Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c9.1033

c9.1033

ŚAMBŪKA. A Śūdra muni. During the reign of Śrī Rāma a great number of children died in the country and many parents wept before the king about the loss of their offsprings. According to Vasiṣṭha's advice Rāma enquired whether anybody indulged in actions not proper to his station in life. Śrī Rāma surveyed the country from the air in a Vimāna, and during the survey he found Śambūka, the śūdra muni hanging with his head down and inhaling smoke from a fire lit under him. Thus, having found out that the tapas by that śūdra was the reason for the children's death, Rāma killed Śambūka immediately. (Kamba Rāmāyaṇa, Uttarakāṇḍa).