About
Trinavati — Daughter of Sugriva, Known by Name Alone
Trinavati · Trina-vati · Sugriva-kanya
Trinavati is a name attributed in certain genealogical passages of the extended Puranic tradition to a daughter of Sugriva — the king of Kishkindha, son of the sun god Surya and the principal Vanara ally of the divine hero Rama in the campaign against Ravana. She receives no narrative episodes, no individual characterisation, no record of her mother's identity, and no developed genealogical continuation in any of the principal primary sources. She does not appear in the Valmiki Ramayana, the Mahabharata, or in the major Mahapuranas that engage substantively with the Ramayana tradition. Her name occurs only in limited genealogical lists of the extended Puranic record-keeping tradition that traced the lineages of Ramayana figures beyond the endpoints of the epic narrative itself. The textual basis for her attribution as Sugriva's daughter is of narrow and uncertain scope, and this profile records that attribution and the lineage it implies without supplementing the absence of further evidence with inference or invention.
✦ The Name
The name Trinavati derives from the Sanskrit trina, meaning grass or a blade of grass, combined with the suffix vati indicating possession — the one possessed of grass or the one associated with grass. Trina in Sanskrit carries connotations of slenderness, delicacy, and the abundant but humble growth of the natural world. The name does not carry the martial, solar, or cosmic resonances of most names within the Vanara royal lineage of Kishkindha, and the primary sources provide no explanation of why this name was given or what quality it was intended to express in the figure to whom it was attributed.
✦ Lineage
- Father: Sugriva — king of Kishkindha; son of the sun god Surya (Vivasvat), one of the twelve Adityas born to the sage Kashyapa and his wife Aditi; younger brother of Vali; Rama's principal Vanara ally in the campaign against Ravana of Lanka.
- Paternal grandfather (divine): Surya — the sun god Vivasvat; one of the twelve Adityas born to Kashyapa and Aditi; source of solar light and warmth; progenitor through his son Vaivasvata Manu of the current human race and of the Ikshvaku royal dynasty of Ayodhya.
- Mother: Not recorded in any primary source. Whether Trinavati's mother was Ruma — Sugriva's principal wife — or Tara — his second wife and the widow of Vali — or another figure entirely is not established in the surviving texts.
- Paternal uncle: Vali — the elder brother of Sugriva; son of Indra the king of the gods; previous king of Kishkindha; slain by Rama in the Kishkindha Kanda of the Valmiki Ramayana.
- Husband and further genealogy: Not recorded in any primary source consulted for this profile.
✦ References
- Primary Sources
- Valmiki Ramayana (Kishkindha Kanda and Yuddha Kanda): The primary narrative source for Sugriva's life and reign; does not name Trinavati or any daughter of Sugriva.
- Puranic genealogical passages (specific text and location uncertain): The limited tradition that attributes the name Trinavati to a daughter of Sugriva; the precise primary source passage in which this attribution is made has not been confirmed with specificity across the principal digitised and printed editions consulted for this profile.
- Secondary Sources
- Mani, Vettam. Puranic Encyclopaedia (1975): Consulted for entries on Sugriva and his family; does not record Trinavati as a daughter of Sugriva in the edition consulted.
- Wisdomlib (wisdomlib.org), entries on Sugriva and the Vanara royal lineage: Consulted for verse references across digitised primary texts; does not return Trinavati as a named daughter of Sugriva in the results examined.