Vali (Ramayana) - Rama Meets Sugreeva

Rama Meets Sugreeva

Wandering in the forest with his brother Lakshmana in search of his wife Sita - kidnapped by the rakshasa king Ravana, Rama meets the rakshasa Kabandha and kills him, freeing him from a curse. The freed Kabandha advises Rama to seek the help of Sugriva to find Sita.

Continuing on his journey, Rama meets Hanuman and is impressed by his intelligence and skills as an orator. This also boosts Rama's confidence in Sugreeva. Sugreeva tells him the story of how Vali became his enemy. In Sugreeva's version, he is entirely innocent and Rama believes him.

Sugreeva was very scared of Vali and he is full of doubts that Rama could kill him. He tells him many unbelievable stories of Vali's power. As a proof, he shows Rama a hole in a saal tree which Baali had made in one shot. When it is Rama's turn, he penetrates seven trees of saal in a row with one arrow. After crossing the trees, the arrow even makes a strike on a huge rock and splits it into pieces. Sugreeva is happy and says, "O Rama, you are great."

Rama asks Sugreeva to challenge Vali and bring him outside Kishkindha. As Rama explains later, for 14 years he cannot enter a city. Moreover, Rama does not want any unnecessary bloodbath of Vali's army with whom he wants to maintain friendly relations. Despite this, killing Vali would not be impossible for Rama. Just a few days back Rama had killed Khar and Dushan and their army of 14,000 rakshasas (demons).

Sugreeva formed an alliance with Rama. Rama had been travelling the length of India in search of his kidnapped wife, Sita. Sugriva asked Rama's help in return for his help in defeating Ravana and rescuing Sita. The two hatched a plan to topple Vali from the throne.