what Candra Muni’s prophecy had asked of him. Then the grace of Bhagavān Rāma showed itself openly. New wings grew on his body before the eyes of the gathered vānaras. They were whole and strong, and they gave back the power and freedom he had lost in that long-ago race toward the sun.

His story was complete. Pride had taken his wings, and service to Rāma’s task had given them back. Saṃpāti blessed the vānaras, praised Bhagavān Rāma and flew up into the open sky.

Sources

• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Kishkindhā Kāṇḍa