Kids · सुन्दरकाण्ड Sundara Kāṇḍa · Ages 8–12
The Feast in the Honey-Grove
On the far southern shore, a small band of vānaras has been waiting for many days, looking out to sea. Prince Aṅgada, old Jāmbavān the bear, and all the search party watched Hanumān Jī leap away toward Laṅkā — and now every one of them is wondering the same thing. Did he find her? Is he even coming back?
This is the story of the happiest journey in the whole Rāmāyaṇa: the trip home with good news. It is also the story of a wrecked orchard, some very cross gardeners, and a king who laughed when everyone expected him to shout.
The roar across the sea
Hanumān Jī had said goodbye to Mother Sītā, bowed at her feet, and leapt from the shore of Laṅkā with a roar so mighty that the demon city trembled behind him. As he flew back over the waves, he roared again — a great, glad, thundering roar — and far away on Mount Mahendra the waiting vānaras jumped to their feet. 'Listen!' said old Jāmbavān, the wisest of them all. 'No one roars like that who has failed. Hanumān has done it.' And when the son of the Wind landed among them, his face shining and his body glowing with joy, they knew before he said a single word. 'The godlike lady has been seen,' said Hanumān Jī. Gosvāmī Tulsīdās says the vānaras felt as if they had been born all over again — like gasping fish who finally find water.
In both Rāmāyaṇas
Madhuvana, the king's own honey-grove
Now the whole party set off for Kiṣkindhā, bounding and laughing, asking Hanumān Jī to tell the story again and again. On the way they came to a wonderful place: Madhuvana, the honey-grove — King Sugrīva's own treasured garden, heavy with fruit and dripping with honeycombs, guarded day and night by the old keeper Dadhimukha. Sage Vālmīki tells us it was a grove so precious that no creature was ever allowed inside it. The vānaras looked at the honey. Then they looked at Prince Aṅgada. The prince asked the elders, Jāmbavān and the rest — and with their nod, he gave his leave. 'Eat!' And what a feast it was. Honey by the armful, fruit by the basket, singing, dancing, tumbling in the grass. Hanumān Jī laughed and told them, 'Enjoy the honey, friends. I will deal with anyone who tries to stop you.'
In both Rāmāyaṇas
The keepers who could not stop them
The keepers of the grove came running with sticks and shouts. 'Stop! This is the king's garden!' But you cannot stop a hundred vānaras who have just found Mother Sītā. A push here, a shove there, and the guards were running away much faster than they had come. In Sage Vālmīki's telling, old Dadhimukha himself came storming in with a tree in his hand — and Prince Aṅgada, who was in no mood to be scolded, caught him in his arms and set him down on the ground with a thump. Bruised and furious, Dadhimukha and his guards ran all the way to Kiṣkindhā. 'Your Majesty!' they cried, falling at King Sugrīva's feet. 'Prince Aṅgada and his party are wrecking Madhuvana!'
In both Rāmāyaṇas
The king who laughed for joy
Everyone waited for the king to explode. Instead, Sugrīva's face broke into a huge smile. Gosvāmī Tulsīdās puts the king's thought in one line: if they had not found news of Mother Sītā, could they ever have dared to eat the fruit of Madhuvana? Sage Vālmīki tells us that Lord Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa were sitting right beside him, and Sugrīva turned to them at once. 'Take heart, O Rāma! Mother Sītā has been found — there is no doubt of it. And she has been found by Hanumān, and by no one else.' Then he turned to the bruised old keeper. 'The mischief of those who have done their duty must be forgiven,' he said kindly. 'Go back to the grove, and send them all to me at once.'
In both Rāmāyaṇas
Before the Lord on the crystal rock
So the whole party came bounding into Kiṣkindhā and bowed at King Sugrīva's feet. 'All is well, Your Majesty,' they said. 'By Lord Rāma's grace the work is done — Hanumān did it, and saved all our lives.' Then the king led them to where the two brothers sat on a great crystal rock, and every vānara fell at Lord Rāma's feet. Old Jāmbavān spoke for them all: 'The one you show your grace to, my Lord, is always well and always safe. What the son of the Wind has done, a thousand mouths could never tell.' And Lord Rāma, his heart overflowing, drew Hanumān Jī into his arms and asked the only question that mattered: 'Tell me, dear one — how does Jānakī live? How does she keep her life?' Hanumān Jī's answer is one of the most beautiful in the Mānas: 'Your Name is her watchman, day and night. Her meditation on you is the door. Her eyes are fixed on her own feet — that is the lock. By what road could her life ever leave her?'
In both Rāmāyaṇas
✦ Two tellings, one story
Sage Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa (Sanskrit)
Sage Vālmīki gives the homecoming several cantos, and he enjoys every minute of the feast. Hanumān Jī's return roar is heard on Mount Mahendra, and Jāmbavān reads its meaning before anyone else. On the road to Kiṣkindhā the party reaches Madhuvana, the grove of Sugrīva's forefathers, guarded by Dadhimukha — the king's own maternal uncle. The vānaras ask Prince Aṅgada's leave, and he grants it after asking the elders led by Jāmbavān; Hanumān Jī adds that he will ward off anyone who interferes. The revelry is loud and comic: singing, dancing, honeycombs as big as a man can carry. When the guards object they are chased off, and when Dadhimukha himself comes with a tree in hand, Aṅgada dashes him to the ground. Dadhimukha and the guards go to Sugrīva to complain — and Sugrīva, seated with Lord Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, reasons aloud that such mischief could only mean success, and tells Lord Rāma at once that Mother Sītā has been found by Hanumān and no one else. He sends Dadhimukha back to summon the party; Dadhimukha apologises to Aṅgada; and the vānaras come before Lord Rāma, where Hanumān Jī bows low and reports that Mother Sītā is well and constant in her devotion.
Gosvāmī Tulsīdās’s Rāmcaritmānas (Awadhi)
Gosvāmī Tulsīdās tells it in a handful of glowing lines. Hanumān Jī takes leave of Mother Sītā, gives a roar as he leaves that shakes Laṅkā, crosses the sea and calls out the vānaras' cry of joy; they are overjoyed to see his shining face and feel they have been born anew, meeting him 'as a gasping fish meets water'. On the way to Lord Rāma they enter Madhuvana and eat the honey and fruit with Aṅgada's leave; the keepers try to stop them, are met with a few blows, and run to the king crying that the crown prince is laying waste to the grove. Sugrīva hears it and rejoices, knowing the vānaras have done the Lord's work: 'had they not found news of Sītā, could they have eaten the fruit of Madhuvana?' — and while he is still thinking it, the party arrives. They bow at his feet, tell him that by the Lord's grace the work is done and that Hanumān did it all, and go with him to Lord Rāma, who sits with Lakṣmaṇa on a crystal rock. Jāmbavān praises Hanumān Jī's deeds; the Lord embraces him and asks how Jānakī keeps her life; and Hanumān Jī gives the famous answer of the Name as watchman, meditation as the door, and her eyes on her own feet as the lock (Sundar-kāṇḍa, dohā 30).
What this story teaches
Joy is the first messenger
Before anyone told King Sugrīva the news, the news told itself — in singing, dancing and a wrecked orchard. When something wonderful happens, people can usually tell before you say a word.
Look for the reason behind the mess
The keepers saw only a ruined garden. The king saw what the ruined garden meant. A wise leader asks 'why did this happen?' before asking 'who is to blame?'
Forgive the mischief of those who did their duty
Sugrīva did not pretend the vānaras had behaved well — he simply decided that a job well done mattered more than a few stolen honeycombs. That is what generosity looks like in a king.
Words to know
- Madhuvana (मधुवन) · 'The honey-grove' — King Sugrīva's own guarded garden of fruit trees and honeycombs on the road to Kiṣkindhā.
- Dadhimukha (दधिमुख) · The old keeper of Madhuvana; in Sage Vālmīki's telling he is Sugrīva's maternal uncle.
- Jāmbavān (जाम्बवान्) · The wise old king of the bears, who guessed from a single roar that Hanumān Jī had succeeded.
- yuvarāja (युवराज) · The crown prince — Aṅgada's title, which is why the keepers cried that 'the yuvarāja is wrecking the grove'.
- Kiṣkindhā (किष्किन्धा) · The vānara kingdom of King Sugrīva, where Lord Rāma was waiting for news.
- sphaṭika śilā (स्फटिक शिला) · The crystal rock on which Lord Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa were seated when the vānaras came with their news.
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa — Sundara Kāṇḍa (the return to Mount Mahendra, Madhuvana, Dadhimukha's complaint, Sugrīva's joy, and the report to Lord Rāma); Rāmcaritmānas — Sundar-kāṇḍa (the return, the honey-grove, Sugrīva's reasoning, the crystal rock and 'the Name as watchman', dohās 27–30). Retold for young readers; where the two tellings differ, both are given.