In the great battle
between Rama and Ravana, only Rama and Laxmana were humans.
All other warriors
were not humans. Most important of them were vanaras. Now who were they and
where they came from? To understand this, let us read some lines from Valmiki’s
Ramayan.
{The classic Indian epics, such as the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, and the Puranas,
refer to diverse kinds of beings, describing them as superhuman or subhuman and
other worldly extra-terrestrials came to inhabit planet Earth. These groups
include
Gandharvas, Yakshas, Kinnaras, Kimpurushas, Rakshasas, Nagas,
Suparnas, Vanaras, Vidyadharas,Valikilyas, Pisachas, Devas
Vanaras are created
by Brahma and other gods to help Rama in battle against Ravana.
They are powerful and have many godly traits. Taking Brahma's orders, the gods
began to parent sons in the semblance of monkeys, The Vanaras took birth in bears and monkeys
attaining the shape and valor of the gods and goddesses who created them. After Vanaras were created they began
to organize into armies and spread across the forests, although some, including
Vali, Sugriva, and Hanuman, stayed near mount Riskshavat.}
Words
from Valmiki’s Ramayana
The gods become progenitors Vanaras heroes at the
dictate of Brahma to come to the aid of Rama in annihilating Ravana. The
monkey-like Vanara race is procreated by numerous celestials endowing it with
peculiar mighty physique and particular power to come to the help of Rama.
When Vishnu attained the son ship of the great-soled
king Dasharatha, then Brahma the self-created addressed all of the gods this
way.
"Let mighty and guise changing helpmates be
procreated to that truth abiding and valorous Vishnu who is the well-wisher of
all of us
"Let monkey-shaped progeny equalling
Vishnu's valour be procreated from the physiques of prominent apsara-s and
gandharva-s, from the girls of yaksha-s and pannaga-s, and also thus from the
bodies of kinnaraa-s, she-vidyaadharaa-s, she-riksha-s and she-monkeys, and
they shall be wizards of miracles and audacious ones, in travel they shall have
air's speed, bestowed with intellect they shall be the knowers of ideation, and
with their divine physique they shall be ineliminable, they shall be endowed
with all the assaultive aspects of all missiles, and they shall be untiring in
their efforts, like you who thrive on amrita, the ambrosia, unmindful of thirst
and hunger.
"I have already created the eminent
bear Jambavanta in earlier times, as he suddenly came forth from my yawning
face.
This is
to say that Brahma has already created such a typical being, namely Jambavanta,
prior to all the gods, as a role model in creation.
When Brahma addressed them thus, those
gods have agreed to his order and accordingly started to parent sons in the
semblance of monkeys.
This
pedigree is not yet given the label of monkeys. They are lookalike of monkeys
but not monkeys, vaana ruupiNam resembling
monkeys, as said in the verse. The word vanara is vane carati iti vanara-s because
they range far and wide over forests they are called vanara-s, but not exactly
a monkey race.
The great-souled celestial groups, namely the
sages, siddha-s, vidyaadharaa-s, caarana-s have created valiant sons that are
forest rangers.
Indra procreated the lord of vanara-s, namely
Vali, who by his physique is like Mt. Mahendra.
The highest humidifier among all the humidifiers,
namely the Sun, procreated Sugreeva.
Brihaspati, the Jupiter, gave rise to a great
monkey named Tara, who is the most important one among all vanara-s, and who
excels all by his intelligence.
Tara here is a vanara hero but
not Lady Tara, the wife of Vali. Here we have the wording of kapiH the monkey – for these forest rangers for first time.
The brilliant Gandhamaadana is the son of Kubera,
while the divine architect Vishvakarma procreated the great monkey called Nala
The bright son of Fire is Neela whose blaze is
like that of fire and who excels other monkeys by his in resplendence, renown
and courage
The Ashwin twin gods whose wealth is their
beautiful appearance have personally procreated two vanara-s namely Mainda and
Dvivida, blessing them with beautiful appearance
The Rain-god procreated the vanara named
Susheshana, and Thunder-god gave rise to the great mighty Sharabha
The direct son of Air-god is the marvellous and
adventurous Hanuma with an indestructible body, and one identical in the speed
of lady Vinata's son, namely Garuda, the divine eagle vehicle of Vishnu, and
among all monkey chiefs he is the intelligent and the indefatigable one too.
[Garuda: The bird and vehicle of Vishnu. He is generally represented
as a being something between a man and a bird and considered as the sovereign
of the feathered race. He may be compared with the Simurgh of the Persians, the
Anká of the Arabs, the Griffin of chivalry [without lion's body,] the Phoenix
of Egypt, and the bird that sits upon the ash Yggdrasil of the Edda. – Griffith.]
Thus the gods have procreated many thousands of
such valorous and guise changing monkeys who with their immeasurable strength
and bravery are manifest for the elimination of the decahedral demon Ravana.
And they with their elephantine, mountainous and
prodigious bodies quickly took birth in bears, monkeys, and sacred langoors.
Those that are procreated have attained the
shape, getup and valour of the god that has fathered them, and thus the monkey
race is procreated separately and individually.
Some of the vanara-s endowed with superior valour
are born to female langoors, and like that some more too female bears and
kinnaraa-s
Several of the gods, great-sages, gandharva-s,
eagles, yaksha-s, and the celebrated reptiles, kimpusha-s, siddha-s,
vidyaadharaa-s, uraga-s and caarana-s and even the prominent maidens of
apsara-s, she-vidyaadharaa-s, naaga, gandharva-s then gladly procreated all of
the thousands of forest-ranging and valiant vanara sons from their bodies that
are forest rangers.
They are endowed with guise changing faculties,
with bodily might and by their pride and might are identical to lions and
tigers, and they are born-free in their movement in forests.
They can rock greatest mountains, rip firm rooted
trees, and with their speed they can agitate the lord of rivers, namely the
ocean.
They can shatter the ground with their two feet,
leap and cross over great oceans, and they can seize the clouds entering arch
of heaven.
They can catch ruttish elephants that tumultuously
move in forests, and just with the sound of their blare they make sky flying
birds to fall.
Thus the gods and others have procreated millions
of such noble soled Vaanaras as the chiefs of warriors who can change their
guise at their wish.
Those vanara generals who took birth thus became
the prominent generals among the principle battalions of monkeys, and they have
also procreated brave monkeys on their own
Rama and Lakshmana will use
arrows and missiles as their weaponry in the ensuing final war with Ravana. The
vanara soldiers use stones, trees, and their own claws and nails. The golden
maces or clubs handled by Hanuma, Sugreeva, and Vali usually depicted in
pictures are for more mythical ornamentation to glorify the characters.
However, these Vaanaras are well versed in the knowledge of such tactical
weaponry, only to save themselves from their usage against them, but do not use
them necessarily. In Sundara Kanda Hanuma will be tied by a magical weapon
called Brahma astra when he is in Lanka. Though knowing the release from that
Brahma astra, Hanuma does not utilise that knowledge there.
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