Week 4 Story | Vali's Quarrel with Sugriva

I knew I couldn't trust Sugriva.

As the elder brother, it was my responsibility to fight off the enemy, and ALL I needed him to do was guard the hole he had entered. I chased and attacked that enemy from sun up to sun down, yet I gave Sugriva the easier job because I am the elder brother who must look out for him. I knew that guarding the hole would be a low-maintenance job suited for Sugriva.  However, I was wrong.

It was a full trip around the sun until I was able to kill the enemy. After killing him, I retreated to to hole. I wanted to make sure that no other enemy could dare come near me or anyone in my family. Those demons are vicious and can kill anyone in a matter of seconds if you aren't prepared. But, to my delight, there were no demons in the hole.

As I turned to leave, I noticed that the light at the top of the hole had mysteriously disappeared. Climbing up to the top, I realized that the light had disappeared because the hole had been blocked! WHO WOULD DO SUCH A THING! I was trapped with no way of escaping the dark, cold hole that my enemy once lurked in.

(Quarrel between Vali and Sugriva. Web Source: Wikimedia).

I won't get into detail about how I escaped because it was a brutal memory that I have chosen to remove from my mind. BUT, on arrival to Kishkindha, I went on a wild manhunt. For who you ask? None other than my brother who betrayed me, Sugriva. I knew that he had trapped me in that hole only to gain my riches and kingdom. I would not let him trick me again. Since he took so much time and pain from me, I decided to take something of his - his wife. I then sent him away. His wife? Well I debated between throwing her into that wretched hole or letting her loose on the streets as a beggar. I chose the latter.

Author's Note: This story is based off of an episode in the Ramayana entitled "Sugriva's Story". It is usually told by a monkey, in favor of Sugriva's side of the story. It flashes back to a time when Vali was fighting off an enemy, and enters into a discussion where Sugriva asks Rama for help in battling Vali. I decided to focus on the beginning of the episode and share Vali's point of view as to why he lives with so much rage and chose to become Sugriva's enemy.

Bibliography: The Ramayana, translated by M.N. Dutt PDE Ramayana - Sugriva's Story

Comments

  1. I thought your story was really good. I liked having the story from Vali's perspective and that the story had more of a humorous tone to it. I also liked that you focused more on the background information rather than just retelling the original story. I do not really have any critiques the writing and flow of the story was all pretty good.

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