Jambavan

Jambavanta as depicted in Yakshagana (a dance drama)

Jambavan is a character originating in Indian mythology(History). The King of the Bears, he is a asiatic or sloth bear in Indian epic tradition (though he is also described as a monkey in other scriptures), immortal to all but his father Brahma.[1] Several times he is mentioned as Kapishreshtha (Foremost among the monkeys) and other epithets generally given to the Vanaras. He is known as Riksharaj (King of the Rikshas). Rikshas are described as something like Vanaras but in later versions of Ramayana Rikshas are described as bears. He was created by Brahma, to assist Rama in his struggle against Ravana.[1] Jambavan was present at the churning of the ocean, and is supposed to have circled Vamana seven times when he was acquiring the three worlds from Mahabali.

Names

Jambavan is also known as Jamvanta, Jambavantha, Jambavat, Jambuvan, Jambuwana (Malay), Zabaman (Burmese), Sambuvan (Tamil), and Chomphuphan (Thai).

History

Jambavan

Jambavan in his previous life was the King of the Himalayas who had incarnated as a bear in order to serve Lord Rama. He received a boon from Lord Rama that he would have a long life, and have the strength of ten million lions. In the epic Ramayana, Jambavantha helped Rama find his wife Sita and fight her abductor,Ravana. It is he who makes Hanuman realize his immense capabilities and encourages him to fly across the ocean to search for Sita in Lanka. In the Mahabharata, Jambavantha had killed a lion, who had acquired a gem called Syamantaka from Prasena after killing him. Krishna was suspected of killing Prasena for the jewel, so he tracked Prasena's steps until he learned that he had been killed by a lion who had been killed by a bear. Krishna tracked Jambavantha to his cave and a fight ensued. After eighteen days, realizing who Krishna was, Jambavantha submitted. He gave Krishna the gem and also presented him his daughter Jambavati, who became one of Krishna's wives.

Jambavan mentions two incidents in his life in the Ramayana. Once at the foot of Mount Mahendra, where Hanuman is about to take a leap and mentions that he could have jumped over the ocean to Lanka except that he got injured when he was beating the drum for Vishnu during the Vamana Avatara when the Supreme God measured the three worlds. Vamana's shoulder struck Jambavan and he was injured which limited his mobility.

And once during the Samudra-Manthan,he was present at the time of the event. He got to know about the all-curing plant Vishalyakarni from the gods there and he later used this information to convey Hanuman to help an injured Laxmana who was rendered unconscious by Indrajit.

There was a Rama temple in the village where Nilkanth Varni(Swaminarayan) rested. In the village, there were two daughters who would learn about Ramayan. One day the bawa who had requested Nilkanth to stay in his village could not answer the daughters’ questions. Nilkanth stepped in and satisfactorily answered their questions. The girls were pleased and went home to tell their parents. They wanted to invite Him to their house for dinner. Their father persuaded Nilkanth to come. Nilkanth came and ate dinner. Their father requested Him to stay longer to teach his son, Jairamdas, since he wasn’t educated. Nilkanth agreed to stay for a few days and He taught Jairamdas scriptures and yoga.

Jairamdas’ friend, Krishna Tamboli, would come to have darshan of Nilkanth every day. He would often bring lotus fruits to Nilkanth. Nilkanth asked him, “From where do you bring these lotus fruits, they are sweet indeed.” Tamboli replied, “There is a lake near my house.” Nilkanth wanted Tamboli to take Him there, so that evening Nilkanth and Jairamdas met Tamboli at the lake and Tamboli had a raft ready for them. As they were sailing, Nilkanth asked if He could steer the raft. While He was steering, the wind changed direction and was headed toward the forest with the wild animals. Nilkanth told them that they should all get off and rest, but Jairamdas and Tamboli were scared.

As they entered the forest, they heard a loud noise and a black bear came running toward Nilkanth. As soon as Nilkanth looked into the bear’s eyes, it calmed down and bowed to Him. Tears began rolling down from its eyes. Nilkanth told the bear, “You will be redeemed, you shall attain Akshardham in a few days”. Nilkanth explained that the bear was Jambavan in a previous life and could not recognize Ram so had to pass through cycles of births, but that today, he recognized Him as the supreme Lord.

Anecdotes

Jambavan, together with Parasuram and Hanuman, is considered to be one of the few to have been present for both Ram and Krishna avatars. Said to have been present for the churning of the ocean and thus witness to the Kurma avatar, and further the Vaman avatar, Jambavan may well be the longest lived of the chiranjivis and have been witness to nine avatars.[2]

The city of Jamvanta

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Patricia Turner, Charles Russell Coulter. Dictionary of ancient deities. 2001, page 248
  2. ↑ "Jambavan: The only one who saw Lord Rama and Krishna".
  3. ↑ Dr Ajit Raizada: Art, Archaeology and History of Ratlam, Sharada Prakashan Delhi, 1992, ISBN 81-85320-14-4, p.115

External links

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