Why Rama Was Told to Befriend Sugriva: The Awakening of Inner Knowledge

Question

Why did Kabandha, before departing, tell Lord Rama that He must befriend Sugriva?

Answer

Let’s look closely at the word Sugriva.
It can be divided into two parts — “Su” and “Grī.”

• “Su” means excellent, noble, or pure.
  
  

• “Grī” comes from the Sanskrit root gri, which means knowledge or understanding.
  
  

So, Sugriva literally means “excellent knowledge.”

Now, in our own being, this excellent knowledge exists within the Vijnanamaya Kosha — the sheath of higher intelligence or wisdom.
That is where the true knowledge resides.
And Kabandha’s instruction — “befriend Sugriva” — means:
“Take the support of that higher knowledge within you.”

When Rama is told to make friendship with Sugriva, the deeper meaning is this:

The purity that we have lost — the purity that our own body-consciousness (our deh-abhimān) has carried away — will not easily return on its own.
To regain that purity, we must take the help of knowledge.
So, “befriend Sugriva” means “befriend the higher knowledge.”

This knowledge already exists within us, but it is still dormant — it’s there, but not yet awakened or active.
That’s why the story says Sugriva lives on Rishyamukha Mountain.

Now, what is Rishyamukha?

It’s not a physical mountain at all.
It symbolizes that our inner wisdom — the rishi-like excellence within us — is still mukha (silent).
Our inner greatness, our higher understanding, is still mute — it hasn’t yet found expression.

So the message is:
That silent knowledge within us must now be awakened.
Only when that inner wisdom starts to express itself — when we awaken our sleeping knowledge — will we begin to recover our lost purity.

In short, Kabandha’s words — “Make friendship with Sugriva” — mean:
“Awaken and align yourself with the highest knowledge within.”
Because only through the guidance of awakened wisdom can the lost purity of the soul be regained.