A curious incident occurs towards the end of the Ramayana, where both Sugriva and Vibhishana weep. Rama had defeated Ravana. Accompanied by Lakshmana, Sita, Sugriva, and Vibhishana, Rama travelled to Ayodhya in the Pushpaka Vimana. His brother Bharata was waiting to welcome him. When Rama had been sent into exile, Bharata had tried his utmost to persuade him to return and become king. When Rama did not agree, Bharata took Rama’s sandals and placed them on the throne. He ruled the kingdom not from Ayodhya but from Nandigrama as Rama’s regent.
Now, Bharata brought the sandals and placed Rama’s feet in them. He said, ‘I have protected this kingdom in trust, and I am returning it to you. My birth has been successful today, and my wishes have also been fulfilled. I have seen the king of Ayodhya return. I have taken care of your treasury, the stores of grain, the city and the army. Because of your energy, everything is ten times what it used to be.’ When Sugriva and Vibhishana saw Bharata’s supreme devotion to his brother, they wept.
In the 1961 movie Hum Dono, there is a song written by Sahir Ludhianvi that goes, ‘Kaun rota hai kisi aur ki khatir, ae dost, sabko apni hi kisi baat pe rona aaya.' (Who cries for someone else, my friend? Everyone cries for something of their own)’. When Sugriva and Vibhishana saw their elder brother Rama return from exile and his younger brother Bharata lovingly offer him the kingdom, they may have reflected on their own situations. Sugriva, for instance, had become king after mistakenly believing that his elder brother Vali was dead. When Vali returned, he drove Sugriva out of the kingdom, forcing him to hide in caves. Sugriva sought help from Rama when he met him during the search for the abducted Sita. Sugriva had Vali killed by Rama in a manner that was debatable. Perhaps the guilt still rankled him.
Vibhishana had seen his elder brother Ravana rule Lanka as a supremely knowledgeable and powerful king. Disagreeing with Sita’s abduction, he changed sides and joined Rama when he was about to attack Lanka. The information provided by Vibhishana certainly played a role in Ravana’s defeat. After Ravana’s death, Vibhishana became the king of Lanka. Since both Sugriva and Vibhishana had played a role in their elder brothers’ deaths and had become kings after them, the sight of Bharata’s brotherly love and utmost loyalty towards Rama proved to be too much for them. Unable to control the unresolved feelings about their histories with their own brothers, they openly shed tears.