Kakbhushundi

Kakbhushundi or Shri Kak Bhusundi (Sanskrit: काकभुशुण्डि) is a sage found in Hindu Scriptures in Hinduism. He is one of the characters of Ramcharitmanas, one of the major Hindu texts by saint Tulsidas. The word 'Kak' literally means 'crow'. It is associated with the name because the sage in his final incarnation was transformed into a crow by sage Lomas, and finally, he decided to spend his life in the form of a crow.

As per the Hindu texts, it has been said Kak Bhusundi was the great devotee of Lord Rama and was the first person to narrate the Ramayana, much before Valmiki and Tulsidas.[1] He has also been famous for his many other qualities, i.e. he is one of the Chiranjivis, an immortal living being in Hinduism who are to remain alive on Earth until the end of the current Kali Yuga.

Birth

As per the Hindu texts, it has been said that Kakbhushundi has taken many births. Originally, he was a sudra of Ayodhya. Then, after going through many rebirths, he was finally born as a Brahmana. From this birth only, he started getting into the devotion of Rama. In this birth, once due to his opposite arguments with one of sages named Lomas, he was transformed for a time into a crow.[2]

Life

As per the texts, it has been said that Kakbhushundi has been gifted with the living of thousand lives and the ability to choose the physical form as per his wish. For his great devotion, Lord Rama has blessed him with eternal life and limitless vision.

Once, the sage Lomas, in his anger, had cursed him to become a crow because of his repeated arguments and ignorance to the sage's teachings. Sage Lomas later realized the toughness of the curse and recalled Kakbhushundi. Thereafter, he preached him the stories of Rama as per his wish. From there, his love of devotion of Rama had started and he further decided to live his life in the physical form of the crow, as in this form only he came to know about the Rama.

Later Kakbhushundi became an ideal narrator of the events of the life of Lord Rama, and as per the blessing of Rama, he has been given the ability to travel through time and recreate the story of the Rama.[3]

Significance

As per the texts, one of the important quality of Kakbhushundi is that he has been gifted to stand outside of time, meaning as where the nature's cycle repeats itself, so he was able to see Ramayana played out eleven times & Mahabharata sixteen times with different results.[4]

In the Ramcharitmanas

In the Ramcharitmanas by Tulsidas, Kakbhushundi mentions are found in the Bāl Kāṇḍ (The Child Episode) and Uttar Kānd (The Epilogue). Ramcharitmanas is structured around three separate conversations. The conversations happen between Shiva and Parvati, Sages Bharadwaj and Yajnavalkya and finally Kakbhushundi and the king of birds, Garuda.[5] It has also been said that whenever Lord Rama takes an incarnation on earth in different ages Kalpa (aeon), Kakbhushundi flies away and shifts to Ayodhya to watch the child plays of Rama, because of his devotional love for Rama.

References

1. Bharat Bhushan (2010-11-07). Birds of the Ramayana - Kakabhushundi. Bharat Bhushan. Bharat Bhushan.
2. Tulasīdāsa (1987). The Rāmāyaṇa of Tulasīdāsa. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 9788120802056.
3. Devy, G. N.; Davis, Geoffrey V.; Chakravarty, K. K. (2015-08-12). Knowing Differently: The Challenge of the Indigenous. Routledge. ISBN 9781317325697.
4. Bhagirathananda (2014-05-06). My Yajna: Recollections, Notes and Essays. Quills Ink Publishing. ISBN 9789384318055.
5. OpenLibrary.org. Mangal Ramayan (1987 ed.). OL 2164668M.