Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 71: Kabandha’s Past Life
Text 3.71.33
न हि तस्यास्त्यविज्ञातं त्रिषु लोकेषु राघव।
सर्वान्परिसृतो लोकान्पुरासौ कारणान्तरे॥
na hi tasyāsty avijñātaṁ triṣu lokeṣu rāghava
sarvān parisṛto lokān purāsau kāraṇāntare
na hi = nothing; tasya = to him; asti = there is; avijñātam = unknown; triṣu = in the three; lokeṣu = worlds; rāghava = O descendant of Raghu; sarvān = to all; parisṛtaḥ = has travelled; lokān = the worlds; purā = in the past; asau = he; kāraṇa-antare = for some other reason.
O descendant of Raghu, there is nothing unknown to him in the three worlds. For some other reason, he has traveled to all the worlds in the past.
“For some other reason” means “because of his conflict with his brother.”1
Kabandha does not know about Rāvaṇa, but he does know about Sugrīva. However, he didn’t mention Sugrīva by name because he thought that if he were to inform Rāma [about Sugrīva] before Kabandha’s body was burnt, He might become disheartened about burning his body.2