Canto II – Pact With Sugriv
Though he was quaking inside, Sugriv went up to the fortress gates and roared, summoning Vali to a duel. Vali could not believe his ears.
Sugriv must have gone mad, he thought, or else he would never dare to do such a thing. Vali took it as a huge joke and laughed his head off. Sugriv roared again and Vali thought it was high time that he was taught a lesson and he went out with an angry bellow. As he charged out of the city gates, he looked like a mountain in motion and Sugriv’s heart lurched with fear but he stuck his ground, confident that Ram would come to his aid. They came to grips on the open ground just outside the city gates. Ram and Lakshman were hidden behind the bushes which surrounded the ground. Ram carefully watched the pair but the brothers looked so much alike, that he was not sure which was Vali and which, Sugriv. The latter was no mean fighter but he was certainly not a match for Vali, who thrashed him to pulp within minutes. Ram was quite helpless and dared not shoot for fear of hitting Sugriv. Poor Sugriv had no choice but to run for his life towards Rishyarnukha. He was hotly pursued by the irate Vali who threatened to kill him if he dared to make a nuisance of himself once again.
Ram, Lakshman and Hanuman now approached the chastened Sugriv who was literally licking his wounds. Naturally he was most unhappy about the whole affair and said, “Why did you force me to challenge Vali if you did not wish to kill him? You could have told me so in the beginning and spared me this humiliating defeat”.
Ram was full of remorse. Having pledged-his word to Sugriv, he was bound to kill Vali and he told Sugriv the reason why he could not shoot.
“In size and form and even in the way of fighting both of you were so much alike that I dared not shoot my arrow, for fear of killing you, instead of your brother. What a tragic mistake that would have been. Never mind, take heart. Lakshman will put a garland around your neck so that I am able to differentiate between the two of you. Please do not lose your courage. Go once again and challenge him, and this time, I assure you, that my arrow will find its mark”.
All of them went once more to the bushes behind the arena. Ram, Lakshman and Hanuman stood behind the bushes, while thick-necked Sugriv bellowed his war cry and strode forth, once again, like a lion and shouted for Vali in front of the city gates. Vali was in his seraglio at that time and he could not believe his ears. His amorous mood gave way to one of violent loathing. He gave a roar of anger and decided to finish off his foolhardy brother, once and for all. Sugriv had been a thorn in his side for many years and it was high time he made an end of him. That way he could keep his sister-in-law, Ruma, without any feeling of guilt. He knew the laws and he knew that he had done a despicable thing in consorting with the wife of his younger brother, who should have been treated like a daughter. He had somehow stifled his conscience all the time with various excuses but if Sugriv was dead, he would have a legitimate excuse for keeping her, for it was well within the dictates of moral law for a brother to marry the widow of his dead brother inorder to protect her. Thinking thus, he was about to rush out of the gate, when his own wife, Tara, stopped him.
“My Lord”, she said, “please do not goto fight with your brother now. You have just thrashed him and sent him away. How has he dared to come again, almost immediately, unless he is being helped by someone? Our son Angada told me something a while ago. His spies had found out that Ram and Lakshman, the sons of king Dasaratha, are here in this region and they have made friends with Sugriv and agreed to help him. I have heard that Ram is a most noble person and a great warrior.
If he is helping your brother, you have no chance of victory. Remember that you have done Sugriv a great injustice by throwing him out of the kingdom for no fault of his and appropriating his wife. Please go and make friends with him and agree to take him back and make him yuvaraja. After all, you are the elder brother and it is for you to set an example. By doing this, you will make friends with Ram also. Please take my advice and do not make an enemy of Ram. I feel very frightened for you”.
Her plea fell on deaf ears. Vali’s time was up and he was drawn to face his brother once again, feeling sure that this time he would kill him.
“How can I bear to make friends with that arrogant coward? This is the end. I will not brook his audacity any more. As for Ram, I have heard that he is the soul of honour. He has no quarrel with me; so why should I fear him”.
He forgot that though Ram was the soul of honour, he was the soul of dharma and he would never be able to brook such harsh treatment of a younger brother, by an elder and the misappropriation of his wife.
Tara embraced her husband and prayed for his safety. She returned to her chambers with slow and dragging steps. She had a premonition that she would never see him alive again.
Vali rushed out with a roar and the brothers locked themselves in a fierce combat. Sugriv fought with all his might and for some time the only sounds to be heard were grunts and groans. Ram was watching the fight closely. Perhaps he hoped that Sugriv would manage to defeat Vali by himself but soon he saw that his friend was palpably weakening and looking around desperately for help. Ram knew that the time had come for him to do something, which he really did not like to do, but which was unavoidable if he wanted to keep his promise to his friend. He fixed the arrow to the bow and let it go with a tremendous twang. It flashed forward and hit its mark with deadly accuracy and the mighty Vali fell, with a groan. He lay on the ground like a fallen god, drenched in blood, yet filled with splendour, even in death. Ram and Lakshman came out of the bushes and walked towards the fallen hero.
Vali watched them come and when they were close enough he said, “I was fighting with my brother when suddenly an arrow hit me from somewhere and felled me, like a mighty tree. I had no quarrel with you, Ram, yet you deemed it right to kill me while hiding behind the trees. Why did you do this? What have you gained by it? You are the son of an emperor and said to possess all great qualities. They say you are valiant, generous and righteous. You are famed for having observed the rules of dharma all your life. Why have you forgotten your own rules.
When Sugriv challenged me a second time, my wife, Tara, warned me that he might have been helped by you but I was not afraid of that, since I was sure that you would never stoop to anything unrighteous. You are the king of this land and we are only monkeys living on this small piece of territory and fighting over trivial things. Why should you concern yourself with our squabbles? Ram, today you have killed me, who am innocent. This act of yours will always be questioned. It is against all the rules of dharma. I know that you have lost your wife and Sugriv has promised to help you but had you approached me first I could have aided you without any difficulty. I would have brought her back to you, in a single day. I have already defeated Ravana once, long ago”. So saying Vali fell back exhausted to the ground. The monkey king was fast losing his strength.
Now the question is often asked as to why Ram did this. Why do all our ancient scriptures revel in such dilemmatic situations? They could surely have avoided the whole problem instead of putting their heroes in positions which are so controversial. We find the same thing in the Mahabharata. Arjuna was put in the difficult position of having to slay his own kith and kin. The whole of the Bhagavad Gita is Lord Krishna’s answer to this difficult question.
