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Shambuka (Sanskrit śambūka) is, in Hindu mythology, a character in the Adhyatma Ramayana version of Ramayana. According to that version, Shambuka, a shudra ascetic, was slain by Rama for attempting to perform penance in violation of dharma, the bad karma resulting from which caused the death of a Brahmana's son. It is believed that Shambuka was beheaded in a hill at Ramtek, near Nagpur in Maharashtra.

Source of the story

The killing of Shambuka appears in the Valmiki Ramayana, Book 7, the 'Uttarakanda' , sargas 73-76, in the Adhyatma Ramayana version of Ramayana.

Scholars such as Purushottama Candra Jaina, Bhagawan Singh and John Brockington writes that this story "is of late origin". The story is considered to be of dubious origin due to the following reasons:

• The story does not find mention in summaries of Ramayana in puraNas or the Mahabharata.
• Hindu texts have never cited the episode of Shambukavadha to debar Sudras from tapasyaa.
• The entire Uttarakanda itself is suspected to be a later addition due to:
  • Inferior poetic quality of the verses.
  • Occurrence of the phala-shruthi at the end of the sixth kANDa.
• The text of Ramayana, as reflected in the 70 or so existing commentaries varies highly. The story does not appear in any of the other 14 or so Sanskrit versions of Valmiki Ramayana.

Story

Three scene-setting sargas are paraphrased, and then the crucial one is presented in full:

(73) When Rama is reigning as a virtuous king, a humble aged Brahmin comes to him, weeping, with his dead son in his arms. He says that Rama must have committed some sin, or else his son would not have died.

(74) The sage Narada explains to Rama that a Shudra is practicing penances, and this is the cause of the child's death.

(75) Rama goes on a tour of inspection in his flying chariot, and finds an ascetic doing austerities, and asks who he is. "

(76) Hearing the words of Rama of imperishable exploits, that ascetic, his head still hanging downwards answered:— 'O Rama, I was born of a Shudra alliance and I am performing this rigorous penance in order to make passive my bad karma which i have done. Lord Rama killed him due to his bad karma.

Criticism and apologetics

Some critics interpret this event, as injustice met on Shambuka, and are of the opinion that Rama had slayed Shambuka because of his birth as a Shudra. Dravidian movements hold the position that Lord Rama murdered shambuka to reinstate the apartheid varna system, which is an important feature of Hindu Dharma. E.V. Ramasami used this episode to argue that Rama as depicted in the Ramayana was clearly not the benevolent king devotees claimed him to be. Ambedkar, in contrast, said that to condemn Rama based on this incident was to miss the point. The true point of the story of Shambuka was that it demonstrated the unsustainability of the varna system, and the extent to which its existence depended on the harsh punishment of those who sought to transgress it.

The critics are of the opinion that the story of Shambuka was problematic for early Hindu authors. Bhavabhuti (c. 7th century) is clearly uncomfortable with the story in his Uttara Rama Charita, while Kalidasa (c. 4th century) mentions the incident of Shambuka without any comment in his Raghuvamsa.

Later Hindu authors adopt other means to explain the reason behind Rama's killing of Shambuka. The Pushtimarg Vaishnavite tradition of Gujarat points out that the Ramayana refers to other Shudras, such as Shabari, who lived in the forest. Shambuka therefore deliberately violated dharma in order to get Rama's attention, and attained salvation when he was beheaded. The celebrated Kannada poet Kuvempu, in his play Shudra Tapasvi shows Rama as having to both carry out his duty by punishing Shambuka, and simultaneously protect Shambuka, as a pious and devout sage, from persecution, and thereby turns the story into a critique of Brahminical attitudes and a defence of Rama.

The apologetics firstly argue that not all tapas is done for a pious purpose. Ravana, a Brahmin killed by Rama, had also performed penance but not for pious reasons. They argue that Shambuka was killed for conducting penance with a motive of attaining a celestial power with his material body, which is not an unselfish motive for which penance is meant to be performed. It is particularly forbidden (e.g. story of Trishanku) in Hindu mythology to aspire for entering heaven with a material body. The belief is that the material body, i.e. Annamaya Kosha, is mortal and is meant only for performing ones Karma in earth.

Notes

1. Government of Maharashtra, Nasik District Gazeteer: History - Ancient Period (text credited to Mahamahopadhyaya Dr. V. V. Mirashi)
2. P. 16 Labour in Ancient India By Purushottama Candra Jaina
3. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:R60WyvQc1twJ:voiceofdharma.org/books/wiah/ch11.htm+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=ubuntu
4. http://www.amazon.com/Rama-Steadfast-Ramayana-Penguin-Classics/dp/014044744X
5. http://sanskritdocuments.org/mirrors/ramayana/utf/7_uttarakanda_73.html
6. Countercurrents, "Periyar's movement" (June 28, 2003).
7. B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste with A Reply to Mahatma Gandhi (1936)
8. David Shulman, "Bhavabhuti on Cruelty and Compassion" in Questioning Ramayanas: A South Asian Tradition (edited by Paula Richman). University of California Press. 2001. ISBN 0-520-22074-9. pp. 49-82.
9. Motiramji Sastri, Ramayan (in Gujarati) (Ahmedabad, 1961).
10. 'M. Raghava, "The king and the protector of the devout" The Hindu (October 26, 2004).
11. http://www.thespiritualscientist.com/2012/04/8-why-did-lord-rama-kill-the-shudra-shambuka-for-doing-the-pious-activity-of-tapasya/#respond
12. http://www.calameo.com/books/000673543156b9393767b
13. http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=3429&page=2
14. http://www.orkut.com/Main#CommMsgs?cmm=60237926&tid=5373600499542922434&na=3&nst=11&nid=60237926-5373600499542922434-5373706276056602314
15. http://www.sify.com/connect/discussions/viewpostsflat.php?f=13446262&parentid=0&pid=25652

See also

• Backward-caste Hindu Saints

External links

• http://www.valmikiramayan.net

v t e Hindu deities and texts
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• Characters in the Ramayana