Vali is eventually taken down in the next excerpt by none other than Rama. Rama was hiding while Sugriva and Vali began their battle, but he ultimately ended it. I was saddened by the later description of Tara mourning the loss of her husband, and surprised that even Sugriva, who started the fight, was very upset over the loss of his brother Vali. Sugriva does not mourn for too long though, as he is crowned king.
They must wait for the rainy season to end to pursue their search for Sita, but they are getting impatient. They have sent herds of monkeys and bears to search everywhere for Sita, and eventually run into Sampati, Jatayu's brother, who tells them stories of he and his brother and how he came to be where he is.
Hanuman is eventually persuaded to take the leap to exploring Lanka on his quest for Sita. It does not take him long to stumble across Ravana's palace, but Sita is no where to be found. Hanuman even mistook another for Sita, but was assured she would never be in the kind of position that this woman was in, so it could not have been her. After waiting a while he arrived at the Ashoka Grove, and alas found queen Sita surrounded by she-demons. I loved this reading because the story had been so built up to this point, that I was excited that they had finally tracked her down.
A lot is going on now, between Hanuman being captured, his tail being set on fire, them marching back through Lanka to try to get back to Rama and Sugriva, it is no surprise that Ravana is wanting to go to war with this. Things are about to get interesting.
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| Wikimedia Commons: Hanuman Finds Sita in Ashoka Grove |
References: PDE Ramayana
Ramayana Reading Guide
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