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In the Hindu epic Ramayana, Jatayu (Sanskrit: जटायू, jatāyū) is the son of Aruna and nephew of Garuda. A demi-god who has the form of a vulture, he was an old friend of Dasharatha (Rama's father). He tries to rescue Sita from Ravana when Ravana is on his way to Lanka after kidnapping Sita. Jatayu fought valiantly with Ravana, but as Jatayu was very old Ravana soon got the better of him. As Rama and Lakshmana chanced upon the stricken and dying Jatayu in their search for Sita, he informs them of the fight between him and Ravana and the direction in which Ravana had gone (i.e., south).
In this context, the contribution of Jatayu's brother, Sampati, is worth mentioning. Jatayu and Sampati, when young, used to compete as to who could fly higher. On one such instance Jatayu flew so high that he was about to get seared by the sun's flames. Sampati saved his brother by spreading his own wings and thus shielding Jatayu from the hot flames. In the process, Sampati himself got injured and lost his wings. As a result, Sampati lived wingless for the rest of his life.
The place where Lord Rama found the dying Jatayu was named JatayuMangalam (now known as Chadayamangalam) and is in the Kollam district of Kerala. A huge rock in this place is named after Jatayu, JatayuPara, and is a tourist attraction. Another claim to this spot where a wounded Jataayu was found by Lord Rama is on the outskirts of the Taaked village in Nashik District in the state of Maharashtra. While Jataayu was wounded and laying on the ground when Lord Rama arrived, Lord Rama sensed the end result and decided that Jataayu get moksha. Lord Rama hit an arrow in the ground so as to call all seven sacred rivers, called teertha. Six rivers' waters arrived, one river water failing to obey Lord Rama's call. Since Lord Rama was himself an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, He forced the Gaya teertha to arrive at the spot. Finally Jataayu was given the waters of seven rivers and He attained moksha. Today, the six river waters are seen together in one pond, whilst the seventh is a few feet away as a punishment. It mixes with the remaining six waters in an invisible manner. Taaked village remains a tourist and religious attraction today. A fair is organized on the Mahashivratri festival near the sacred water pond.
Historical context
The above-mentioned story of Jatayu and his brother Sampati has some elements in common with the story of Icarus and his father Daedalus in Greek Mythology, which also tells of two fliers of whom one got too near to the sun and lost his wings - though in the Greek version the flyers were humans who had fashioned wings for themselves, it has no element of self-sacrifice such as Sampati's, and Icarus who lost his wings fell to his death.
The Ramayana is attributed to the poet Valmiki who lived about 400 B.C, contemporary with the Classical Greek culture in which the Icarus myth is attested. Prior to the time of Alexander the Great there was hardly any direct contact between Greeks and Indians, but both were in contact with the Persian Empire and enough trade existed for elements of myth to pass over great distances.
See also
References
- Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dhallapiccola
- Ramayana (ISBN 0-89744-930-4) by C. Rajagopalachari
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