If Jatayu’s brother Sampati had not sacrificed his life, it would have been impossible to win the war with Ravana.

Ramayana, written by Maharishi Valmiki and engraved in the minds of people for centuries, is not just an epic, but it is an ocean of all the high ideals, duties and inspirational secrets of living life. Whenever the incidents of Ramayana are mentioned, the name of the bird king Jatayu, who sacrificed his life in search of Mother Sita, is taken with utmost respect and honor. But do you know that Jatayu also had a brother, without whose sacrifice and supreme sacrifice it would have been impossible for Lord Shri Ram and the monkey army to reach Ravana’s Lanka and win the war against him? Yes, we are talking about Jatayu’s elder brother ‘Sampati’, whose wings were burnt in his childhood, but his one important sacrifice changed the course of the entire narrative of Ramayana forever.

According to mythology and the account of Ramayana, both Jatayu and Sampati were descendants of the bird king Garuda and ardent devotees of Surya. In childhood, there was often a competition between the two brothers as to who could fly highest in the sky. Once both the brothers, filled with pride and enthusiasm, flew straight towards the sun. As both of them got closer to the Sun, the temperature and intense heat of the Sun increased. When the situation became unbearable and Sampati saw that his younger brother Jatayu was getting burnt by the strong rays of the sun, then without wasting a moment, Sampati fulfilled his duty of being a grown up and spread both his wings and covered Jatayu safely under his shelter. Jatayu was saved from the fierce and intense heat of the sun, but both the wings of Sampati were completely burnt to ashes and he fell helplessly on the beach of South India.

Years passed and Sampati, who was living a helpless life without wings, was just sitting in a cave and counting the last days of his life. They believed that their life was no longer of any use. But destiny had something else in store. When Ravana, the king of Lanka, kidnapped Mother Sita and took her to Ashoka Vatika and Shri Ram’s monkey army got disappointed after reaching the southern seashore while searching for Mother Sita, then great warriors like Angad, Hanuman and Jambavan discussed among themselves what to do next. Coincidentally, at that very moment Sampati’s eyes fell on those monkeys. When he heard the name of Lord Shri Ram and his younger brother Lakshman from the mouths of monkeys, as well as when he came to know that Jatayu had attained martyrdom at the hands of Ravana while protecting Mother Sita, his sleeping bravery and brotherly love awakened.

Despite lying on the ground without wings, Sampati had a divine vision, with which he could easily see events miles away. Using his divine vision, he gave accurate information to the monkey army as to which city of Lanka across the sea Ravana was hiding with Mother Sita. It was Sampati who suggested the way to Hanuman ji and the entire army to cross the sea and reach Lanka. If Sampathi had not given this secret and accurate information to the monkey army in time, it would have been impossible to locate Mother Sita and attack Ravana’s Lanka. Thus, the sacrifice of Jatayu as well as his elder brother Sampati is also a golden chapter in this great story of Ramayana, which teaches us that the selfless sacrifice made at the time of every crisis never goes in vain and becomes immortal in history.