Rumā was the wife of
Sugrīva. She is mentioned in Book IV (Kishkindha Kanda) of
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...
. Ruma and Sugriva fell in love with each other and wanted to marry each other. But Ruma's father did not approve. Hence, Sugriva with the help of Hanuman, abducted Ruma and they married each other. Ruma was taken away from
Sugriva by
Vāli following the strife of two royal
Vānara brothers. Later, the fact of Rumā being withheld by
Vāli became the primary justification of
Rama
Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...
's slaying
Vāli and helping
Sugrīva to become the sovereign of
Kishkindha
Kishkindha (, ) is a kingdom of the vanaras in Hinduism. It is ruled by King Sugriva, the younger brother of Vali, in the Sanskrit epic ''Ramayana''. According to the Hindu epic, this was the kingdom that Sugriva ruled with the assistance of ...
. When accused by
Vāli of lowly, treacherous and unexpected assassination from the shades by Rama's arrow, Rāma says his assassination was a just punishment for the sin
Vāli committed when he robbed
Sugrīva of Rumā, his wedded spouse, and used her for his own pleasure.
[Ramayana. William Buck, B. A. van Nooten, Shirley Triest. University of California Press, 2000. , 9780520227033]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruma
Vanara in the Ramayana
Characters in the Ramayana