Carvings of Ram about to shoot Vali during his battle with Sugreev

In this post, we will look into an interesting tale that links a crucial character from Ramayana and how his actions result in the death of a significant character in the Mahabharata after several centuries. This is the tale of how Vali of Ramayana was responsible for the death of Krishna in Mahabharata.

Vali, the elder brother of Sugreev, is known for his strength and power. Vali was gifted with a boon that who ever fought with him, would lose half of his strength to Vali. Ravan, the demon king of Lanka, challenged Vali to a duel. Vali was enraged by Ravan’s arrogance and audacity and he grabbed the head of Ravan and took him around the world, making him accept his inevitable defeat.

Consumed by his power, Vali took over his brother Sugreev’s kingdom and his wife, forcefully. Unaware of what to do next, Surgreev went and met Hanuman for his help. Meanwhile, Ram was in a battle against a demon named Kadambh during the search for his wife, Sita. Ram killed the demon and the curse-free demon suggested Ram to go meet Sugreev.

On meeting with Sugreev, he listened to the whole story and decided to kill Vali when encountering him.

Ram instead of challenging Vali in a duel, shot Vali from behind the trees. This angered Vali, who in return accuses Ram of betraying him for shooting him without engaging in a proper fight. Ram in response, incriminates Vali of misbehaving with a woman and it was his duty as a righteous man to punish him for his crime. In order to compensate, Ram promises that Vali in his next life will be responsible for the death of God Vishnu’s next avatar.

As a result, Vali was later born as Jara the hunter, who was responsible for the death of Krishna’s death in the Dwapara Yuga.

Hunter Jara about to shoot an arrow at Krishna

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