SUGRIVA'S CHARATER-VALUE

SUGRIVA

In the Hindu epic Ramayana, Sugriva was the younger brother of Vali, whom he succeeded as ruler of the vanara or monkey kingdom Kishkindha.Ruma was his wife. He was the son of Surya, the Hindu deity of the sun. As king of the monkeys, Sugriva aided Rama in his quest to liberate his wife Sita from captivity at the hands of the Rakshasa king Ravana. The story of Sugriva is part of the Ramayana and in an abbreviated version, is also present in the Mahabharata. Vali ruled the kingdom of Kishkinda; his subjects were the vanaeas, or monkeys. Tara was his wife. One day, a raging demon by the name of Maayaavi came to the gates of the capital and challenged Vali to a fight. Vali accepted the challenge, but when he sallied forth, the demon fled in terror into a deep cave. Vali entered the cave in pursuit of the demon, telling Sugriva to wait outside. When Vali did not return, and upon hearing demonic shouts in the cave and seeing blood oozing from its mouth, Sugriva concluded that his brother had been killed. With a heavy heart, Sugriva rolled a boulder to seal the cave's opening, returned to Kishkindha, and assumed kingship over the vanaras. Vali, however, ultimately prevailed in his combat with the demon and returned home. Seeing Sugriva acting as king, he concluded that his brother had betrayed him. Though Sugriva humbly attempted to explain himself, Vali would not listen. As a result, Sugriva was ostracized from the kingdom, Vali forcibly took Sugriva's main wife, Ruma, and the brothers became bitter enemies.

In exile, Sugriva made the acquaintance of Rama, the Avatar of Vishnu who was on a quest to rescue his wife Sita from the demon Ravana, king of the Rakshasa. Rama promised Sugriva that he would kill Vali and would reinstate Sugriva as the king of the monkeys. Sugriva, in turn, promised to help Rama with his quest.

Together, Sugriva and Rama went to seek out Vali. While Rama stood back, Sugriva shouted a challenge, and dared him to battle. The brothers rushed at each other, fighting with trees and stones, with fists, nails and teeth. They were evenly matched and indistinguishable to the observer, until Sugriva's counsellor Hanuman stepped forward and placed a garland of flowers around Sugriva's neck. It was then that Rama emerged with his bow and drove an arrow through Vali's heart. When Vali had expired, Sugriva reclaimed the monkey kingdom, took back Vali's (and his former) wife, Ruma, and took over Vali's main wife, Tara, who became empress, and her son by Vali, Angada, who became crown prince. When Rama decided to move against Lanka, he was angered because Sugriva spent his time carousing and seemed to forget his pledge to help Rama. Rama's brother, Lakshmana, was about to destroy the monkey kingdom and kill Sugriva. It was only after the diplomatic intervention of Tara that Lakshmana was pacified. Then through Tara's efforts Sugriva and Rama were reconciled. Sugriva sent his trusted advisor Hanuman to determine Sita's whereabouts. Hanuman's finding was that Ravana was holding Sita captive in his island fortress of Lanka, and then Sugriva placed his army of monkeys at Rama's disposal. The army crossed into Lanka by means of a specially erected bridge and laid siege to Ravana's citadel. After some hard fighting, the monkeys prevailed over the demons, Rama slew Ravana, and Sita was liberated.