Sugriva

Sugriva lived on the mountain with a small group of followers because his brother Vali had exiled him from Kishkindha. Hanuman approached Rama and Lakshmana, established that they were not Vali's men, and led them to Sugriva.

Sugriva did not hide his situation. In the Ramayana account set in the Monkey Kingdom, he told Rama that Vali had taken the kingdom and driven him away. He also described the loss of his wife. Rama was searching for Sita, and Sugriva was living in exile.

Sugriva offered his hand to Rama and asked him to become his friend. Another Ramayana retelling gives the promise in direct words: from that moment they would share everything, joy and sorrow. Rama accepted the alliance. He promised to kill Vali and help Sugriva recover his wife and kingdom. Sugriva answered with a promise of his own. His vanara followers would help Rama search for Sita, who had been abducted.

The pact was sealed through the language of friendship rather than a royal order. Sugriva had no kingdom to give, but he promised that he and his vanaras would help find and recover Sita. In Valmiki's Ramayana, Sugriva's fear of Rama left him when Hanuman described the prince's virtues, and Sugriva took the form of a handsome young man before speaking warmly to him.

The encounter closes with both men committed to the same arrangement. Rama will act against Vali and restore what Sugriva lost. Sugriva will mobilise his allies and help find Sita. Their later victories belong to another stage, but the pact begins here, with Sugriva's account of exile and the two promises spoken between the mountain and the forest.