The fact is that, in life, we are often placed in such perplexing situations. The way we face these situations would depend on our character and view of life and the type of dharma which we follow. Here the question is often asked, as to why Ram did not go and challenge Vali himself. Valmiki has taken pains to show us that he was far superior to Vali in strength. So certainly it was not fear of defeat that stopped him from facing him. The reasons why he did not do so, are many. Vali was actually a great soul and had he seen Ram face to face, he would certainly have desisted from fighting and done his best to become friends with him. This meant that Ram would nol have been able to keep his promise to Sugriv. He had already forged a pact of friendship with Sugriv in front of fire. It was a solemn covenant which could not be broken.
Moreover Vali had done the very thing for which he was going to punish Ravana. He had abducted Sugriv’s wife. The punishment for one who abducted a brother’s wife was death, and Ram, as the embodiment of dharma, had to mete out this punishment. Considering all these things, Ram did not go and challenge Vali to a fight, for he knew that Vali would immediately have surrendered to him and taken refuge at his feet and Ram could nevci resist pardoning anyone who surrendered to him, as we shall see in the war with Ravana. This meant that he would never have been able to kill him as he had promised Sugriv to do. These are the reasons why he asked Sugriv to go and call Vali for a fight. Ram waited patiently for Vali to have his say, for he knew that on the face of it he had every right to berate him. After Vali had exhausted himself, Ram spoke, with compassion in his eyes, even though he put on a semblance of anger.
“0 Vali! You speak of dharma and adharma as if you know all about them, but you fail to see your own misdemeanors. Your younger brother, who is full of good qualities, should have been treated as a son by you. Instead of that, you banished him from his kingdom and misappropriated his wife, Ruma.
According to the law of this land, anyone who looks on his daughter, his sister or the wife of his brother with lust, should be punished, and the punishment is, death. You have been sleeping with your brother’s wife, when he is still alive, and this violates the eternal dharma. Why do you accuse me of transgressing the law, when I have only complied with the law? Sugriv is as dear to me as Lakshman. I have sworn to be his friend and publicly gave him my word to restore his kingdom and his wife to him. How could I go back on that promise? I have only kept my word to him, nothing else, so why do you accuse me of adharma~ You would have done the same, if you had been in my position”.
Vali considered Ram’s words and realised that he spoke but the truth. He bitterly regretted his cruelty to his younger brother, whom he should have treated as a son, as Ram said. He also knew that his action in having stolen his brother’s wife, was despicable. With flowing eyes and choked voice, Vali said, “0 Ram! You are right. I deserve to be punished. I am not worried about myself. I should die for my crimes but I am worried about the future of my only son, Angada. Please consider him like your own son and look after him. Please do not let my beloved Tara be insulted by Sugriv. She was a very good wife to me. I realise now that I was fated to meet death at your hands and that is why I did not listen to her when she begged me not to fight. Ram spoke comfortingly to Vali and promised him that he would take very good care of Angada. “What Angada was to you, he will be to me and to Sugriv so depart in peace”. He stroked Vali’s dying body with loving hands and Vali felt a great peace creeping into his soul at Ram’s tender touch. He begged Ram to forgive him for his hasty words spoken under delusion and anger. Then he lost consciousness.
Tara heard that her husband was killed and she rushed out of the fortress with her son. The other monkeys tried to stop her and said that she should flee from that place with her son in case Sugriv did some harm to them. She spoke scornfully to them. “My beloved husband is lying dead and you expect me to protect myself. Of what use is life to me, after he has gone. I do not want the kingdom and I .do not fear for my son. All I want is to go to him”. So saying she ran out of the fortress gates to the spot where Vali had fallen. She threw herself on his body and cried, as if her heart would break. Angada followed suit. Sugriv felt sorely grieved at this scene. So did Ram and Lakshman.
“I am Tara, my Lord”, she said, “why do not you answer me? This hard ground is not a fitting bed for you. Come, let us go back to the palace where I have prepared a silken mattress for you. My heart must indeed be very hard or else how could it go on beating, when you are lying dead. Why did you not listen to me, when I begged you not to go? Angada, my dear child, take a last look at your valiant father. Who knows what your fate will be? Ram has kept his promise to his friend and despatched your father to heaven. Sugriv, the kingdom is yours.
Your enemy is killed and you will be reunited with your wife. All your desires will be fulfilled. I hope you will be happy”. So saying she beat her breast and wept bitterly. It was a most painful scene for everyone.
Hanuman went to her and tried to console her. “A man reaps the fruits of his actions, whether good or bad. The human body is like a bubble on the surface of the water. No one need mourn for another, since we are all to be pitied. Where is the cause for grief in a world where everything is transient? It is not right for you to think of giving up your life when you have a son to protect. Your son looks up to you and so do your subjects. Angada will surely be king. Let him now perform the obsequies for his father, which is the duty of a son. After that he will crowned as yuvaraja. You are a wise lady and you know only too well that life and death are inevitable and this life is most impermanent. This is why a person should always try to perform as many good acts as he can, while alive. Your thoughts should now be only for your son”.
Vali painfully opened his weary eyes and saw his brother and said, “Sugriv, forgive me, tor what I nave done to you. We were not fated to share affection with each other. Accept this kingdom from me, as well as my son, my immense wealth and great fame. Listen to my last wishes. Here is my son Angada, dearer to me than my life. Treat him as your own. He will prove his valour in the war with Ravana. Do not forget your promise to Ram. Help him to find his wife. He was prepared to besmirch his own name for your sake, for the sake of a friend. So, do all you can to help him. My wife, Tara, is a very wise woman. Take her advice in all matters of statecraft. She is invariably right about these things. And finally, take this golden garland. It is divine and will lose its power once I die, so remove it before my life ebbs away. Take it. I have no further use for it”.
When Sugriv heard these words of Vali, he started sobbing and all his pleasure at his victory vanished.
Vali called his son to his side and said, “My child, remember your altered circumstances and obey Sugriv in everything. Accept happiness and sorrow as they come and do not be too moved by either”. By now, his end was fast approaching and he fell back gasping. Within a few minutes he was dead. Tara was inconsolable. Sugriv, too, was filled with remorse. Approaching Ram he said, “Ram you kept your word and Vali is dead but now I have totally lost interest in becoming king. The death of Vali, the sorrow of his queen and the helpless look in the eyes of his son, have made me lose interest in stepping into my brother’s shoes. I have had so many fights with him, in all of which he could have easily killed me at any moment, but he always gave me a thrashing and let me go. I should never have wished for his death. I am a sinner and not fit to rule. I will not break my promise to you. Hanuman will help you but all I want is to fall into the pyre with my brother and die”.
Tara also approached Ram and said, “You have been separated from your wife and you know how painful it is to you. Don*t you think that Vali feels the same pain as you do? Please do me one favour and use the same arrow on me, as you used on my husband, so that I can join him”.
Ram was sorely distressed by these words and tried to comfort her. “You are the wife of a hero and you should not give way to despair. The Vedas say that everything functions according to the will of Brahma. You cannot overrule the dictates of fate. It is the sole and powerful cause for all happenings. No one can escape its decrees. It is not partial to anyone. Vali has now reached the heavens, which he has well earned through his valour. Rouse yourself from this despondency and ask your son to perform the last rites for his father”.
Lakshman urged Sugriv to do the needful. A richly decorated palanquin was brought on which Vali was placed and carried to the pyre, which Angada lighted. After performing all the rites, they bathed in the river and returned to the city of Kishkinda.
All the vanaras surrounded Ram and begged him to take charge of their affairs since Sugriv was in a state of shock. Hanuman invited him to enter the city and attend the coronation.
Ram said, “According to the vow I made my father, I cannot enter a village or city till my fourteen years of exile are over. Let Sugriv be taken to the city and crowned”. Turning to Sugriv, he said, “Go and take up the reins of government. Crown this young prince as yuvaraja”.
Then turning to Lakshman and the others he continued, “This is the month of shravana, the first month of the rainy season. Lakshman and I will spend the four months of the monsoons in some cave, in the forest. When the month of kartika comes and the rains cease you can think about fulfilling your promise to me”.
Sugriv went into the city and was crowned. After that he crowned Angada as heir-apparent. He was reunited with his wife and spent the next four months revelling with his wife and the other women of Vali’s harem.
Ram and Lakshman went to the hill called Prasravana where they found a comfortable and spacious cave which they decided to make their home for the duration of the rainy season.
Thus ends the second Canto called “Pact with Sugriv” of the Kishkinda Kanda in the glorious Ramyana of the Sage Valmiki.