Why did Hanuman not defeat Vali?
Answer Podcast:
Transcript
This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Question, why did Hanuman not kill Vali and give Sugriva’s kingdom back to him? In the Ramayana, we see that Hanuman is the greatest Vanara warrior.
So was he not stronger than Vali? Could he not have overpowered Vali? Answer, yes, Hanuman was the foremost warrior, but Hanuman had been cursed in his childhood to forget his powers. And he had been told that when somebody reminds him of his powers, at that time, he will be able to reacquire those powers. And that particular knowledge of Hanuman’s lost.
Even Sugriva at that time did not know about Hanuman’s formidable powers because that whole ceremony that had happened, Hanuman had got the power, Surya had attacked Hanuman and actually Indra had attacked Hanuman and that’s why Hanuman had fallen unconscious. And Vayu had stopped the wind all over the universe and to pacify Vali, all the Devatas had come and given various powers. But because Hanuman had become very mischievous as a child, so the Vanaras had said, you will forget your power.
So, when Sugriva had been driven away from his kingdom by Sugriva and Vali, at that time, Hanuman had forgotten about his powers. And that’s why he could not assist Sugriva in overpowering Vali. But when Hanuman was reminded of those powers by Jambavan, just before he leapt across the oceans, at that time, he remembered his powers and that’s why Hanuman does not play much of a role before the Sundara Khanda.
Fransi comes in the Sundara Khanda where he is practically the central hero, doing all moezing things and thereafter, he is almost nearly as much as the center of the Ramayana as is Lord Ram. Especially in the Yuddha Khanda, he is practically everywhere. So, because he did not know about his powers, he had forgotten about his powers because of the Rishi’s curse.
Because the Rishi had said that if he is mischievous, this childish mischievousness is already there. But on top of the childish mischievousness, if he is also so powerful, then he will create a lot of havoc. And we don’t want such havoc.
That’s why they had caused him to forget. And because he had forgotten, that’s why he did not, he could not assist Sugriva in overpowering Vajra. Thank you.