Who Is Vali (Bali)?
The mighty king of the monkeys
Vali is the king of Kishkindha, the monkey kingdom, in the Ramayana, and the older brother of Sugriva. He is said to be a son of Indra, king of the gods, and he had enormous strength.
Long ago he chased the demon Mayavi into a cave and did not come back for a long time. Meanwhile his brother had become king, and Vali, believing he had been betrayed, drove Sugriva out of the kingdom and even took his wife. During another duel between the two brothers, Vali was struck by an arrow Rama shot from behind the trees, and he fell.
As he was dying, Vali challenged Rama, asking whether it was right to shoot from hiding, and the two argued it out. In the end he entrusted his son Angada to Rama and the others, and then died. Whether Rama acted rightly here has been debated for centuries. Vali's queen, Tara, mourned him deeply.
