Ravan had abducted Sita and held her captive in Ashok Vatika, a royal garden of Ashok trees in Lanka. Ram-Lakshman, pursuing Ravan’s trail, arrived at Mount Rishyamook. They had prior knowledge that the monkey chief, Sugriv, lived there. Sugriv himself was wary of strangers. He had offended his older brother, Raja Bali, for having supplanted him unknowingly.
Bali was a redoubtable warrior and Sugriv had good reason to fear him. So, when brothers Ram and Lakshman climbed Rishyamook, he was alarmed. The two young men wore the garb of hermits, yet they carried arms and looked regal by their proud bearing. Who were they – innocuous ascetics or fierce warriors detailed by Bali to kill him? Sugriv and his courtiers thought it safe to dart from tree to tree till they were on the Mount Malay. There, Hanuman, one of Sugriv’s ablest courtiers, reassured them that now they had no need to fear Bali’s incursion, for he could not enter the place. Yet, Sugriv had his apprehensions about the two strangers. He spoke to Hanuman thus:
Krityeshu Vali medhavirajanobahudarshinah/
Bhavanti parhantarasteygyeyahprakritainare//
Tau tvyagatvaprakritainevgatvagyeyouplvamgam/
Ingitanamprakaraishchroopvyabhashnench//
Bali is very skilled in such activities. Statesmen are far-seeing – they know many ways of deception; thus, they destroy their enemies. One should try to observe such enemy-kings through spies.
Therefore, O Best of Monkeys! You may also go from here as an ordinary man and obtain their real antecedents through their actions, bearing and the manner of their speech.
Balmiki Ramayan/Kishkindha Kand/Canto 2(xxiii-xxi)
Hanuman thought the strangers would not take him seriously if he went before them just like a monkey. So, he took the form of a common ascetic. Showing deference to both Ram and Lakshman, he asked them in a sweet and steady voice who they were. He went on to give his own name and patronage, telling them he had been sent by his chieftain, noble Sugriv, who wanted friendship with them.
Rishi Balmiki digresses here a little. Through Hanuman’s talk with Ram-Lakshman, he dwells on six characteristics of the fine art of conducting a formal talk: it shows deep learning; knowledge and practice of grammar to avoid errors; correct body-language as evinced by mouth, eyes, forehead, eye-brows and all other organs during the talk; an ability to express one’s intent clearly and succinctly; correct pronunciation; and, not the least, a sweet voice.
No wonder that Hanuman impressed Ram with the sincerity of his purpose. Ram asked Lakshman to carry on the talk with him. Lakshman told Hanuman that he and his brother had come to the place looking for Sugriv. He also assured him that Sugriv’s offer of friendship was acceptable to Ram as well as himself. Their talk then turned round to the core purpose which had brought them together. Lakshman told Hanuman about Sita’s abduction by “a form-changing rakshas” and the expectation that Sugriv would be of help to trace out that rakshas. Hanuman on his part said that Sugriv himself was keen to meet them. His brother, Bali, had forcibly taken away his wife and banished him from the kingdom of Kishkindha. The monkey-chief had now to dwell in forests with his faithful followers. He told Lakshman that Sugriv would willingly do all that was possible to trace out Sita’s abductor. Their talk was mutually satisfying. Hanuman then proposed that Ram and Lakshman should meet Sugriv personally. He reverted to his original form of a huge monkey and carried both the brothers on his back – “liyo du-oujanpeethicharhaee”.
Hanuman brought Ram and Lakshman to Sugriv’s abode in Rishyamook and then went to the Mount Malay to brief Sugriv of the outcome of his meeting with the Ayodhya princes. He assured Sugriv of the good intentions of the strangers. What had brought them there was the abduction of the older prince’s wife, Sita. If Sugriv, with his thorough knowledge of the jungle and innumerable monkeys at his command, extended a helping hand to Ram, counselled Hanuman, he would also stand to benefit from the friendship of such mighty warriors. They were upright men and would prove true to their friends, he said. The monkey-leader was convinced. He agreed to accompany Hanuman to Mount Rishyamook to meet Ram and Lakshman. Before embarking on the journey, Sugriv also changed his looks so that the two young men out there should accept him as a man to be relied on.
The meeting between Ram-Lakshman and Sugriv went well. Hanuman firmed up their friendship before fire as a standing witness –
Tab Hanumant ubheydisi ki sab kathansunaee/
Paavak sakhideikarijoripritidrirhaee//
Then Hanuman, having narrated the stories of both the sides, bound them in friendship before fire as a witness.
Ramcharitmanas/Kishkindhakand/Doha 4
Sugriv promised Ram that he would help him find Sita. Hanuman had given him the details of Ram’s journey, from his banishment to the forest to Sita’s abduction. He recalled now a recent incident. One day, as he sat on a mountain peak with four of his ministers, he watched with them helplessly as a rakshas carried away a woman who kept crying in a broken voice “Ha Ram!” “Ha Ram!”. The woman had thrown down her beautiful jewels bundled up in a sheet. That woman must have been Sita, Sugriv said. To strengthen his belief, he produced before Ram a bundle of jewellery. The jewels indeed belonged to Sita (see Prince Ram Returns to His Empty Abode – DE 19 January, 2025).
Sugriv’s story was similar, yet different. He too was banished to jungle and had lost his wife. But unlike Ram, Sugriv had to blame his elder brother, Raja Bali, for his troubles. It so happened that a fearsome rakshas, Mayavi, challenged Bali to a fight. Bali, known for his valour and might, ran out of his palace to confront him. Sugriv also ran after his brother to be of help. Seeing the two mighty brothers rushing towards him, Mayavi took to his heels and sought refuge in his lair. Bali followed him, instructing Sugriv to wait for him at the entrance of the lair. Sugriv waited there for more than a year, till he saw foaming blood streaming out of it. Thinking that the rakshasas had killed Bali, Sugriv shuttered the mouth of the lair with a huge stone and returned to the palace. There, the ministers persuaded him to ascend the vacant throne. Sugriv ruled the kingdom competently till Bali resurfaced after his long absence. As it turned out, Bali had killed Mayavi and all his kinsmen; causing the cave to be flooded with their blood. When he found his exit blocked, Bali thought his brother, Sugriv, had treacherously shut him off the world. Vengeful, he barged out of the cave, banishing poor Sugriv to the jungle. If that was not enough, he took Sugriv’s wife for himself.
Ram was incensed at Bali’s gross misdeed. He assured Sugriv –
Yaavat tam nahipashyemtavbharyapaharinam/
Taavatsajeevetpaapatma Vali chaaritradooshakah//
Aatmanumaanaatpashyamimagnasatvamshoksaagre/
TvamahamTaarishyaamibaadhamprapsyasipushkalam//
Until I confront face to face the monkey who has abducted your wife, that sinful creature who has besmirched good conduct may live on.
In my own estimation, I understand you are drowned in the sea of sorrow. I will rescue you. You shall positively possess your large realm.
Balmiki Ramayan/Kishkindha Kand/Canto 10(xxxiii/xxxiv)
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