Story of Maṇibhadra

A King of the Lunar dynasty. This King had many children of his wife Kavikā. Of these seven sons learned magic from Maya. The seven palm trees which Śri Rāma broke by an arrow while on his search for Sītā were but the cursed forms of these seven sons. The Purāṇic story relating to Śrī Rāma giving them relief from the curse is narrated in the Kiṣkindhā Kāṇḍa of Kamba Rāmāyaṇa.

The seven sons of Maṇibhadra after learning magic from Maya created a huge cobra and travelled all over the world on it. One day they reached a mountain near Ṛṣyamūkācala. They saw the sage Agastya coming that way and just to tease him they coiled that cobra and hid it beneath the ground in the form of a circle and they themselves stood on it as seven palm trees in a circle and caused obstruction to the sage in his path. The sage as he came near the trees knew by his spiritual powers what trick had been played on him and said cursing, "May you stand like this for ever". The princes knew the hideousness of the curse and pleaded for redress and the sage said, "After centuries the incarnation of Viṣṇu as Śrī Rāma would come and give you salvation".

The princes stood there as trees grown to unusual heights with round black trunks casting shades all around. Underneath grew a shrubbage deep and thick and the seven trees stood there presenting to the onlookers a sight of wonder.

Śrī Rāma and party reached the place of the seven trees. Suddenly Rāma took his bow and arrows and pressing his foot on a stone beneath sent an arrow and to the wonder of all, the seven trees standing in a circle fell all together and the arrow returned to his quiver.

When Rāma pressed the stone on the ground with his foot he was pressing on a vital point on the head of the cobra lying coiled in a circle under the ground bearing the seven trees. The cobra got a shock and instantly straightened itself for a second and the trees thus came in a row straight on the path of the arrow of Śrī Rāma. They were all cut at once and before they had time to fall down the serpent coiled itself again and regained his original position and so the trees fell down in the circle in which they stood. All these happened so quickly that nobody was able to see what happened and so every body was surprised to see all the seven trees in a circle falling down by a single arrow. The princes were thus relieved from the curse.