Sugreeva instructed the Vanara army to begin the search for Sita

In the previous chapter, we saw Lakshmana’s anger. , Now we'll see Sugreeva instruct the Vanara army to begin the search for Sita.

Sugreeva then with the permission of Rama began to give instructions to the chiefs of the army. There is a detailed description of how Sugreeva instructed his Vanaras and it covers from Sarga 40 to 45. One finds a detailed description of the places that the army had to search. While one finds that the description of the various regions to be searched is very rich in details it is a bit confusing too. The regions do not correspond to the directions in which the Vanaras are asked to explore. I will try to bring this out.

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Sugreeva asked Vinata a valorous Vanara to take his army to the east and search for Sita. His Vanaras were very courageous strong and also capable of changing their form. These characteristics are often repeated for the Vanaras. Though, they were asked to head to the east the description given by Sugreeva of the places they were to search corresponded actually to those in the north because he asked them to search in Saraswati River and also Bhageerati, Yamuna, and so on. Several islands were also mentioned. It is beyond our knowledge that these places exist. Maybe they all got submerged in the seas. Sugreeva gave them one month to search and asked them to return after that failing which they would meet with the death penalty.

Then Sugreeva assigned another team to the south. This consisted of very important Vanaras such as Angada, Hanuman, Nila and also the bear Jambavan.

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Though they were to go to the south Sugreeva started describing to them the Vindhya Mountains. Rama had already descended to the south to meet Agastya and therefore the Vindhyas are to the north. This sort of confusion prevails throughout this episode. However, it is interesting to note that Sugreeva was well versed in geography and mentions various rivers, such as Narmada, Krishnaveni (Krishna), and Kaveri. He also mentions the river Tamirabharani which he says was full of crocodiles. Of course, now there is none. We find the names of the regions or countries such as Vidarbha, Bengal, Kalinga, Chola countries, Kerala (recall that Kerala was reclaimed from the sea by Parashurama who was contemporary to Rama), and Pandya countries.

Sugreeva described to those Vanaras various kinds of sandalwood trees and he warned that some of them had to be avoided, as they were dangerous.

Regarding some of the southern kingdoms, such as Chola, Pandya, etc., it is interesting to note that they seem to have existed even in those times and were known by the same names. Of course, these are mentioned in The Mahabharata too. The Pandya kings fought the war on the side of the Pandavas. In fact in Gajendra Moksha, a period, which is very much anterior even to The Ramayana, as per the legend, mentions that it was a Pandya king who was born by a curse as the elephant, which was caught by a crocodile and got liberated by Lord Narayana.

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Sugreeva also told the Vanaras that they could see the sage Agastya on the top of Malaya Mountain. Why does Sugreeva mention the places which are in the north when he asks them to go to the south? Also, Jatayu had told Rama that he saw Ravana carrying Sita in the southern direction. Is it possible that Sugreeva suspected Ravana to be capable of hiding Sita anywhere?

Finally, Sugreeva asked them to go to the Mahendra Mountain which was in the sea and where Ravana lived. He also cautioned them about the rakshasi Angaraka who could draw a person just by catching his shadow and drawing it. Sugreeva told them about several other mountains close by in the sea, such as Pushpitham, Suryavan, Vaidyuta, Kunjara, Rishabha, Padmaka, etc. It is possible that all these have submerged into the sea since. Finally, he encouraged them by promising that the person who found Sita would be offered equal status with him and become his dearest friend.

Another team of Vanaras was sent to the west under the leadership of Susena who was Tara’s father. They were also asked to search the region of Saraswati River, Saurashtra region, and many other regions (Shoora, Pahlika, and Bheema) even though these are not quite in the western direction from Kishkindha but rather towards the north. He also mentioned the region where the river Sindhu met the sea. As pointed out earlier such inconsistencies are found in this chapter.

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Finally, Sugreeva ordered Shatabali and his army to go to the north to search. They were asked to go up to The Himalayas. He described to them Mount Kailas and the city of Kubera the god of wealth. He was the son of Vishrawas and the brother of Ravana.

Many of the regions mentioned previously are again indicated to be searched. The mention of Kaambhoj and China is a bit puzzling to me. Did Valmiki mean the present Cambodia and China? No one can say for sure. These two countries are also very ancient.

Sugreeva told them that well beyond was the Krauncha Mountain where the venerable rishis were doing their penance and the Vanaras should go and pay their respect to them. He told them that the peaks were devoid of trees (high altitude?). He also mentioned the lake Manasa and Mainaka Mountain and beyond where the Siddhas lived. Still further was Vaikanasa Lake and after this Sugreeva said that, there neither the Sun nor the Moon shone and there was the endless ‘Akasha’. The Devas lived there and they shone by their own light. Crossing all these regions they were told that they would reach a place where people lived happily and led a contented life. There were golden lotus ponds, and rivers full of pearls. Valmiki speaks of trees from which nice bedspreads are made! Could this be cotton? But cotton cannot grow at that altitude!

Finally, he mentioned that Lord Shiva lived there surrounded by many rishis. He warned them that one could not go any further in the northern direction beyond this point and even Devas could not.

It is hard to understand all the above details and descriptions. But it is clear that Sugreeva knew a lot about many regions. While it is admirable that Valmiki gives such minute details of the nature of the various regions it is found that these regions do not form a coherent picture with respect to the directions. Rama had come down to the Pampa River which is very much down to the south. If we take this region as the place where Rama met with Sugreeva then we are lost to identify the location of the various regions described by Sugreeva. Only in these few Sargas, there are inconsistencies like this.

Before they all left Sugreeva addressed Hanuman specially and said that nothing could obstruct him in his path. He described him as a great diplomat (Rajatantri), a person of great valor, and capable of adapting to any circumstance. Rama recognized Hanuman, and his ability and decided that he was the ablest person of all. Rama, therefore, handed over to Hanuman his ring bearing his name and asked him to show that to Sita in order that his identity would be clear to her. Rama also told Hanuman that he had full confidence in him.

This is noteworthy because this would show clearly that some sort of writing was in vogue at that time. It is believed by the majority of the western Indologists that the writing came to India not earlier than 600 BCE. However, it is hard to assign a date to the version of Valmiki Ramayana that we read because it is believed that there could have been interpolations.

The Vanaras left in the directions assigned to them by Sugreeva and they covered the earth like grasshoppers. Hanuman along with Angada, Taran (Vali’s wife’s name is Tara so to distinguish I have written his name not as Tara but as Taran) and others left towards the south where the Sage Agastya lived. The others went in other directions as instructed. They all shouted that they would kill Ravana and bring back Sita Devi.