Sugriva is the vanara king of Kishkindha who was driven out by his brother Vali. Rama killed Vali and restored him to the throne, and in return Sugriva sent search parties led by Hanuman to find Sita and led the vanara army in the war of Lanka.
Who was Sugriva?
Sugriva (सुग्रीव) is the king of the vanaras of Kishkindha and Rama‘s great ally in the Ramayana. Driven from his kingdom by his elder brother Vali, he regained it with Rama’s help and in return sent his armies across the land to find Sita, and then across the sea to fight for her.
The quarrel with Vali
Sugriva, said to be a son of the Sun god, and Vali, a son of Indra, ruled Kishkindha together. When Vali chased the demon Mayavi into a cave and did not come out for a year, Sugriva, seeing blood flow from the cave and hearing cries, believed his brother dead, sealed the cave with a rock and became king. Vali returned, thought he had been betrayed, drove Sugriva out and took his wife Ruma. Sugriva fled to the hill of Rishyamukha, where a curse prevented Vali from following.
Friendship with Rama
Rama and Lakshmana, searching for Sita, came to Rishyamukha. Hanuman, Sugriva’s minister, went to meet them disguised as a brahmin and brought them to his king. Rama and Sugriva swore friendship with fire as their witness. Sugriva showed Rama the jewels Sita had dropped from Ravana’s chariot. To prove his strength, Rama shot one arrow through seven sal trees.
The death of Vali
Sugriva challenged Vali to single combat. In the first fight Rama could not tell the brothers apart, so Sugriva wore a garland of flowers in the second, and Rama shot Vali from behind a tree. Dying, Vali reproached Rama for striking unseen; Rama answered that Vali had wronged his brother and taken his wife, and that as a king he punished the wrong. The episode has been debated by readers for centuries. Vali’s son Angada became heir, and his widow Tara, famed for her wisdom, became Sugriva’s adviser.
The search and the war
Sugriva, newly crowned, spent the rainy season in pleasure and forgot his promise, until Lakshmana arrived in fury and Tara calmed him. Sugriva then sent search parties to the four directions; the southern party, with Hanuman, Angada and Jambavan, found Sita’s trail. In the war of Lanka Sugriva led the vanara army and fought Ravana’s generals, and he returned to Ayodhya for Rama’s coronation.
