It is with much circumspection that i write the following tweets.

All that is good in the following tweets are those of my Gurus

(of which there are many and naming a few would mean i miss out the rest, so will not name anyone).

The mistakes are solely mine. And there is

+ no intention to put down one while praising the other. This I say specifically because there will be many comparison especially between Valmiki and Kamban.

That Valmiki is the most eminent poet is undisputed. Others like Kamban have built upon him.

Also Valmiki wrote

+ the itihasa Kamba Ramayana is a translation of the original to a different language in a different period. Kamban has most certainly added to the original and this in some ways is *blasphemous*. For want of a better word an abrahamic concept is used here. But it is these +

+ flourishes of Kamban that makes a translation worthy of reading. The book of Kamban has not only merely survived for more than 800 years but generation after generation poets have acknowledged Kamban as the *emperor among poets* it is not without reason.

Take the case of Vibhishana and Kumbhakarna. Valmiki in general is very subtle. Does not make Rama or others in the itihasa divine. But by the time Kamban wrote his Kavya Rama had become a divine personality not in the least because of reselling of his story by Valmiki but also

+ by the alwars in thamizh. So Kamban the greatest Kavi that thamizh had known had through out his epic stressed the fact that Rama was divine. And how do you bring it out in a dramatic fashion? By belittling all other characters and making the hero shine in comparison?

That would work for a minor novel. But an epic is made of better stuff. Every character in Kamban is lofty. Be it Bharata or Lakshmana. Sita or Kausalya. Vali or Ravana.

One such pairing is Vibhishana and Kumbhakarna. Valmiki to paraphrase VVS Aiyar fails to bring out the

+ best in them. In fact Srinivasa Shastri puts it best. When Aurobindo Ghosh writes about Gokhale in 1906 he brands him as Vibhishana. This is incredible to Shastri. Vibhishana is one of most noble soul in Ramayana. But here Aurobindo uses him to brand Gokhale as a traitor

There in lies the difference between Valmiki and Kamban. When Vibhishana counsels Ravana on returning Sita Ravana not only refuses to release Sita but brands Vibhishana a traitor. Vibhishana then goes to Rama and takes Saranagati. In Valmiki Ramayana Rama immediately asks

Vibhishana the secrets of Lanka and the details of ravana’s army which Vibhishana immediately goes on to reveal. OTOH Kamban brings out the finer qualities of all characters here. Sugriva who fought with his brother vali now accuses Vibhishana of back stabbing his brother Ravana

But Rama tells Sugriva that anybody who seeks Sarnagati with Rama would be protected by Rama. Also the finer aspect of protecting Dharma (Ravana abducting Sita) is what drives Vibhishana to ditch Ravana and seek protection in Rama. Kumbhakarna on the other hand

+ remains with Ravana. This is not because he does not see the bigger dharma. He also counsels Ravana. In Valmiki Ramayana there is some inconsistency here. Kumbhakarna boasts of winning over Rama in the first alochana on war. Then goes to sleep. Ravana begins the war when he is

+ asleep. Loses a battle. Wakes up Kumbhakarna. He now counsels Ravana to return Sita which Ravana refuses. Not only does he refuse but also insults Kumbhakarna. The younger brother wounded goes to war knowing he will die but still does his duty.

Kamban adds his flourish here

Kumbhakarna warns Ravana like Vibhishana does. But Ravana insults him saying you are not talking like a younger brother or like a wise minister. And to add insult says i fed you with food. Kumbhakarna pipes down and unlike Vibhishana states that he would serve Ravana under all

+ circumstances. Kumbhakarna goes into his routine 6 month sleep and the war soon begins. Ravana goes to war without Kumbhakarna and loses a battle. Depressed he wakes up Kumbhakarna. There is a prophecy that Kumbhakarna will die if he is woken up from his sleep.

But the situation warrants it. Kumbhakarna again pleads with Ravana. In fact he alludes to the earlier insults of Ravana. Says it is neither as younger brother nor as *wise* minister he says this. But begs Ravana to return Sita. Ravana again refuses. Kumbhakarna

+ prophesies that he would die. Indrajeet would die and then Ravana would die alone. But concludes saying that having eaten from the hands of Ravana he would not let him down in his darkest hour even if he had committed greatest adharma. As he enters the war field

Rama who is enamoured by his very looks says is this Ravana who has come in a different form to freighter our Vanara Sena? Vibhishana explains that it is his immediate elder brother.

At this point Sugriva who had earlier commented on Vibhishana ditching Ravana does a 180 turn

+ and requests Rama that he should also win over this virtuous soul. This episode is explained only in Kamba Ramayana. Rama then asks Vibhishana to talk to Kumbhakarna and win him over. Kumbhakarna greets Vibhishana but tells him “Younger brother, i had great respect for you.

You had forsaken the minor dharma of protecting family respect and embraced the higher dharma and forsaken Ravana for Rama. I find you have fallen now and come here abandoning Rama.”

Vibhishana clarifies that he had come with Rama’s approval and states that he had come to

+ make an offer to Kumbhakarna on behalf of Rama. He offered saranagati to Vibhishana. He should have stoped there. But in his eagerness to win over Kumbhakarna he oversteps and says i have been promised the kingdom of lanka and once we win i will ensure you get it all and

+will remain your slave. Kumbhakarna tells Vibhishana - you are blessed by Brahma and so you could take the bold step of discarding family ties and went over to the side of righteous. I am a small minded man who is tied by family ties. I am unable to over come the smaller dharma

+ which says i should stand by my elder brother who brought me up and fed me when i was in need. - The wounded Kumbhakarna now refers to the words used by Vibhishana - Do you think i will cross over for the wealth? Am i that cheap? You think losing the war and dying is

+ ignominy. No. To me that is the most valorous act.

Kumbhakarna then begins the war and dies a glorious death in the cause of a brother who had insulted him and goaded him to a certain death for his selfish wants.

It was not that Kumbhakarna was not aware of what was

Righteous. But he felt that he was not as big as as Vibhishana to abandon the family for the sake of dharma. He knew he was playing the less glamorous role among the two - Vibhishana and Kumbhakarna.