Having spoken harsh words to Ravana, his younger brother Vibhishana came in no time to where Lord Rama was with Lakshmana. The leading monkeys on the ground saw him in the sky, as tall as the summit of Mount Meru and blazing like lightning with his own radiance. King Sugriva, the lord of the monkeys, thought for a while and then said to the monkeys headed by Lord Hanuman that a rakshasa was coming, armed with various weapons and followed by four others, to slay them, and of that there was no doubt.1
Seeing Sugriva and the others near him, the wise Vibhishana called out to them in a loud voice. With many well-meant words and reasons, he said, he had urged Ravana that Sita must be given back to Rama. Reviled by Ravana and treated harshly like a menial, he had come to seek Rama's shelter, leaving behind his children and wives. He asked them to tell the high-souled Raghava, the refuge of all creatures, quickly that he had come.2
Sugriva then spoke to Rama. The rakshasas, he said, were heroic; they took shapes at will, always lay in ambush and secretly worked others' ruin, so they should not be trusted. Vibhishana was a rakshasa by birth and the brother of their foe: how could they trust him? In Sugriva's judgement Vibhishana had been sent by Ravana and was worthy of being slain.3
Then Rama spoke to the monkeys near him, headed by Hanuman. One who seeks lasting prosperity, he said, and is wise and able to give sound counsel, should advise his friends in difficult matters. Angada said that if Rama found in Vibhishana a source of great calamity he should cast him off without hesitation, and if he found him crowned with many virtues he should embrace him. Sharabha urged that emissaries be sent quickly to sound him out. Jambavan said that Vibhishana came from the vicious lord of the rakshasas, who was set against them, and had arrived at a bad place and in a bad hour, so they should always fear him. Mainda advised that the lord of men first ask him everything in sweet words.4
Then Hanuman, the foremost of the counsellors and well versed in the Shastras, spoke in accents sweet, glorious and of high worth. He began by saying that not even Brihaspati, the lord of speech, could surpass Rama, so capable, so gifted in intellect and foremost of those skilled in speech. He spoke, he said, in the interest of Rama's work, not moved by skill in speech, by pride in being a counsellor, by vanity of intellect or by a wish to speak for its own sake.5
Vibhishana could not be sounded without some command, Hanuman said, and to command him now would itself be improper. A wise man questioned suddenly suspects many things; and if the newcomer were a friend who had come for his own happiness, how greatly such treatment would change his mind. To Jambavan's word that Vibhishana had come to a bad place and in a bad hour, Hanuman answered that he had in truth come to a very good place and in a very good hour. He had done a fitting and sensible thing in coming, having judged that Ravana was wicked and Rama pious, Ravana full of vices and Rama rich in virtues, Ravana a tyrant and Rama powerful.6
Rama himself, Hanuman said, should speak with him and judge his hidden purpose by his voice. While Vibhishana spoke, Hanuman had marked no sign of wickedness in him, but rather signs of gladness on his face, and so he did not suspect him. The wily never come fearless and undisturbed, and Vibhishana's words were not cunning. One's real nature is not easily hidden; it shows itself by force. Having weighed Rama's preparations for war and Ravana's vain conduct, and having heard of Vali's destruction and Sugriva's installation on the throne, Vibhishana had come, Hanuman said, moved by good sense and desiring to gain the kingdom. So it seemed prudent to take him to their side. Hanuman had spoken, he said, holding him sincere, and now it was for Rama to do what he thought proper.7
Hearing those words of the Wind-god's son, the irrepressible Rama, versed in all the Shastras, gave his own view. Vibhishana had come as a friend, and Rama could by no means forsake him; and even if he had come with some evil intent, it was no fault in the righteous to give him shelter. Sugriva replied that, sincere or wicked, Vibhishana should never be given shelter, since he had forsaken his brother in the midst of calamity. In the end Rama told Sugriva that, wicked or otherwise, Vibhishana could do him not the least harm.8
Rama declared that he always gave the promise of no fear to all creatures whenever anyone came to him, declared himself his and sought his shelter: this was his pious observance. Then Sugriva said that in truth his own heart held Vibhishana free of any wicked intention; he had been well sounded by signs and gestures. Hearing Sugriva, Rama at once made friends with Vibhishana.9
When Raghava had thus given him the promise of no fear, Ravana's younger brother, the greatly wise Vibhishana, bowed his head and looked down at the earth. Coming down from the sky with his devoted attendants, the virtuous Vibhishana bowed to Rama in delight. Greatly insulted by Ravana, he told Rama, he had left Lanka, his friends and his riches to seek the shelter of him who is the refuge of all creatures; his kingdom, his life and his happiness were all at Rama's disposal.10