Rama’s duty to uphold Dharma
Rama killed Vali, as you know. At the time of Vali’s death, before he left his body, Rama went close to him. There was an argument between Vali and Rama. Swami explained it beautifully.
Vali said, “Rama, You are a king, and I am a monkey. Are You justified in killing me like this?”
Rama said, “Oh, Vali, you know you are a monkey, good! I am a king. Understand that kings hunt, and we kill animals. You are a monkey, so I can kill you. There is nothing wrong with that, since kings hunt regularly.”
Vali lost the first argument. Then he made a second argument. “Rama, You are not the king now. Your brother Bharat is the king. You are here in the forest with us now. How can You kill me?”
Then Rama replied, “No, Vali, this forest comes under the jurisdiction of our kingdom. Therefore, since My brother is the king, it is My duty to uphold the dharma, the code of conduct. Therefore, I killed you.”
Sugriva and Rama – Comrades in Distress
Then Vali made his third point. He said, “Rama, You sought the help of my brother Sugriva to attack Ravana. You wanted his help, so You decided to kill me. Rama, You are not intelligent at all. My brother Sugriva is a weak fellow. I have hurt him several times. He will run away with the very mention of my name. Sugriva is such a coward and You wanted his help. How foolish You are, Rama! You could have asked me to help You. I am more powerful. In fact, Your enemy Ravana is also afraid of me. I rolled him like a mat, kept him under my armpit, and gave him a bath in the holy ocean a number of times. Ravana is afraid of me, because he is aware of my strength. You could have asked for my help.”
Rama replied, “I wanted your brother Sugriva’s help, because Sugriva and I are comrades in distress. Both of us lost our kingdom, and are suffering due to separation from our wives. You have kidnapped your brother’s wife; Ravana has abducted mine. So I know his suffering. Therefore, I am helping him, and wanted his help. Not that I do not know that you are more powerful. Your brother knows what suffering is. This is about friendship.”
Vali lost that argument. Then, he came up with another argument. “Ramachandra, is it proper on Your part to shoot the arrow while standing behind a tree. Why couldn’t You stand in front and kill me. Why did You hide? Is that valour; is that chivalry?”
Dharma and the Law
Rama replied, “Look here, Vali! I am aware that the necklace of pearls around your neck was given to you by Brahma in response to your penance. I know that no one can fight with you standing in front of you, as long as you are wearing that necklace. I wanted to honour the boon granted by Brahma, so I had to shoot you standing behind the tree. It is not that I don’t know this much about dharma in a battle.”
Vali presented a final argument. “Rama, don’t You know that we monkeys have different laws? We can marry any number of times. There is nothing wrong in marrying your brother’s wife. Our laws are different from human laws. Your Dharma is not applicable to monkeys.”
Rama answered, “Vali, I agree that your law approves your conduct. But although you are a monkey, you speak like a human being. Therefore, you should be treated according to human law, and not the law of monkeys.”
Thus Vali lost all the arguments. That was the episode described by Bhagavan in a very interesting way.
[Source – The Sunday Talk Given by Prof. Anil Kumar, “Sai Baba’s Revelations about the Ramayana”, April 14, 2011 ]