When Sugriva sent the vanaras to search for Sita, he gave them one month and warned them that they would lose their lives if they returned empty-handed. By the time the search party reached the ocean bank, the one-month period had passed. Unable to proceed any further due to the ocean, the vanaras debated what to do. Angada, who was the leader of the expedition, said, ‘Since the period has passed and we have still not obtained information about the whereabouts of Sita, it is certain that Sugriva will kill us. The king already has an enmity toward me. Instead of being killed by him, I would prefer to sit down on the ocean bank and resort to praya—fast unto death.’
One of Angada’s uncles suggested that they should all enter a cave and live in hiding from Sugriva. This idea appealed to all the vanaras. Hanuman thought that this amounted to setting up a rival kingdom to Sugriva’s. He told Angada, ‘You are as capable as your father Vali. You should know that apes are fickle. They are ready to enter the cave with you now, but separated from their wives and children, they will not follow you for a long time. You have been told that you will not be discovered inside the cave, but Lakshmana’s sharp arrows will shatter the cave. If you return with us, and present yourself humbly to Sugriva, and tell him everything that has happened, he will surely spare your life. He has no offspring other than you.’
Hanuman’s words were wise, but Angada did not agree with them and sat down in praya. All the other vanaras followed him. Hanuman went and sat at a distance from the group.
Luckily, an old eagle, Sampati, came there and told them that Sita was in Ravana’s custody in Lanka, which was a hundred yojanas across the ocean. While this solved one problem of knowing Sita’s whereabouts, it created another problem: who would jump across the hundred yojanas of the ocean and verify Sita’s whereabouts? While the vanaras were very excited to go, they knew that they couldn’t jump that far. Only Angada said that he could reach Lanka, but he was not sure he would have the strength to return.
At this point, the old bear Jambavanta did something that solved all the problems. He first placated Angada by telling him that he could undoubtedly jump that long, but he should not go since he was the foundation of this task, and a foundation must always be protected. He, then, turned to Hanuman, who was sitting alone, and reminded him of his forgotten powers.
Thus, Jambavanta brought about a reconciliation among the vanaras and protected them from being punished by Sugriva.