Due to the effect of the Brahmastra, other prominent Vānara warriors such as Angada, Jambavanta, Neela and Sugriva were rendered motionless even though they were alive. They were absolutely distressed upon seeing the plight of Rama and Lakshmaṇa. In their uncontainable grief, they too fell into a swoon. The weapon had only rendered them immobile; their grief however caused them to periodically lose their consciousness.
Addressing these warriors Vibhishana (brother of Ravana) said-‘Great heroes. Do not panic. Do not grieve that Rama and Lakshmaṇa have fallen unconscious. To show their respect to Lord Brahma, they have willingly fallen unconscious with the Brahmastra’.
On that pitch dark night, Hanuman and Vibhishana carried fire torches in their hand and went all over the battlefield searching for the Vānara warriors. They spent the whole night carrying the warriors back to the camp, consoling and reassuring them.
At one spot, Vibhishana located the great hero Jambhavanta. Even in that immobile state wherein he could barely speak, Jambavanta asked Vibhishana,- “Is Hanuman alive?” This brings out Jambavanta’s faith in Hanuman, which is – ‘For us to win the war, it is sufficient if just Hanuman remains alive. Singlehandedly he will bring us victory.’ He did not want any other reassurance or consolation from Vibhishana. He continued-‘Do not worry about me. Leave me here itself. Please tell me if Hanuman is alive’.
Expressing his astonishment, Vibhishana asked, “Sir, is it not strange that you enquire about Hanuman instead of enquiring about the welfare of Rama and Lakshmaṇa?” To this Jambavanta said, “Vibhishana, if Hanuman is alive, not only will we all remain alive but also all the dead soldiers will be brought back to life. You will see this happening shortly. On the other hand, if just Hanuman is absent, the combined force of all the other Vānara warriors will be of no use. We will fare miserably. Even collectively we cannot win the war.”
Jambavanta then called Hanuman and asked him to fetch a herb from the Himalayan range so that Rama and Lakshmana could be revived. During the war, Hanuman fetched the mountain twice, of which this was the first. Hanuman flew up to the Himalayas and returned back with the entire mountain in hand. The herb Sanjivani, which was plucked from this mountain, restored back to life 67 crore dead warriors, in addition to restoring Rama and Lakshmaṇa back to consciousness.
Flying up to this remote part of the Himalayan range is itself a complex task, especially if one has to travel both up and down on the same night. Added to this, Hanuman had to brave the many obstacles that came on his path during his onward journey. Further, Hanuman could not even locate the herb on the mountain. At last, he decided to carry the entire mountain itself to the battlefield. He carried the entire mountain just on one palm!
Even the photo of Hanuman carrying the mountain on his palm amazes us. It looks so fearful. We doubt whether it is a fact or a fiction. Wasn’t this an unimaginable achievement? It was immaterial whether Rama and Lakshmaṇa willingly fell unconscious or not. However once they were completely unconscious, they needed to be revived.
May Lord Hanuman who is thus being praised by Dharmaka and Jambavanta, protect us!
Om Namo Hanumate Namaha.
