INDIAN MYTHOLOGY
When Knowledge, Intelligence and Wisdom Came Together To Make This Murder Happen
This episode from Ramayana is much more than it meets the eye.
In Ramayana, there is an episode where Vali is killed.
Vali and Sugreev are twin brothers, ruling the Kishkintha kingdom. Due to a misunderstanding, Vali ousts Sugreev from the kingdom. He even captures Sugreev’s wife and solely rules the whole kingdom.
Sugreev, who goes into hiding in Rishyamuka mountain, meets Ram later on and explains his issues to Ram. He promises to help Ram find his kidnapped wife, Sita if he could help him defeat Vali and become the king of Kishkintha.
At the suggestion of Ram, Sugreev challenges his twin brother Vali for a fight. When both of them are mace fighting, Ram hides behind the tree and shoots an arrow into Vali’s chest.
Vali dies on the spot and his brother Sugreev becomes the King of the Kishkindha empire.
The magnitude of knowledge
Ram has immense knowledge about weapons and warfare.
He is extremely skilled and has more dexterousness than Vali. During their discussion, Sugreev told Ram about Vali’s powers by showing him a hole in a Sal tree that Vali had made in one shot. He told that it was an impossible feat to make the arrow penetrate through the whole trunk.
Ram then took a step back and shot an arrow towards the sal forest. His arrow penetrated seven trees of sal in a row and stopped at the eighth.
The spark of intelligence
Ram learns that Vali has a special power — Whenever he fights, half of the opponent’s powers come to him and add to his powers. Thus his power doubles and his opponent’s power becomes halved, making him invincible.
Ram learns that it is never possible for him to defeat Vali in single combat.
Hence he sends Sugreev first and brings Vali out. He then stands behind the tree without facing Vali and kills him when they are fighting.
Intelligence is how you use your knowledge to achieve the desired effect. If knowledge is the long column of wax, intelligence is a tiny matchstick flame that lights the candle. Both have to work in harmony to make changes happen.
The wisdom that made all the difference
Ram could have easily bet on the stronger horse, that is Vali.
Vali was the most powerful person at that time. He was already the king, who had weapons and a strong army. He had also defeated Ravana in an earlier war. Ram could have easily joined Vali and got his help in finding Seetha.
But, he didn’t. He stood by the righteousness. He stood by the law. He knew Sugreev deserved justice. And he promised to be on his side. So he used his skill and intelligence to achieve it.
Wisdom is when you know to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong and then use your intelligence and knowledge for the greater good.
