Rama and Sugriva

Bhima asks the ape to reveal his true identity. The ape speaks: he was born from Kesari and Vayu, the wind god — the same wind that gave Bhima his own strength. He is Hanuman, the monkey who served Rama, who leaped across the ocean to find Sita, who burned Lanka and returned. He tells Bhima that he asked Rama for a single boon: to live as long as Rama's deeds were sung on earth. Rama agreed. And so Hanuman is still here.

Markandeya tells Yudhishthira that Rama faced incomparable misery — his wife Janaki was abducted by the rakshasa Ravana, who killed the vulture Jatayu with his maya. Yudhishthira asks for the full account: Rama's lineage, Ravana's birth, and the enmity between them. Markandeya agrees to narrate it.

Rama and Lakshmana encounter Kabandha, a rakshasa like a cloud or a mountain with a single eye on his chest and a giant mouth on a giant belly. He seizes Lakshmana in his arms. Lakshmana despairs, lamenting their misfortunes — Sita abducted, Rama exiled, their father dead — but Rama remains undaunted. He commands Lakshmana to slice off Kabandha's right arm while he severs the left, and they hack at the rakshasa until he falls dead. From his body emerges the gandharva Vishvavasu, freed from Brahma's curse, who tells Rama that Ravana took Sita to Lanka and advises him to seek Sugriva's help at Lake Pampa near Mount Rishyamukha.

Rama, miserable at Sita's abduction, is urged by Lakshmana to seek help rather than lament. He reaches Lake Pampa, meets Hanuman, and forms a pact with Sugriva — Rama will kill Vali in exchange for Sugriva's help to recover Sita. They go to Kishkindha, and after a brutal fight between the brothers, Rama shoots Vali through the heart with a single arrow.

Imprisoned in Lanka and guarded by terrifying rakshasis who threaten to eat her, Sita declares she will starve rather than accept Ravana. After the rakshasis leave, the rakshasi Trijata comforts her with a prophetic dream — Ravana will be destroyed, Rama will come, and Sita will be reunited with her husband.

When two months have passed, the southern search party is seen enjoying Madhuvana — a sign of success. Hanuman and the monkeys prostrate before Rama, Sugriva, and Lakshmana, and Hanuman delivers his full report: the cave, Sampati, the ocean crossing, and Sita found alive in Lanka with her jewel as proof.

Lakshmana enters Kishkindha in anger, believing Sugriva has forgotten his promise. The monkey king comes out humbly with his wife, welcomes him, and explains that he has already sent monkeys in all directions with a one-month deadline that will expire in five nights — and that the search for Sita is already underway.

Rama, living on Malyavan under the clear sky and moon, is overcome by grief for Sita. Believing Sugriva has become ungrateful and forgotten his promise, he instructs Lakshmana to go to Kishkindha — either to bring the monkey king back to serve their purpose, or to kill him like Vali if he remains lazy and ungrateful.

Sugriva summons the foremost monkeys from every direction, and they arrive with armies numbering in the crores — Sushena, Gaja, Gavaya, Gavaksha, Gandhamadana, Panasa, Dadhimukha, and Jambavan with his bears. On an auspicious day, Rama marches out with this vast force, armed with trees and rocks, and they camp along the shore of the salty ocean — where the real problem begins.

Rama asks Sugriva how to cross the ocean. The monkeys propose leaping or building boats, but Rama rejects both — the army is too vast, and trade should not suffer. He decides to force the ocean god himself to yield a path, threatening to dry up the sea with celestial weapons. The ocean god appears in a dream and offers a solution: Nala, son of Vishvakarma, will build a bridge that the ocean will bear.

Vibhishana, the righteous brother of Ravana, meets Rama with his advisers after the bridge is built. Sugriva suspects he is a spy, but Rama satisfies himself about Vibhishana's truthfulness through his actions and conduct. He instates Vibhishana as king of the rakshasas and makes him Lakshmana's adviser. Following Vibhishana's instructions, Rama and his army cross the ocean within a month — and the campaign against Lanka begins.

With Angada's report delivered, Rama orders the walls of Lanka breached. Lakshmana, Vibhishana, and Sugriva demolish the southern gate, and the monkey army pours in — destroying turrets, catapults, and war implements, hurling them into the heart of the city. But the rakshasas rally under Ravana's orders and counterattack from the walls.

Enraged by the slaughter of his invisible ambushers, Ravana leads his full army against the monkeys, arranging them in the fearsome ushanas battle formation. Rama counters with a formation recommended by Brihaspati, and the two armies collide in a battle that shakes the three worlds.

Ravana learns that Kumbhakarna, Prahasta, and Dhumraksha have been killed in battle. He summons his son Indrajit and commands him to kill Rama, Sugriva, and Lakshmana, reminding him of his past victory over Indra himself. Indrajit agrees, dons his armour, mounts his chariot, and proceeds to the battlefield.

Ravana's son Indrajit binds Rama and Lakshmana with boon-granted arrows, trapping them like birds in a cage. Sugriva and the monkeys stand guard helplessly until Vibhishana arrives with the prajna weapon to revive them, and Kubera sends consecrated water to grant them the power to see invisible beings.

After the gods depart and Sita is vindicated, Rama arranges Lanka's protection, crosses the bridge, and begins the journey home. He installs Angada as heir in Kishkindha, sends Hanuman ahead to Bharata, and arrives at Nandigrama to find his brother still living in bark garments with Rama's sandals before him.