Advisors!

After minister Sarana spoke about Vānaras, Shuka enumerated other important details to Rāvan to complete account of Sarana. He said-O King! Do you observe those Vānaras resembling huge elephants in rut, rising like Sal trees on Himalayas? Those warriors, able to change their forms at will, are irresistible, equal to celestials & demons and in battle are endowed with valor of gods. There are 21000 crores, a 1000 Shankus & a 100 Vrindas of those Vānaras

These Vānaras, the attendants of Sugriva, are born of celestials & Gandharvas, are able to change their form at will & always stay at Kishkindha. The two who stand there looking same are Manda & Dvivida. None can equal them in combat as they ate ambrosia given by Brahma & can destroy Lankā by their power

The one you see there, who in strength & fury, is able to churn up the ocean itself. He is the one who came to Lankā to find Sitā & spy on you. You have seen his valor earlier. He is the one who traversed the ocean & is the eldest son of Kesari. He is famously called Hanumān, son of wind god & can assume any form at will. He is endowed with good strength & has uninterrupted mobility

While yet a child, seeing the Sun rise, he desired to eat it & took off to a distance of 3000 yojanas, determined to seize the Sun to satiate his hunger, intoxicated with his strength. He however could not reach it & fell on a mountain, fracturing his jaw, hence called Hanumān. He is known to me by my bosom friends & can alone destroy Lankā by his valor. How can you forget him who set Lankā ablaze, the remnants of which you can still see

Nearby is a warrior, of dark hue with eyes like lotuses, chief warrior among Ikshvākus, his heroism is well-known in world, his sense of duty never wavers, nor does he ever transgress righteousness. He is conversant with Veda, is the most learned of Vedic scholars, shatters firmament with his arrows & rends even the earth, his anger is akin to that of Death, his consort is Sitā who was taken away by you from Janasthan, he is Rām who has come to wage war on you

The one having radiance of pure gold, with broad chest, red eyes, black & curled hair, standing at the right side of Rama, is Laxman, only interested in the care and welfare of his brother, skilled in leadership of combat & excellent among the wielders of all weapons

It is a worthy ability to call spade a spade. We have advisors who sometimes do not give us the real picture, thus preventing us to prepare accordingly to tackle them. Correct & accurate explanation gives us understanding to devise strategy to handle

Alas Rāvan didn't listen to his true advisors & pushed them away only to be swayed by ones who seemed to help him but were devising his downfall

Do we do the same, or fall in trap? Thoughts pls? #gameoflife