66697602-The-Ramayana-R-K-Narayan

if Rama had come before you face to face you might have
made a similar appeal, which would have created confusion
of purpose. That’s the reason why he shot unseen by you.”
Vali saw the inner purport of this explanation and said,
“Now I understand your words differently from the way they
sound. They are simple to hear but have inner strength and I
feel assured that Rama has not committed an unrighteous
act. Simple-minded ones like me can never realize eternal
truths without constantly blundering and failing. Pray, forgive
my errors and my rude speech. Instead of treating me as a
mere monkey by birth, as I myself was content to think, you
have elevated my status, and honoured me. After piercing
my body with your arrow, and when I am about to die—you
are touching my understanding with a supreme illumination,
which I consider the greatest blessing ever conferred on me.
In spite of my obstinacy you have helped me attain a
profound understanding and opened my mind with your
magic. While other gods confer boons after being asked,
you confer them on the mere utterance of your name. Great
sages have attempted, after aeons of austerities, to obtain a
vision of God, but you have bestowed it on me unasked. I
feel proud and happy at this moment. I have only one
request. I hope my brother will prove worthy of your trust in
him. But at any time if any weakness seizes him and you find
him in the wrong, please do not send your arrow in his
direction. Treat him kindly.