Kishkindha Kanda Summary: Hanuman, Sugriva and the Death of Vali

Quick answer: The Kishkindha Kanda is the fourth book of Valmiki's Ramayana. Searching for Sita, Rama and Lakshmana meet Hanuman and the exiled vanara prince Sugriva. Rama kills Sugriva's brother Vali and makes Sugriva king of Kishkindha; after the rains, Sugriva sends search parties in every direction, and the southern party learns from the vulture Sampati that Sita is in Lanka. It has 67 sargas.

This is the book in which Hanuman enters the story and Rama gains the allies who will help him win Sita back. This summary follows it in order, with sarga numbers for the edition on IIT Kanpur's Valmiki Ramayana site.

Meeting Hanuman (sargas 1 to 4)

The book opens by Lake Pampa, where Rama mourns Sita in the spring (sarga 1). From Mount Rishyamuka, Sugriva, hiding from his brother Vali, sees two armed strangers and fears they are Vali's agents. He sends his minister Hanuman to find out who they are (sarga 2). Hanuman approaches in the guise of a mendicant, speaks with such grace that Rama praises his learning, and then reveals himself (sarga 3). He carries the brothers on his shoulders to Sugriva (sarga 4).

The friendship with Sugriva (sargas 5 to 12)

Rama and Sugriva make a pact of friendship before a fire: Rama will help Sugriva against Vali, and Sugriva will help find Sita (sarga 5). Sugriva shows Rama the upper cloth and ornaments that Sita dropped as Ravana carried her over the mountain (sarga 6), and Rama recognises them.

Sugriva tells his story (sargas 9 and 10). Vali, king of Kishkindha, chased the demon Mayavi into a cave and did not come out for a long time. Sugriva, finding blood flowing from the cave and believing Vali dead, sealed the entrance and returned to rule. When Vali came back, he accused Sugriva of treachery, drove him out and took his wife Ruma. Sugriva doubts that Rama can defeat Vali, so Rama shows his strength (sarga 11). In the first fight the brothers look so alike that Rama cannot tell them apart and does not shoot; Sugriva is beaten, and Rama has him wear a garland of creepers so that he can be known (sarga 12).

The death of Vali (sargas 14 to 25)

Sugriva challenges Vali again while Rama waits hidden among the trees (sarga 14). Vali's wife Tara warns him that Sugriva must have a powerful ally, and urges him not to fight (sarga 15). Vali goes out anyway, and Rama's arrow strikes him down.

Dying, Vali reproaches Rama: he was fighting someone else, he had done Rama no wrong, and Rama struck from hiding (sarga 17). Rama answers that the land belongs to the Ikshvaku line and its king Bharata, in whose name he acts; that Vali had taken his living brother's wife, a crime that kings must punish; and that kings may strike an animal from hiding, as hunters do (sarga 18). Vali accepts the answer, entrusts his son Angada to Rama, and, repenting, is reconciled with Sugriva and entrusts Angada and Tara to him (sargas 18 and 22). Tara's lament (sargas 20 to 24) is one of the moving passages of the epic. Vali's funeral rites are performed (sarga 25), Sugriva is crowned and Angada becomes heir apparent.

Readers have argued about Vali's death for centuries. Some accept Rama's answer; others read the episode as one of the epic's hard cases of dharma. The question has its own page in the planned character series; here it is enough to know that Valmiki gives both Vali's charge and Rama's reply in full.

The rains and Lakshmana's anger (sargas 27 to 36)

Rama and Lakshmana spend the four months of the rainy season in a cave on Mount Prasravana (sarga 27), and Rama's descriptions of the monsoon and then of autumn are among the celebrated nature passages of the poem (sarga 28 onwards). Sugriva, meanwhile, forgets his promise in the pleasures of kingship. When autumn comes, Rama sends Lakshmana to remind him (sarga 30). Lakshmana's anger frightens the vanaras (sarga 31); Tara meets him and calms him (sargas 33 and 35); Sugriva apologises and summons his armies (sargas 35 and 36).

The search parties (sargas 37 to 47)

Vanara armies arrive from every part of the earth (sargas 37 to 39). Sugriva sends search parties to the four directions, describing the lands each will pass (sargas 40 to 43). The southern party, led by Angada with Hanuman and Jambavan, is the one Sugriva trusts most. Rama gives Hanuman his signet ring to show Sita (sarga 44). Sugriva tells how he came to know the whole earth while fleeing Vali (sarga 46). The eastern, western and northern parties return with no news (sarga 47).

The southern party and Sampati (sargas 48 to 63)

The southern party searches the Vindhya mountains without success (sarga 48). Lost and thirsty, they enter the Rikshabila cave, where the ascetic Svayamprabha gives them food and water and brings them out (sargas 50 to 52). By then the month Sugriva allowed has passed; afraid to return empty-handed, Angada and the vanaras resolve to fast to death (sargas 53 to 55).

The old vulture Sampati, Jatayu's elder brother, has lost his wings and lives on the mountain nearby. He hears them speak of Jatayu's death and asks for the story (sargas 56 and 57). He then tells them that he saw Ravana carrying Sita to Lanka, a hundred yojanas across the sea (sarga 58). He tells his own history: how he shielded Jatayu from the sun and lost his wings, and how the sage Nishakara foretold that he would regain them when he helped Rama's messengers (sargas 59 to 62). His wings grow back, and the vanaras turn south (sarga 63).

Who will cross the ocean? (sargas 64 to 67)

At the shore, Angada asks each leader how far he can leap (sargas 64 and 65). None can be sure of a hundred yojanas. Jambavan, the king of the bears, turns to Hanuman, who has stayed silent, and reminds him of his birth and his powers (sarga 66). Hanuman grows in size and in spirit and climbs Mount Mahendra to make the leap (sarga 67). The Sundara Kanda begins at that moment.

What later tellings add or change

In the Ramcharitmanas, the Kishkindha Kand is very short. Many folk and regional tellings add stories about Vali and Sugriva's birth and about Hanuman's childhood that are not in this book of Valmiki. Name the version you are following when you retell this part of the story.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Kishkindha?

In the Ramayana tradition, Kishkindha is identified with the region around Hampi and Anegundi on the Tungabhadra in Karnataka, with Mount Rishyamuka and Lake Pampa nearby. This is a traditional identification.

Why did Rama kill Vali from behind a tree?

Valmiki gives Rama's own answer in sarga 18: he acted as the agent of King Bharata, Vali had taken his brother's wife, and a king may hunt an animal from cover. Readers still debate it.

Who was Tara?

Vali's wife, a wise counsellor who warns Vali not to fight and later calms Lakshmana's anger.

How did the vanaras learn that Sita was in Lanka?

From Sampati, Jatayu's brother, who had seen Ravana carry her across the sea (sarga 58).

Who persuaded Hanuman to cross the ocean?

Jambavan, king of the bears (sarga 66).

Related reading

• Ramayana: The Complete Guide
• Sundara Kanda summary
• The complete story of Lord Hanuman
• Sita: Her Life in the Ramayana
• The route travelled by Sri Rama during the vanavasa

Sources

1. Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kanda, Sanskrit text with English translation (Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, Tirupati), IIT Kanpur: heritage.iitk.ac.in/VRAM/4.1.1; sarga headings from heritage.iitk.ac.in/VRAM.
2. Tulsidas, Sri Ramacharitamanasa, Kishkindha Kand (Gita Press, Gorakhpur), for the comparison.

Last reviewed: 12 November 2026.