Sunderkand: Dealing with the crossing of the sea by Hanuman (Chapter 1)

Contents

1 Read Next
2 Searching inside the Asoka forest (Chapter 14)
3 Crashing of hopes of Hanuman (Chapter 13)
4 Seeing of good omens (Chapter 29)
5 The arrival of Ravana (18th Chapter)
6 Sundara Kandam-An introduction
7 Telling of the memento news and giving of the hair brooch (Chapter 65)
8 Seeking clarifications of the message of Sita (Chapter 66)
9 Informing the message of Sita (Chapter 67)
10 Further news about the consolation of Sita (Chapter 68)
11 Hurting of the security staff of the forest (Chapter 62)
12 Thinking about future action (Chapter 59)
13 Telling the happenings of Lanka
14 Destruction of Honey forest (Chapter 61)
15 Words of Angadha (Chapter 60)
16 Informing about the destruction of the honey forest (Chapter 63)
17 Return of Hanuman and other monkeys (Chapter 64)
18 Fear of the monkey (Chapter 55)
19 The crossing of the sea from Lanka (Chapter 56)
20 Reaching the northern shore of the sea (Chapter 57)
21 Avoiding of death of an emissary (Chapter 52)

This article is part of “Sundara Kandam of Sage Valmiki”

First Chapter – Sunderkand

Dealing with the crossing of the sea by Hanuman

( This chapter describes how Hanuman crossed the great ocean to reach Sri Lanka in search of Sita. On the way first the God of Ocean and Mainaka mountain respected him. Later the devas tested his capability by sending Surasa Devi to test him. After this Simhika dragged his shadow and tried to eat him. Crossing all these hurdles he reached the other shore safely)

Afterward, Hanuman, the slayer of his enemies, desired to travel by the paths that the Charanas (The devas who travel in the sky) travel, to find out the place where Sita who has been abducted by Ravana. is kept in hiding.. 1

(It is clear from this sloka that our ancients knew that even in the sky you have to travel by certain chartered pathways)

With a desire to perform the incomparable and difficult job, he extended his head and neck and resembled a bull. 2

Then the valorous, strong and wise Hanuman started traveling as he liked, similar to a lion in zest, creating terror to the birds, felling trees by his immense chest, glowing like a diamond, and killing various animals in the grass, like the torrential flow of water. 3-4

Hanuman stood like an elephant calf in a forest, in the mountain, which had many special elephants and which are fit to be worshipped and endowed, possessing the natural colors of blue, red, yellow and pink, decorated by the strange reddish (laterite) stones and also thickly populated by Yakshas, Kinnaras, Gandharvas (all the three are communities of minor devas) and Devas with their families along with Pannagas who can take any form or shape they like. 5-7

That reddish vanara (monkey), saluted the Sun God, the king of devas Indra, The Wind God Vayu, The progenitor Lord Brahma, and all great and holy ones and then turned to the eastern direction and saluted his own father Vayu again. He then thought of Rama and Lakshmana and offered them his prayers and bowed before all the holy rivers and the sea. After this, he embraced his manes and offered pradakshina (perambulation) to them and concentrated his mind on the travel that he intended to make. 8-10

(As soon as he was born to Anjana Hanuman felt very hungry. He was told by his mother to eat any fruit, which is red. He jumped towards the Sun in the dawn, who complained to Indra about this attack. Indra hit baby Hanuman with his Vajarayudha who fell down. His father the Wind God went in hiding creating a crisis in the world. Then the devas led by Brahma blessed the baby Hanuman and gave him several boons.)

Being blessed by all vanaras assembled there with a wish made by them for his safe return journey, he stood facing the path in which the wind travels. 11

He stood facing the south and started growing in his physical stature, after requesting the other monkeys to wait for him in the same place. 12

Being watched by the great and elderly monkeys, Hanuman who is the greatest among those who can jump and cross, grew like the ocean in the high tide for completing the work of Rama. 13

With his forelegs extended, he with an enormous statue stood facing Sree Lanka, with a wish to jump and cross the sea and pressed the mountain by his forelegs. 14

The mountain in spite of this pressure was stable but tottered for a few minutes. As a result, the trees shook and flowers of different colors were strewn all over the mountain. 15

Strewn by the thick flower clusters all over, the mountain was covered fully by flowers. It appeared more like a mountain of flowers. 16

Pressed heavily by the strong Hanuman, The Mahendra Mountain resembled an elephant in heat and water flowed out of it. 17

Pressed by the great Hero Hanuman, that mountain revealed deposits of Gold, Mica, and silver through the openings and sparkled. 18

Not only that but also that mountain which had a lot of laterite stones threw out medium size fire flames all over and pushed out dense smoke. 19

Because of the pressure exerted by the Vanara, the animals, which lived in the caves, were pressed and made sad and painful sounds. 20

That horrendous noise made by the big animals spread in all directions all over the world and also in gardens throughout. 21

Snakes with shining white Swastika marked hoods spit out the poison from their mouth and hit at the stones with their poisonous teeth. 22

Stuck by the angry and poisonous snakes those big stones burnt as if they were on fire and broke into thousands of pieces. 23

Those herbs in the mountain, which were supposed to cure the poison bite of the snakes, were not able to remove the poison from the mountain itself. 24

Some of the snakes with the big body were spitting fire and came out from the caves and were trampled by Hanumana’s feet. 25

Trampled heavily those trees of the mountain with new growths, gave out a smell of sandal, and gave rise to a rain of flowers. 26

Those stones of the mountain, which were deep red, yellow and light red broke into pieces and were strewn all over. 27

With the color of reddish sandal and with ochre-coloured deposits that mountain shone like a fire and was broken. 28

Vidhyadaras (demi-gods who wear garland and live in the sky) who had brought golden vessels to drink alcoholic drinks left behind the costly vessels and mugs, various types of flavored and cooked meat, shields made of the hide of a bull, and swords with golden handles and rose up along with their women folk thinking that the mountain is being broken along with sages occupying it. 29-31

Not only that, some other Vidhyadharas who wore garlands in their neck and who had eyes like white lotus and some others who were intoxicated and also who were decorated by red paste and red garlands and red eyes reached the sky. 32

Their ladies who wore chains, armlets, shoulder bangles, stood with a smiling face along with their lovers, in the sky. 33

Empowered by the manthras that they knew these Vidhyadharas and sages were able to float in the sky and watch the mountain. 34

Others heard the following words spoken by those great sages, the demigods Charanas and saints of great reputation, 35

The very strong Hanuman who is the son of the wind God Vayu who is as big as a mountain is going to cross the sky like the sharks cross the ocean. 36

â€œFor the sake of Lord Rama, and for the sake of his monkey friends, he is attempting to the impossible job of crossing the ocean. 37

The Vidhyadharas who heard these words of the sages stood in the sky and watched Hanuman who had an enormous form. 38

Hanuman who was like a small mountain shook his body, shed some of the hair from his body and like a big cloud made a very loud trumpeting sound. 39

Making up his mind to jump to a great height, Hanuman rotated his big round tail, which is covered by hair all over, like a eagle rotating a snake. 40

Swiftly being rotated behind him , his thick tail, resembled an enormous snake being drawn hither and thither by Lord Garuda. (Eagle on whom Lord Vishnu rides) 41

Hanuman stood stiff with his forelegs, which resembled huge iron pillars, made his belly as small as possible and readied his hind legs for a big jump. 42

That great Hero, shortened his arms and neck and increased his virility, stature and power to the maximum extent possible. 43

Looking above, staring afar and staring in to the sky he controlled his breath for the big jump. 44

Standing firm on his two legs, extending his ears to catch all the sound , making up his mind to travel fast in the sky, that Great monkey who is very strong, faced the other monkeys and spoke to them as follows. 45

I would travel to Sri Lanka which is protected by Ravana like the holy arrow sent by Lord Rama with the speed of the torrential wind. 46

â€œIf I am not able to find Sita in Sri Lanka, I would then go to the heavens with the same speed. 47

If I am not able to locate her there also, with great ease , I will tie Ravana and bring him here. 48

Whatever may happen, I would return after fulfilling the task and return along with Sita and if not I would bring the whole Sri Lanka along with Ravana. 49

After talking like to this to the other monkeys, the great monkey Hanuman, without any worry and with great speed resembling that of Garuda, rose up in the sky. 50

When he rose up in the sky, the trees in that mountain along with their branches also rose along with him. 51

Along with him , he took away flower-laden trees with white fat cranes using the speed of his thighs and traveled in the clear paths of the sky. 52

Those trees which traveled along with him by the speed of his thighs, returned back after some time like the relatives who go with the guests and return after some time after the send off. 53

Those sala (possibly pine trees) trees which rose to the sky by the speed of the thigh of Hanuman accompanied him like the soldiers who accompany their king. 54

Surrounded by many types of fully flower-laden trees, the mountain like Hanuman was looking surprisingly wonderful. 55

Those well mature trees fell in the sea like the mountains slain by Indra and drowned deep. 56

Hanuma`n who was similar to a cloud and looked like a mountain surrounded by different type of flowers, buds , tender leaves and fire flies. 57

Those trees along with heaps of flowers from them which were uprooted by the speed of the thighs of Hanuman returned back to the water like the friends after a send off. 58

The multi coloured and different kinds of flowers which were light by nature which fell of due to the fast movement of Hanuman, fell in to the sea. 59

See also Subrhamanya Bujangam

Because of them the great sea glittered like a sky full of stars 60

In addition , decorated by the series of multi coloured mountains which were falling behind, Hanuman looked like a streak of lightning in front of clouds which travel at a great height. 61

Strewn by the great speed of Hanuman the flowers which fell on the water looked like the sky strewn with millions of stars. 62

The great storm generated by his travel attracted greatly the clouds, which were shining once in a while due to lightning. 63

The sky with clouds which were rising high, and the water filled ocean moving by tides of great speed looked alike. 64

Pointing high towards the sky, those two hands of Hanuman looked similar to two five headed snakes coming out of the peak of mountains. 65

That great monkey appeared as if he was preparing to drink the great ocean full of high tides and also as if he was wishing to drink the sky also. 66

( since he was moving up and down, it appeared at one moment that he was trying to drink the sea and at another moment the sky)

The two eyes of Hanuman who was traveling in the sky appeared as if they were shining like two mountain fires at two different points. 67

The two big yellow eyes of the chief of the monkey , shined like the moon and sun in the solar system. 68

His face which appeared reddish by his large red nose, looked similar to the sky with a red setting sun. 69

His tails, which were held aloft in the sky, looked like Indraâ€™s flag held aloft in the sky. 70

With his white sparkling teeth ,the famous and wise son of Wind god in the round created by his tail, looked similar to the sun framed by his halo. 71

His reddish behind appeared as if it is a reddish laterite split mountain. 72

The wind passing through the armpits of the monkey who was crossing the sea made thunderous swooshing sound made by the clouds. 73

That monkey hero appeared like a comet with a tail traveling through the sky. 74

(This was a bad omen to the people of Sri Lanka)

The great statured monkey who was equal to the rising sun shined with his waistcloth like an elephant. 75

With his great body floating in the sky and its reflection in the depths of the ocean, the monkey looked like a ship being driven by the wind. 76

Whichever part of the atmosphere he traveled , that portion appeared greatly agitated by the speed of his body. 77

That monkey who was traveling with great speed was beating away the high tides of the sea by his immense chest. 78

The speed of the wind generated by the moving monkey as well as the moving clouds twisted the sea greatly. By their great sounds. 79

That monkey who was dragging with him the great tides of the salty sea, traveled as if he was separating the land and the sky. 80

Moving with immense speed and crossing the mountain(resembling the mount Meru) like high tides he appeared as if he was counting those tides while crossing them. 81

The seawater thrown towards the clouds by the monkey traveling at great speed mixed with the clouds and appeared like clouds of the autumn. 82

Those whales, crocodiles, fishes and tortoise which appeared above the water looked like human limbs when the cloths was removed from them. 83

At that time the big snakes living in the sea seeing the flying chief of monkeys mistook him to be ,Garuda the eagle. 84

His shade, which was ten yojanas broad and thirty yojanas long, appeared pretty over the water. 85

Broadly placed over the sea his shadow in the water appeared as if it was a were a huge crowd of fish following him . 86

Hanuman who was very powerful , very huge and a great monkey appeared as if he was a winged mountain floating in the sky without any support. 87

That monkey who was very powerful caused the sea to look like a mountain pass because of the high speed he was traveling in his path. 88

(because of his great speed the water parted below him and was like a mountain pass)

He traveled like the king of birds through the route in which the birds flew and appeared as if a fast moving wind was dragging the clouds. 89

The huge clouds attracted by the monkey shined with colours of white, red , blue and yellow . 90

He appeared as if he was a moon which is traveling through the cloud being hid at times and being seen at times. 91

The Devas, gandarwas and Danavas rained flowers on the fast flying monkey. 92

Then as if to aid the work of Lord Rama, the sun did not scorch him and the wind made a pleasant atmosphere round him. 93

The sages praised the monkey who was traveling with great speed and also the Devas and Gandharvas sang in praise of the great one. 94

Seeing the monkey did not appear tired by his exertions, Rakshasas and Nagas, Yakshas and devas praised him with glee. 95

When the great monkey was traveling thus the God of the ocean thought of methods of honoring the descendent of Ikshu Vaku. 96

(One of the well-known forefathers of Lord Rama)

He thought that if he did not help Lord Hanuman in his effort all those who can talk would speak ill of him. 97

Since the Sagara kings belonging to the Ikshu Vaku clan raised him and Hanuman was helping their descendent , The God of Ocean thought that Hanuman should not get tired. 98

( Bhageeratha one of the forefathers of Lord Rama brought water from the head of Lord Siva to the dried up sea so that Bhageerathaâ€™s ancestors should get salvation from their sins and thus filled up the sea)

He thought that he should take suitable action, which would refresh Hanuman and also provide him with rest so that he can cross the remaining distance easily. 99

Thinking properly like this, the God of the ocean spoke to the mountain Hiranya Nabha(Golden bellied) also called as Mainaka (son of Mena)who was hiding within him. 100

(He was the son of Himalayas and his queen Mena)

â€œHey1 mountain chief, you have been appointed over here to monitor the entry of Asuras living in Patala by Indra, the king of Devasâ€. 101

â€œYou are standing here closing the way to prevent them from come up by those powerful ones living in the vast Patala. 102

Oh! Mountain , only you have the power to grow sideways and also bottom to the top. Hey, mountain chief, it is because of this I have come here to speak to you, please get up. 103

This monkey chief Hanuman is flying in the sky with great valor for doing a dangerous errand to Lord Sri Rama. He is now going to come just above you. 104

I need to help him for all the descendents of Ikshu Vaku are worth worshipping by me and therefore they are fit to be worshipped by you also. 105

We have to do good and we should not leave it undone for duties performed at the correct time brings bad name to good people. 106

Raise up above the water level and let the great monkey who is our guest who is fit to be worshipped stand on you for some time. 107

Oh mountain with golden peaks, which are served by devas and Gandharvas., let Hanuman take rest on you and go refreshed his remaining way. 108

You should know the good qualities of Lord Rama, the parting pangs of his wife Sita and also tiredness of Lord Hanuman, and try to raise up fast. 109

The Mainake Mountain which was full of forests, climbers and golden peaks listening to the words of the ocean rose up fast. 110

That Mainaka Mountain which was rising very high looked like the glittering Sun God with his rays coming out piercing a thick cloud. 111

That mountain which had great fame, ordered to thus by the God of ocean within a very short time exhibited its peaks outside the water. 112

Those peaks which were golden, pointed and very great ,resembled the rising Sun God and appeared as if they were rubbing the sky, and the deep blue sky tinted by the sparkling golden peaks looked as if it has become golden in colour. 113-114

The mountain which had several peaks of innate glitter and of sparkling gold colour resembled hundreds of Suns. 115

Rising above by itself in the middle of salty ocean and standing in front of him, Hanuman thought that it was an obstacle. 116

That fast moving monkey chief easily brushed off its tall peaks as if wind brushes of the cloud. 117

That mountain which was pushed aside by the monkey, was astonished by his strength and also became happy because of it. 118

That mountain which stood tall in the sky, became happy and took a human form, stood on his own peak and said as follows to the valorous monkey:- 119

Hey great monkey you have done some thing which other people cannot do. 120

Please get down on to my peaks and relax. 121

The ocean was remade by the ancestors of Lord Rama, and the Ocean God worships you who is engaged in the job of helping Rama as an act of gratefulness. 122

We always have to repay, the good done to us. This is the perennial duty of our religion. So he wants to help you and make you beholden to him. 123

He requested me with respect to provide a resting place to you in my pleasant valley so that you need not jump at a stretch the one hundred yojanas and then easily jump the rest of the way. And so hey, great monkey you please stay on me for some time, take rest and then proceed. 124-125

Hey monkey chief, savour the very tasty roots and fruits lovingly offered by the God of Ocean , and you can proceed very much refreshed soon. 126

Hey monkey chief, you know that receiving and showering hospitality on good people is a blessed act in all the three worlds and apart from that, you do have another connection with me. 127

Hey monkey chief, I consider you the greatest among all those monkeys who can move fast and jump very high. 128

It is well known that those learned ones who desire to perform right full acts , that even if a guest is not a great one he is fit to be worshipped. Then what to say when the guest happens to be a great person like you. 129

Hey great monkey, you are the son of Vayu (the wind god) who is great among the devas and equal in speed to him. 130

Hey holy one, if you are worshipped the Wind God receives it himself and please also hear about another reason why you are fit to be worshipped by me, 131

Hey son, during Krutha Yuga Mountains also had wings and they were traveling to all places like Wind and Garuda. 132

Because the mountains were traveling all over the great sages and society of devas who were with them as well as all living beings, were terror struck because of the fear that these mountains may fall on them. 133

Because of this reason, Devendra who had done one hundred fire sacrifices, became enraged and starting to cut the wings of the mountains in to pieces in different places using his Vajrayudha (Diamond equipment literally). 134

That angry Devendra intent on cutting my wings neared me but the great wind god blew me away fast from that place. 135

Your father pushed me inside this salt sea without any harm coming to my wings and thus, I alone was saved. 136

And so I worship you because I should have worshipped the God of wind. And Monkey chief , you know that this connection between both of us is really great. 137

And so Monkey chief , because of this accept the hospitality provided by me and the Ocean God and bless us. 138

Hey chief of monkeys, relax and take rest and accept our worship, and also accept our love. and I have become happy by meeting with you. 139

Thus told by the great mountain the great monkey saidâ€ I am pleased with your hospitality. You have provided all the hospitality to me and I have accepted it. 140

The time for performance of my duty is getting over and also the day light hours are nearing to an end. Apart from this I have given my word that I will not tarry in between doing this great work. 141

(See the 46^th stanza of this chapter)

Thus telling the valorous monkey chief Hanuman patted the mountain on its peaks and with a smile re entered the sky and recommenced his journey. 142

That monkey who was the son of wind God was seen off with respect by the mountain as well as the ocean and was worshipped by them by suitable wishes. 143

After this he left the mountain and ocean and traveled high and started to go forward by the path of his father and started traveling in the clear sky. 144

The son of Wind God further rose up and moving in the right direction and started traveling without any support in the clear sky. 145

Witnessing this almost impossible second act being performed, all Sidhas, devas and sages appreciated him. 146

Seeing the great act of the golden peaked Mainaka mountain, all the devas and Devendra who were there in the sky, became extremely happy. 147

The great Indra with his ebbing happiness and with stuttering voice due to that told the following words to Mainaka ,the mountain chief. 148

Hey golden peaked king of the mountains, I have become very pleased with you. 149

Hey , pleasant one I have given you my protection. 150

You have provided help in the right time to valorous Hanuman who is fearless even when there was a need to be afraid. 151

This monkey is going in the service of Lord Rama who is the son of Dasaratha and because of your hospitality to him, I am extremely pleased. 152

Because of these words, the mountain chief understood that even Indra the king of devas was pleased with him and became very happy. 153

Thus the mountain chief stood there firmly and Hanuman was moving extremely fast over the ocean. 154

At that time the devas ,gandarwas , siddhas and the great sages seeing the fast moving monkey chief in the sky, told Surasa the mother of Nagas (serpents) who had the splendor of the Sun thus. 155

This great Hanuman who is the son of the god of Wind is flying over the sea. Please take a ferocious rakshasa form which touches the sea, which is like mountain and with red eyes and vampire like teeth and delay his progress. 156-157

We want to know (test) for the second time, his strength and virility and also would like to see whether he will win you over by trick or become dejected. 158

(though they had an inkling of this from his behavior with Mount Mainaka, they wanted to reconfirm)

Thus requested and respected by the devas, Surasa devi took an unusual ugly fear creating form which is more suitable to the rakshasas and stood in the middle of the sea and neared Hanuman and spoke to him thus:- 159-160

Hey monkey, you have been allotted as food to me by the devas and so I am going to eat you. Enter my open mouth. 161

Thus spoken to the great Hanuman, saluting her and with a pleasant face spoke to her thus:- 162

Rama the son of Dasaratha came to the Dandakaranya forest along with his brother Lakshmana and his wife Sita and was living there. 163

He earned the enmity of Rakshasas and when he was otherwise engaged, Ravana abducted his wife the renowned Sita. 164

As per the orders of Rama I am going as an emissary in search of her. You who are a citizen in the kingdom of Rama are also bound to help him out. 165

Or else I promise you that after seeing Sita and also Rama who is very much worried, I would come to you and reach your mouth. 166

Thus requested by Hanuman, Surasa Devi who could take any form she wished , said to him None can cross me and this is a boon given to me by the devas. 167

With a desire to know the strength of Hanuman, Surasa Devi the mother of Nagas further saidâ€ You can only go from here after entering my mouth. This is a boon given to me by Lord Brahma. Saying this she enlarged the size of her mouth greatly opened it wide and stood before him. 168-169

Angered by the words of Surasa, Hanuman told her â€œ Make your mouth suitably big so that you can swallow me. 170

Telling her thus, Hanuman became ten Yojanas big as Surasa was at that time ten yojanas big. 171

Observing that he has grown to ten Yojanas Surasa enlarged her mouth to twenty yojanas. 172

The very intelligent Hanuman seeing that she has opened her mouth to twenty yojanas, became angry and took up the form of thirty yojanas. 173

Seeing this Surasa made her mouth forty yojanas wide. 174

The valorous Hanuman became fifty yojanas big. 175

Surasa made her mouth sixty yojanas wide and Hanuman became seventy yojanas big. 176

Surasa made her mouth eighty yojanas wide. 177

The mountain like Hanuman made himself ninety yojanas big. 178

Surasa Devi made her mouth one hundred yojanas wide. 179

Very intelligent and wise Hanuman seeing the wide open mouth of Surasa with protruding toungue , very fearful and similar to hell, instead of increasing his size further, started reducing himself fast and like a wind driven cloud became as big as a thumb. 180-181

With great speed, the great one entered her mouth and suddenly came out and standing in the sky itself told the following words:- 182

Hey Dakshayani(daughter of Daksha) my salutations to you. I have entered your mouth and so taking this as the truth, allow me to go to the place where Sita lives. 183

(These words bring out the fact that Hanuman knew about her divine origin. This also is indicated by the fact that he saluted her-see Stanza 162)

Seeing Hanuman like the moon which has come out of the mouth of Rahu, Surasa took her real form and told him, Hey, son, Her monkey chief, Let you have a pleasant journey and let your errand be successful.. Please become happy after reuniting Rama and Sita. 184-185

All beings witnessing the third and impossible task of Hanuman and praised the monkey chief and said Great, great. 186

Equivalent in speed to Garuda , he left the sea which is the abode of Varuna and which was very difficult to cross, and rose above to the sky and traveled further. 187

( Some commentators believe that Hanuman descended in to the sea, took bath and rose up, because he entered the mouth of Surasa.

Hanuman then traveled like Garuda in the sky which is served by the rain drops, in which the birds live, peopled by Gandharwas like Thuumburu who sing ragas like kaisika, in which rainbows exist, in which aero planes which travel high on vehicles such as lion, elephant, tiger, birds snake and crocodile exist, which is well decorated, which is being lit by fire of Vajrayudha , thunder and lightning, Which is populated by people who do good deeds and those great ones who have won over heavens, Which is being constantly served by Agni the fire God who is being fed by the portions to be given to devas, Which is full with Sun, moon, planets and stars. Which is filled by sages, Yakshas, Gandarwas and Nagas, Which is really great, which is very clear, which is full, In which Viswavasu the king of Gandarwas travels, in which the elephant of Devendra travels, Which is the way of Sun and the moon, which does always good, Which is the roof constructed by Lord Brahma for all living beings and Which is populated by great valorous vidhyadaras. 188-194

Like the wind he also dragged the clouds with him. 195

Attracted by the monkey chief the clouds shined in black and also red, yellow and white colours. 196

That monkey who was entering and coming out of the clouds looked like the moon of the rainy season which is completely invisible and visible at different times. 197

Hanuman the Son of God of wind, looked like a winged mountain visible from all places in the support less sky. 198

A Rakshasi(ogress) called Simhika who can assume any form she likes saw the fast moving Hanuman and thought in her mind thus. 199

In the very long time which has past , only today I am going to eat proper and sufficient food for after a long time an animal of this size has come my way. 200

Thinking thus in her mind she dragged Hanumana’s shadow and once his shadow was caught Hanuman started thinking thus. 201

Like a torrential wind of the sea blowing against , a big ship slows it down, my strength has reduced and I am being stopped. 202

Then the monkey peered all round, to the top, below and saw a very large being floating in the sea. 203

Examining it carefully, he thought, This must be the fearsome and big being , as told by the king of Monkeys Sugreeva, which can drag one’s shadow and I do not have any doubt about it. 204

(In Kishkinda Kanda in the forty first chapter Sugreeva describes about this Rakshasi to Hanuman)

That wise and intelligent monkey recognized her as Simhika and started increasing his size like the black cloud in rainy season. 205

Seeing the increasing size of monkey chief’s body, She opened her mouth ,which was like Patala and the sky very wide. 206

Thundering like a series of clouds she started chasing the monkey. 207

That wise monkey saw her throat through her widely open mouth , he also saw the big size of her body and her Achilles Heel. 208

Slightly reducing his body’s size, he fell with lot of force and like thunder in to her wide-open throat. 209

The Siddhas and Charanas (celestial beings) saw him vanish in his throat like the moon vanishing on full moon, eclipse days 210

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This article is part of “Sundara Kandam of Sage Valmiki” Sixty-fifth Chapter Telling of the memento news and giving of the hair brooch (Hanuman then tells about the state of Sita and the messages sent by her and gave the hair brooch which was the memento given by her) They reached the Prsravana Mountains with its…

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Seeking clarifications of the message of Sita (Chapter 66)

This article is part of “Sundara Kandam of Sage Valmiki” Sixty-sixth Chapter Seeking clarifications of the message of Sita ( Rama is upset to know about Sita and asks Hanuman to tell in detail what has been told by her. The pearl brooch brings to him memories of her, his father and father in law.) Rama…

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Informing the message of Sita (Chapter 67)

This article is part of “Sundara Kandam of Sage Valmiki” Sixty-seventh Chapter Informing the message of Sita. (Hanuman again details the pitiable state of affairs of Sita. He also indicates the several doubts arising in her mind due to her not seeing any action from the part of Rama and Lakshmana.) Having been told by Rama…

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Further news about the consolation of Sita (Chapter 68)

This article is part of “Sundara Kandam of Sage Valmiki” Sixty-eighth Chapter Further news about consolation of Sita (Hanuman further relates about the doubts in Sita’s mind and how he gave a pep talk and encouraged her.) Hey lion among men, I who was in a haste to return , because of the love and nearness…

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Hurting of the security staff of the forest (Chapter 62)

This article is part of “Sundara Kandam of Sage Valmiki” Sixty second Chapter Hurting of the security staff of the forest (The guard of the garden, Dadhimuka who was the uncle of Sugreeva tried his best to stop the destruction of the honey forest. Angadha became very angry and hit him. Then Dadhimukha reached the presence…

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Thinking about future action (Chapter 59)

This article is part of “Sundara Kandam of Sage Valmiki” Fifty-ninth Chapter Thinking about the future action (Hanuman then narrates the problems of Sita in Lanka in a graphical manner. He tells the other monkeys that as a virtuous woman she herself could kill Ravana but is not doing so, because it would bring bad fame…

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Telling the happenings of Lanka

This article is part of “Sundara Kandam of Sage Valmiki” Fifty-eighth Chapte Telling the happenings of Lanka (In this chapter Hanuman informs his monkey friends all that happened after he took off and till he returned. This chapter is the summary of all the previous 57 chapters of Sundara Kanda.) anuman and other very strong…

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Destruction of Honey forest (Chapter 61)

This article is part of “Sundara Kandam of Sage Valmiki” Sixty -first Chapter Destruction of Honey forest (The monkeys start their return journey and reached the honey forest of Sugreeva. Being given permission to drink the honey, they destroy the forest , insult and hurt Dadhimuka who was the uncle of Sugreeva and in charge of…

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Words of Angadha (Chapter 60)

This article is part of “Sundara Kandam of Sage Valmiki” Sixtieth Chapter Words of Angadha (Angadha who is the crown prince and leader of the team tells his opinion as to what needs to be done. He feels that they should wage a war, destroy the Rakshasas and take Sita along with them. The wise Jambhavan…

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Informing about the destruction of the honey forest (Chapter 63)

This article is part of “Sundara Kandam of Sage Valmiki” Sixty -third Chapter Informing about destruction of the honey forest (Dadhimuka along with his other security staff is not able to succeed and are ill treated by Angadha and other monkeys. So he reaches Sugreevaâ€™s presence and complaints to him about the behavior of the monkeys.…

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Return of Hanuman and other monkeys (Chapter 64)

This article is part of “Sundara Kandam of Sage Valmiki” Sixty- fourth Chapter Return of Hanuman and other monkeys (Hanuman and other monkeys return back to Kishkinda and inform the good news of having found Sita and her being virtuous.) Thus told by Sugreeva, at that time the well pleased Dadhimuka saluted Raghava, Lakshmana and Sugreeva.…

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Fear of the monkey (Chapter 55)

This article is part of “Sundara Kandam of Sage Valmiki” Fifty- fifth Chapter Fear of the monkey (After seeing the entire city burning, suddenly Hanuman feels that Sita also might have been destroyed. He curses himself for causing such an eventuality because of his anger .Rethinking about the several immortal happenings and overhearing Charanas who told…

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The crossing of the sea from Lanka (Chapter 56)

This article is part of “Sundara Kandam of Sage Valmiki” Fifty- sixth Chapter Crossing of sea from Lanka (Hanuman took leave of Janaki and climbed to the top of Lamba Mountain, preparing himself to cross the ocean. He assumed his very big form and rose from the mountain to the north) Hanuman saluted Janaki who was…

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Reaching the northern shore of the sea (Chapter 57)

This article is part of “Sundara Kandam of Sage Valmiki” Fifty- seventh Chapter Reaching the northern shore of the sea, (Hanuman crossed the ocean and was received by the monkeys with happiness. He informed them that he has seen Sita. He also told them about the pitiable but virtuous condition she was in.) Hanuman like a…

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Avoiding of death of an emissary (Chapter 52)

This article is part of “Sundara Kandam of Sage Valmiki” Fifty second Chapter Avoiding of death of an emissary (Vibishana with soft words of logic and justice advises Ravana that Hanuman should not be killed but can be punished in other ways) Vibishana thought it is wrong to sentence an emissary who has brought the message…

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