Shriram had abandoned Sita not because of any washerman but because of one of his friends. Aren’t you surprised? Who was that friend of Shriram and what did he say that Ram had to sacrifice his beloved wife, Sita? We will tell you about it in a short while. But today, The Karma Channel is going to introduce you to Shriram’s friends. Those friends for whom Ram was ready to do anything.
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You must have surely heard about Sugreev and Vibhishan, two friends of Shriram. But Shriram had many friends since childhood. Two friends were the most prominent among them. The name of the first friend was Suyadnya. Suyadnya was the son of Shriram’s Kulguru, Vasistha. Suyadnya’s wife was also a friend of Maa Sita and there was a lot of affection between the two friends.
Shriram’s friend, Suyadnya is mentioned first In the Ayodhya Kand of Valmiki Ramayana. The context is that when Shriram was leaving for exile, he sent a message to Suyadnya through Lakshman. After this, Shriram gifted a lot of gold to Suyadnya and what’s more, Shriram also gifted his favorite elephant, Shatrunjay to Suyadnya. This elephant was also very dear to Shriram because it was gifted to Shriram by his maternal uncle.
Similarly, Maa Janaki also gifted lots of gold ornaments to Suyadnya’s wife, her friend. Further, the mention of another friend of Shriram comes in other Ram stories apart from Valmiki Ramayan. That friend was Nishaadraj Guh. While Suyadnya was a Brahmin, Nishaad came from a lower caste. But Shriram used to love people of all castes and creeds equally. And Nishasdraj Guh was his dear friend. Nowadays, it is said that Shudras were not given weapons training in ancient times; let us tell you that both Nishaadraj Guh and Shriram had taken arms training in Vasishtha’s Gurukul together. During this period, a deep friendship developed between the two.
When Ram left Ayodhya for exile, he first reached Shringverpur, which was ruled by his friend Nishaadraj Guh. Guh and Ram’s friendship was so deep that Guh surrendered his kingdom to him. But Shriram had already taken the vow of exile. So, he refused to accept his friend’s kingdom. But the friendship of the two became immortal in history.
Now let’s talk about the king of Vanars, Sugreev. Veer Hanuman Ji had fostered the friendship between Sugreev and Shriram and both of them took an oath to cooperate with each other before the fire as a witness. How much Shriram cared for his friend is proved by the fact that Shriram even killed Vaali to save the honor of Sugreev’s wife. Shriram had killed Vali while hiding himself, because of which he is still being blamed. But Shriram accepted this too for his friend because Vaali had raped Sugreev’s wife, Ruma, and had kept her with him forcibly.
The tales of Shriram’s standing up for his friends had reached Lanka by then. When lustful Ravan kicked Vibhishan out of Lanka, Vibhishan took refuge in Shriram. But Shriram not only made Vibhishan his friend but also the king of Lanka after winning Lanka.
When Shriram returned to Ayodhya, he had many friends even at that time; who used to make merry with him every day in the court. The names of these friends are given in this Shlok of Uttarakaand of Valmiki Ramayan –
तत्रोपविष्टं राजानमुपासन्ते विचक्षणाः ।
कथानां बहुरुपाणां हास्यकरा समन्ततः ।।
विजयो मधुमत्त काश्यपो मंगलः कुलः ।
सुराजिः कालियो भद्रो दन्तवक्त्रः सुमागधः ।।
That is – Valmiki is telling that Shri Ram used to be surrounded by friends who were skilled in conversing and telling many types of stories. The names of those friends were as follows – Vijay, Madhumatta, Mangal, Kul, Suraji, Kaaliy, Bhadra, Dantavaktra, and Sumagadh.
Bhadra was one among these friends, whom Shriram asked what the subjects talked about him, Sita, Bharat, Lakshman and Kaikeyi. Then this same friend, Bhadra disclosed that many bad things were being said about Sita in the kingdom.
हत्वा च रावणं संख्ये सीतामाह्र्त्य राघवः ।
अमर्षं पृष्ठतः कृत्वा स्ववेशम पुनरानयत् ।।
Here, Shriram’s friend, Bhadra is saying that the public is worried that Shriram brought Sita home after killing Ravan in the war, but doesn’t he have any doubts about Sita’s character?
After this, Shriram’s friend, Bhadra, tells him in detail about the talks going on among the public regarding Seeta Ji; due to which, Shriram is filled with great sorrow. Everyone knows the story after this, that Shriram abandoned Sita and Sita Ji had to face the pain of exile again. We had told you earlier in one of our videos why I abandoned Sita and what were the other reasons behind it. If you haven’t seen it, do watch this video as well. After watching this video, I’m sure that you will never consider Shriram guilty of abandoning Sita.
