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Abstract

The story that forms the short prologue at the start of Valmiki’s Rāmāyana expresses something of how the bhakta deals with tragic loss and senseless violence. In the briefest of words, the story goes something like this: As Valmiki is performing his morning ablutions in the Tamasa River, he witnesses two cranes sweetly cooing at one another lovingly on a branch in a nearby tree. Suddenly, a hunter comes along and shoots an arrow through the chest of the male crane, who immediately drops to the ground. The female, herself alighting on the ground, sees her beloved mate writhing in agony with his mortal wound, and thus she begins to weep, drowning herself in the tears of her sorrow. Valmiki, upon seeing this senseless killing, in his anger curses the hunter from that day on to wander all the days of his life homelessly. Who can mortally wound such an innocent loving creature? What kind of person does this? What kind of senseless act is this? Where is God in all this? Questions such as these are easily elicited from those who hear this story. We shall return to this story following a brief sketch of the relationship between God and evil in a bhakti theology.

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