Tales From The Land Of Furry Bears And Sweet Fruits

Priyanka Rout

Tales From The Land Of Furry Bears And Sweet Fruits

Do you remember the mythical king of bears, Jambavan? The furry bear provides the much-needed pep talk to Hanuman before flying off to Lanka, searching for Ram's wife, Sita. Featured in both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, Jambavan's character remains unexplored.

Tales of Jambavan; Image Source: BooksFact

Today, the hero of our story would be the king of bears, Jambavan. Be it his presence at the churning of the ocean or encircling Vamana seven times when the latter was obtaining land from Mahabali, there are numerous exciting legends attached to Jambavan. Some holy writs say that he was a creation of Brahma, while others believe that he was brought to life by Vishnu.

Though there are mentions of Jambavan in both the Ramayana and Mahabharata, his role in Ramayana is considered of utmost importance. Known as Rikshapati or the lord of Himalayas incarnated as a bear, Jambavan had a significant role to play in rescuing Sita from the clutches of Ravana. When Sugriva learned that Ram needed help finding and rescuing Sita, he sent a message to Jambavan, who lived on Mount Risyamukha.

Aware of Jambavan's leadership and motivational skills, Sugriva thought he would be the perfect match for this task. As soon as Jambavan got the message, he gathered all the bears and proceeded to Sugriva's kingdom to hatch a plan. When Sugriva and Jambavan finally assembled their armies, they realized that it would be a 100 league jump to Lanka.

When Krishna approached Jambavan's lair, he spotted the youngster holding the diamond. Jambavan arrived as the child began to wail. Jambavan was a tremendous Krishna follower, yet he didn't recognize him. He challenged him to a battle, and the bout lasted 28 days.

Jambavan was the fiercest living thing at the time, but when he grew fatigued, he realised that his rival was none other than Ram's reincarnation. He bowed out.

Krishna quickly placed his hand on Jambavan's back to relieve his discomfort and hailed him as the forest king. Jambavan brought the Syamantaka diamond and his daughter Jambavati, whom he offered Krishna. Krishna married Jambavati and then Satyabhama, the daughter of Satrajit, who had presented her to him as his remorse for the distrust.

Jambavan, the bear, has seen nine incarnations of Vishnu. However, today bears are almost extinct in India due to our ruthlessness. We enslave bears, had them dance for tourists, sent them to China to have their gall bladder taken, shot them, and stole their hair for bracelets in the last 100 years.

The bear, that magnificent creature, is now nearly extinct in India, just like the jambu tree and the Ashoka tree, which are considered the emblems of India's glory.

This was when Jambavan realised that no one except for Hanuman could complete this task. To convince Hanuman, the bear king made him realise his potential, thus giving him the mission of bringing Sita's news to them. Ram gave Jambavan a boon that changed his life altogether. It is said that he, later on, became more handsome and gained the strength of ten million lions.

When on the battlefield against the Rakshasas of Lanka, the bear king showed his brutality as he went on tearing the bodies of the enemies. It is said that Jambavan knew about a particular herb called Vishalyakarni, which helped Hanuman save Laxman's life.

Yet another story comes from the illustrious pages of the Mahabharata. One day, Jambavan was tempted to test his strength against the gods. However, he couldn't fight with Ram as he was a great devotee. Ram understood his wish and said that he would descend as Krishna in his next birth, and then Jambavan would get the opportunity to fight with him.

The tale of Jambavan started once again with a precious jewel called Syamantaka. There lived a king named Satrajit near Dwarka. He was a strong devotee of the sun-god and was given Syamantaka by the sun-god himself. The jewel was so powerful that it produced tons of gold every day.

Satrajit's younger brother, Prasena, seized the diamond and wore it as a necklace one day to show off his family's wealth. He was travelling on the back of a horse through a forest when he was ambushed by a lion, who stole the diamond to its cave. When Jambavan came to know about this, he followed the lion to his cave, killed him, acquired the gem, and gave it to a child to play with.

When Satrajit's younger brother Prasena failed to return from the jungle with the gem, Satrajit became enraged and accused Krishna of taking it. This rumour quickly circulated across Dwarka. Krishna decided to travel to the wilderness, searching for Prasena and the emerald. He discovered Prasena's body, followed the trail, and discovered it went to Jambavan.