The Search Party Sent North

Having sent his father-in-law to the west, Sugriva, lord of the monkeys, all-knowing king, best of all monkeys, speaks to the hero monkey named Shatabali, words good for himself and for Rama: “Surrounded by a hundred thousand forest-dwellers like you, with the sons of Vaivasvata and all your ministers, enter the northern direction, garlanded by the snowy mountains, and search everywhere for Rama’s glorious wife. When this task is accomplished and what pleases Dasharatha’s son is done, we will be free of debt, our aim achieved, best of knowers of purpose. Great-souled Raghava has done us a kindness; if we repay it, our life will bear fruit. One who accomplishes a suppliant’s task, even for one who never helped him, has a fruitful birth; how much more for one who helped first? Holding this thought, act so that Janaki is found, you who wish us well and good. This best of men is honoured by all beings, and Rama, conqueror of enemy cities, has come to love us. Search these many strongholds, rivers and mountain valleys with your wealth of understanding and valour. There, looking over the Mlecchas and Pulindas, the Shurasenas, the Prasthalas, Bharatas, Kurus with the Madrakas, the Kambojas and Yavanas and the towns of the Shakas, and the Daradas, search the Himalaya. In the lodhra and padmaka groves and the devadaru forests, search everywhere for Ravana with Vaidehi. Then, going to Soma’s hermitage, frequented by gods and gandharvas, you will reach the mountain named Kala with its great ridges. In its great rocks, mountains and caves, search for Rama’s very fortunate, blameless wife. Passing that king of mountains, the great mountain Hemagarbha, you should go to the mountain named Sudarshana. Then there is the mountain named Devasakha, home of birds, full of many birds, adorned with many trees; in its groves, waterfalls and caves search everywhere for Ravana with Vaidehi. Passing it there is open space, a hundred yojanas every way, without mountains, rivers or trees, empty of all creatures. Crossing that hair-raising wilderness quickly, you will be glad to reach white Kailasa. There is Kubera’s lovely palace, like a white cloud, adorned with gold, built by Vishvakarman, where there is a wide lotus pool with plenty of lotuses and water-lilies, crowded with swans and ducks, frequented by apsarases. There King Vaishravana, honoured by all the worlds, the glorious giver of wealth, king of the yakshas, takes his pleasure with the guhyakas. In its moon-like mountains and caves search everywhere for Ravana with Vaidehi. Reaching Mount Krauncha, you must enter its hole, very hard to pass, without carelessness, for it is said to be hard to enter. Great-souled great seers live there, radiant as the sun, godlike, honoured properly by the gods. The other caves of Krauncha, its slopes and peaks, ravines and flanks must be searched everywhere. And the treeless Kamashaila and Manasa, home of birds, where there is no passage for beings, gods or rakshasas: that mountain too, with its slopes and plateaus, must be searched by all. Beyond Mount Krauncha is the mountain named Mainaka, where stands the house of the danava Maya, built by himself; Mainaka must be searched with its slopes, plateaus and caves. Here and there are the dwellings of the horse-faced women. Passing that country, there is a hermitage frequented by siddhas, where the perfected Vaikhanasas and Valakhilya ascetics live. Then salute the siddhas, freed of stain by austerity, and ask them humbly for news of Sita. There is the Vaikhanasa lake, covered with golden lotuses, where lovely swans like the young sun move. The elephant named Sarvabhauma, Kubera’s mount, always roams that country with his she-elephants. Passing that lake, there is a sky without moon or sun, without hosts of stars, without clouds, without sound; that country is lit as if by the sun’s rays by self-luminous, godlike beings perfected by austerity, resting there. Beyond that country is the river named Shailoda; on both its banks are bamboos called kichakas, which carry the siddhas to the far shore and bring them back. There are the Northern Kurus, the refuge of those who have done good deeds. There are rivers in thousands, their waters made by lotus pools with golden lotuses, rich in leaves of blue beryl; there the pools, adorned with forests of red and golden water-lilies, shine like the young sun. That country is surrounded on every side by wonderful forests of blue water-lilies with leaves of costly gems and filaments of golden radiance. There the rivers have sandbanks thrown up with matchless pearls, precious gems and gold, and are entered by wonderful best of mountains made of all jewels and of gold, radiant as fire. There the trees, always in flower and fruit, crowded with birds, of divine fragrance, taste and touch, pour out every wish. Other best of trees bear garments of many shapes as fruit, and ornaments wonderful with pearls and beryl, fit for women and for men; others bear things pleasant to enjoy in every season; others bear things wonderful with costly gems. Beds are produced, with wonderful coverings; other trees here bear garlands delightful to the mind, costly drinks and many kinds of food, and women endowed with virtues, marked by beauty and youth. Gandharvas, kinnaras, siddhas, nagas and vidyadharas of shining radiance always take their pleasure there with women. All who have done good deeds, all devoted to love, all joined with pleasure and wealth, live there with women. The sound of songs and instruments, with loud laughter, delighting the minds of all beings, is always heard there. No one there is joyless, no one fond of the wicked; day by day the charming virtues grow there. Beyond that country is the northern ocean, and in its midst a great golden mountain named Somagiri. The gods who have gone to Indra’s world and those gone to Brahma’s world, having reached heaven, look upon that king of mountains. That country, though sunless, shines with its light, to be known by the sun’s beauty, as if the sun were shining. There dwells the blessed one, the self of all, Shambhu of eleven forms, and Brahma, lord of the gods, surrounded by brahmin seers. You must on no account go north of the Kurus; the path of other beings does not go beyond. That mountain named Somagiri is hard to reach even for the gods; having seen it, you should quickly turn back. So far can monkeys go, bulls among monkeys; beyond, sunless and boundless, we do not know. All that I have told you must be searched; set your minds also on whatever else I have not mentioned. Then the great kindness to Dasharatha’s son, and so the great kindness to me, will have been done by you, like wind and fire, by the deed born of seeing Videha’s daughter. Then, your aim achieved, together with your kin, honoured by me with every charming gift, your enemies quieted, you will roam the earth with your loved ones, leapers, supporters of beings.”

Press › to begin with verse 1.

ततः संदिश्य सुग्रीवः श्वशुरं पश्चिमां दिशम् ।वीरं शतबलिं नाम वानरं वानरेश्वरः ॥ १ ॥

Then, having directed his father-in-law to the western direction, Sugriva, lord of the monkeys, to the hero monkey named Shatabali,

The northern route runs through the peoples of the north-west (Kambojas, Yavanas, Shakas), the Himalaya with its devadaru forests, Kubera’s palace on Kailasa, and Mount Krauncha with its cave of seers. It ends in the paradise of the Northern Kurus, a land of wish-granting trees that bear clothes, ornaments, beds and food, where “no one is joyless”. Beyond lies only Somagiri, the shining mountain where Shiva and Brahma dwell, which even the gods find hard to reach.

The north is the direction least likely to hold Sita, and Sugriva’s description of it is the most utopian. His opening words state again the moral of the book: “if we repay his kindness, our life will bear fruit”. The four search parties are Sugriva’s repayment.

Sources. Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kanda, sarga 43 (southern recension, Gita Press numbering). Commentary by Vani Darshan, not scripture.