Sugriv was happy. His arch-enemy, Bali had been eliminated and he was going to be the king of his race. Now he did not have to wander in the forest like a homeless exile. Ram advised him to give Bali’s eldest son, Angad, the place that the orphaned prince deserved –
Jyeshthasya hi sutojyethahsadrishovikramench/
Angdoayamdinatmayauvrajasyabhajnam//
He is the eldest son of your elder brother. In bravery he equals him and he has a generous heart. Verily, he deserves the position of a crown prince.
Balmiki Ramayan/Kishkindhakand/Canto 26(xiii)
Hanuman made elaborate preparations for the anointment of the new raja and hisyuvraj in a beautiful mountain cave of Kishkindha. All the Vanar gentry offered tributes to their ruler. Hanuman requested Ram to grace the occasion. Ram, however, said he was obliged to carry out his father’s orders. As such, he would not be entering any village or a city for fourteen years. When Raja Sugriv himself came to pay his respects, Ram counselled him –
PoorvoayamvarshikomasahShravanahsalilagmah/
Pravrittahsaumyachatvaro masa varshiksangyita//
Naymudyogsamayahpravishtvampurimshubham/
Asmin vatsyamhamsaumyaparvateseh-Lakshmanah//
O Mild One! The four months, called rainy (months), have set in. The first month of the four-monthly season, Shravan (corresponding to July-August), (which) is said to provide water, has begun.
O Mild One! This is not a time to go for an attack on anyone. Therefore, go to your beautiful city. I will live with Lakshman on this mountain.
Ibid/Canto 26(xv-xvi)
That was Ram’s way of letting his friend have time to savour his new-found kingliness, while he had shifted with Lakshman to a large cave in Mount Prasatravan which teemed with lions and other wild beasts. Thegiant Kabandh, as he lay dying, had told him it was Ravan who had abducted Sita (see Ram Returns to His Empty Abode, DE 19 January, 2025). Ram planned now to launch an attack on the rakshas when the rainy season ended. In spite of his beautiful surrounds blessed with nature’s bounty of wild fruits and flowers, he was not happy –
Susukhe hi bahudravyetasmin hi dharnidhare/
VasatastasyaRamasyaratilpapinabhvat//
Hritam hi bharyasmartahpranebhyoapigriyasim/
Even though there were plenty of fruits, flowers and other substances on that mountain to provide happiness, yet remembering the abduction by a rakshas of his wife (who was) more cherished (by him) than his own breath, Ram did not feel happy in the least.
– Ibid/Canto 27 (xxx)
Lakshman tried his best to comfort him. With the rainy season on, they had only to wait for the winter. For a brave, determined and unmatched warrior like him, it would not be difficult to annihilate Ravan and also his army. What Ram needed was to cast away his gloom, Lakshman offered. Ram praised his brother for his sound advice and assured him that rather than languishing in sorrow, he would wait for the onset of winter to launch an attack on the enemy. As the days passed, he expected that his friend Sugriv would be ready by the end of the rainy season to assist him in the battle.
But Sugriv, forgetful of his commitment to Ram or even to his own subjects, had immersed himselfcompletely in his indulgences. He had got back his beloved wife Ruma, as also the beautiful Tara and Bali’s other young women.With them he liked to spend all his time in the privacy of his royal abode, leaving the duties of running the realm to his ministers. He did not have the inclination even to oversee what they did in day-to-day administration. The lack of supervision had made them self-willed.
Noticing that Raja Sugriv had forgotten his commitment to Ram, Hanuman took an initiative to give him a wake-up call. It was time, he said, to payback Ram for what he had done for him and begin the search for Sita. The raja verbally thanked Hanuman for his sage and timely advice, but did nothing to follow it.
Winter was approaching.On the heights of Mount Prasatravan, Ram had lost his patience at Sugriv’s unresponsive attitude. He spoke to Lakshman one day –
Tab anujahisamujhava Raghupati karuna seenva/
Bheydekhaee lei aavahutaatsakha Sugriv//
Then the Epitome of Kindness, Lord of the Raghus, advised his younger brother, Lakshman – Go, my dear, put some fear in (our) friend Sugriv and bring him here.
Ramcharitmanas/Kishkindhakand/Doha 18
Lakshman himself was no less perturbed by the seemingly ungrateful attitude of the monkey-king. When he entered Kishkindha with his lips trembling with rage, the stalwart guards picked up huge stones and tree trunks in an offensive posture, which angered the Ayodhya prince the more. The frightened guards ran to Sugriv’s palace to inform him of Lakshman’s arrival and his fury. Sugriv was then in congress with Tara. He did not pay heed to the guards. It fell to Prince Angad to face Lakshman and take the latter’s message to Sugriv. But by then the monkey king had gone to sleep after his coital exertions.
He was woken up by the council of wise monkeys. When Hanuman told him about an angry Lakshman’s arrival, his first reaction was that he had said or done nothing wrong to arouse Lakshman’s anger. Some hidden enemy of his might have maligned him before Lord Ram’s younger brother, he said dismissively. Sugriv’s words showed that he had clearly forgotten the promise he had to made to Ram for helping him to locate Sita. Hanuman reminded him gently of his promise. Sugriv was now terrified of purpose of Lakshman’s arrival at his door and its grave consequences. He sent Tara to pacify Lakshman. The queen asked the visitor courteously what had made him so angry. Lakshman told her about Sugriv’s ungratefulness. It was then that Tara sought forgiveness for Sugriv, coming outtruthfully with the reason behind his negligence in meeting his obligation –
Dehdharmgatasyasyaparishrantasya Lakshman/
Avitriptasyakameshu Ramah kshantumiharhati//
Prince Lakshman! Earlier having been preoccupied for a long time with food, sleep and coitus etcetera, which are the dharma of the body, Sugriv was tired and distressed because of his miserable existence. Now, theobjects of desire and pleasures that he has received with Lord Ram’s grace, have still not satiated him. As such, the merciful Lord Ram should forgive his fault.
Balmiki Ramayan/Kishkindha Kand/Canto 35(ix)
Eventually, Lakshman escorted Raja Sugriv to Ram’s presence. Sugriv apologised for the delay and made a commitment before the two brothers that he would forthwith deploy his unlimited monkey army to trace Ravan’s whereabouts.
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