SUGREEV

When Sugreev and his companions saw the two Ayodhaya princes, they feared them to be Bali's men. To know who those young men were, Hanuman to them. He know that Hanuman had the ability to understand the true nature of a person. When Hanuman met them, he realized that they were noble men.

Rama asked Hanuman to take them to his king, Sugreev. Hanuman then carried the two brothers on his shoulders and took them to Sugreev.

Sugreev was very pleased to meet the Ayodhya princes. He told them how Bali, his brother, had taken away his kingdom and his wife.

He told them, "Once a fight broke between a demon named Mayavi and Bali. They entered a cave and continued fighting there. Before going inside, Bali told me not to go away from the mouth of the cave and wait for him for fifteen days. But even after fifteen days nobody came out, neither Bali nor Mayavi. Then one day I saw blood flowing from the mouth of the cave. Thinking that Bali was killed and fearing my own death at the hands of the demon, I ran away to my kingdom. After waiting for Bali for a few weeks, I declared myself as the king. After a few months passed, Bali returned to the kingdom. He had killed the demon but got badly injured himself. He returned to the kingdom only after recovering from the wounds. Seeing me on the royal throne, Bali was enraged. Thinking that I had cheated him, he almost thrashed me to death. I somehow managed to escape from there and took shelter on the Risyamuk Mountains."

Sugreev and Hanuman asked Rama to put an end to the life of the cruel and unjust Bali. Ram decided to help them in return; they were to help Rama in rescuing Sita.

Bali had a boon that in a duel his opponent would lose half his strength. So it was planned that when Sugreev and Bali would be fighting, Rama would kill Bali from behind.

When the duel between Sugreev and Bali began, Rama could not make out who was Bali and who was Sugreev. So he could not kill Bali. Sugreev was badly beaten that day. Next day Lakshmana put a garland around Sugreev's neck.

This time when Sugreev and Bali fought, Rama could easily differentiate between the two. Just when Bali was about to strangle Sugreev, Rama shot an arrow at him. Bali fell dead on the ground.

After Bali's fall, Sugreev was crowned as the king of Kishkindha.

As the rainy season had begun, Sugreev asked Rama to stay with him in his palace, but Rama refused, saying that he couldn't live in a palace because he had been exiled into the forest. So Rama returned to the forest with Lakshmana, waiting for monsoon to end.