Week 13 Reading Diary B: Bhishma's Grand Death

In this section of the reading the war officially begins between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Bhishma leads Duryodhana’s army while Dhristadumnya leads the Pandava army. The part that really stood out to me was how Bhishma’s downfall took place. From the very beginning, Arjuna is hesitant to fight Bhishma because he regards him as a grandfather. Although Bhishma was an old man, he was still very powerful and awed everyone on the battlefield. To defeat Bhishma, Arjuna seeks the help of Sikhandin to take down Bhishma. Bhishma is shot and wounded with so many arrows that when he falls down out of his chariot, his body doesn’t even touch the ground. As soon as Bhishma falls, all the fighting and bloodshed stops immediately and flowers sprinkle down upon everyone from heaven. A pillow is made for Bhishma’s head and he is given water to drink. The cool thing is that Bhishma has the power to choose the exact time and place of his death so he decided to lie on his bed of arrows until the shortest day of the year arrives. To relieve Bhishma of the terrible pain he must be feeling, Krishna puts him in a deep sleep.

I thought this scene was so graceful and intense at the same time. The respect Bhishma draws from everyone is mind blowing. I don’t think anyone has had a death like this in any of the epics I have read so far in this class. It is definitely one of my favorite scenes from the Mahabharata. 

Bhishma on his bed of arrows; Wikipedia

Week 13 Reading Diary A: The War is Brewing

During a part of their exile, the Pandavas chase a deer deep into the depths of a forest. Once in the forest, Yudhishthira sends his brothers, one after the other, to get water for them at the lake. For some reason, none of them return and Yudhishthira grows to become very worried. When he arrives at the lake, he finds the dead bodies of his brothers. An unknown voice speaks to him and tells him that he must answer all of the questions if he wants his brothers to return alive. Yudhishthira answers all the questions and then learns that this is a test given to him by his father Dharma who is a divine being. Yama revives the dead Pandava brothers.

I found this scene to be very interesting because it seems super intense. I wonder what was going through Yudhishthira’s mind when he realized that his brothers had died. If it were me, I would feel so bad because it would've been my fault that they died. Yudhishthira was the one who sent his own brothers to fetch the water instead of going himself.

I’m also glad that Arjuna decides to choose having Krishna on his side during the battle over Krishna’s humongous army. Duryodhana is ecstatic when he learns that he will be getting Krishna’s army because it is the best army in the world. I would've made the same decision if I were in Arjuna’s position because Krishna is such a strong character. He’d easily win the war!

Arjuna meets Krishna; Wikipedia

Week 12 Reading Diary B: Savitri

For the second half of this week’s reading assignment, I found the story of Savitri to be particularly intriguing. I find it impressive that she took matter in her own hands to find a man suitable for herself and rode a golden chariot to find the man that she would want to marry. Approaching a man in a golden chariot would probably make a very good impression in my opinion!

While looking for her dream husband, Savitri runs into Satyavan in the forest. Satyavan is the son of a blind king living in exile. He only had only one year to live but Savitri decides this is the man she wants to marry even though he would be dying very soon. Soon enough, Satyavan passes away and Yama comes to claim his soul. Before he leaves, Savitri asks Yama if she can follow Yama. Impressed, Yama grants Savitri an assortment of wishes. Her wishes include curing the blindness of her father-in-law, restoring her father-in-law’s kingdom, giving her own father a hundred sons, and having a hundred sons with her husband. For this last request to occur, Yama tells Savitri that she would have to give up half of her living days and give them to Satyavan so he can come back to life and have kids with her. Savitri agrees without hesitation and Satyavan comes back to life and lives happily with Savitri and their hundred kids until their days are over.

I really enjoyed this story because it showed how much Savitri cared for her family.

Savitri and Satyavan; Wikipedia

Week 12 Reading Diary A: The Game of Dice

I found this section of Buck’s Mahabharata to be somewhat depressing because Yudhishthira loses pretty much everything in his game of dice against Duryodhana and Shakuni. If I were losing that badly in a gambling game, I would quit while I still had possession of my belongings! I’m surprised Yudhishthira doesn’t stop before it gets that bad. Luckily, Krishna comes the rescue and saves Draupadi when she is getting harassed by Duryodhana and Duhshasana. Dhritarashtra also intervenes shortly after Krishna and proceeds to return Draupadi, the rest of the Pandava brothers, and their wealth and material possessions back to Yudhishthira per Draupadi’s request. Duryodhana, enraged that Dhritarashtra has returned everything back to the Pandavas, proposes one more roll of the dice. The loser in this last throw would be thrown into exile in the forest. Unfortunately, Yudhishthira loses ones again and he and Pandavas, along with Draupadi, head to the forest to fulfill their promise of living in exile.

I think it is ridiculous how after losing everything and luckily getting everything back, that Yudhishthira still agrees to roll the dice one more time to see who would go into exile. Obviously luck wasn’t on his side, and he should’ve had better judgment in deciding whether to play again and risk everything or not. I guess the Pandavas exile though, progresses the story of the Mahabharata and leads to Arjuna’s adventures in Indra’s heaven, Amaravati.

I really enjoyed this section of the Mahabharata and can’t wait to read the second half of the reading assignment for this week!

The game of dice; Wikipedia 

Week 11 Reading Diary B: The Pandavas

This section of Buck’s Mahabharata is mainly focused on the Pandavas, who are basically forced out of their house in Varanavata because Duryodhana and Duhshasana order the minister, Purochana, to devise a fire trap to kill the Pandavas. After hearing of these plans, the Pandavas construct a tunnel that allows them to escape the house. They also leave six corpses to try and fool Duryodhana and disguise themselves as Brahmins. I thought this part of the reading was pretty intense because they were basically about to be ambushed by a fire. Luckily, they made it out!

I enjoyed reading the part about Draupadi’s swamyavara. I find it an entertaining section of the reading because Arjuna is my favorite character and because he wows everyone watching with his talents. The audience is so surprised because he is disguised as just a wandering Brahmin at the time. I have watched the Mahabharata and this scene in the show is very intense because it is supposed to be very difficult to string the bow and hit the moving target. This is definitely one of my favorite parts of the Mahabharata. After winning this competition, Arjuna wins Draupadi and she ends up marrying all five of the Pandava brothers. I still don’t understand why she marries all five of the brothers.

This section was definitely a good read because so much stuff is going on. I want to read more about Krishna and Arjuna’s friendship so I hope that Buck touches on that a little more than Narayan did.

Arjuna at Draupadi's swamyavara; Wikipedia

Week 11 Reading Diary A: Starting Buck's Mahabharata

I liked the idea of the Mahabharata being told by another character as a story in Buck’s version of the Mahabharata. Vyasa asks his companion, Vaishampayana, to recite the Mahabharata to Janamejaya. I still find it crazy that it takes Shantanu seven children to finally question Ganga about her drowning their children. I would expect a king like him to take control of the situation at hand and figure out Ganga’s reasoning for her questionable actions. Shantanu finally does so when their eighth child is born, which Ganga gives to him after he begs her to let the child live. He names this child Bhishma.

I found the story of Satyavati to be kind of comical because the way she is born is so unorthodox. At this point though, I’m not surprised because a lot of things that have been happening in the Mahabharata are so random and crazy. Satyavati is born in the belly of a fish that became impregnated when a hawk carrying the semen of the King of Chedi accidently drops the semen into a river. A fisherman comes across this fish and takes the baby girl as a child of his own. Shantanu and Satyavati have a child named Vichitravirya.

Reading Narayan’s version of the Mahabharata first helps me when I read Buck’s version because I am already familiar with most of the characters so it’s easier to keep track of who’s who and what’s actually going on. So far, I think I like Buck’s version better but I’ll decide for sure once I’ve read more of this version! 

Shantanu tries to woo Satyavati; Wikipedia

Week 10 Reading Diary B: The War

First off, I’m still trying to keep all the characters and their names straight in my head because there are just so many! It’s sort of difficult to keep track of who is who and which character does what! I thought this section of the book was pretty intense and eventful, obviously because it focuses mainly on the war.

The main thing that stuck out to me in this section of the Mahabharata was the part when Bhima kills Duhshasana and then proceeds to drink his blood after mutilating his body. I thought it was a pretty dark and vivid scene and it wasn’t something I was expecting to read at all. It was interesting to say the least!

I also found it ironic how the Pandavas end up on opposite sides of their guru Drona in the war. That makes the war scene even more interesting because everything the Pandavas know was taught to them by Drona so you would think that Drona has the advantage over them. I was surprised that he was depicted dying by sheer trickery on Krishna’s part although it does make sense that Drona would despair over the “death” of his son. A lot of the deaths in the war were unexpected and random in my opinion.

It was sort of funny how Krishna dies since it’s so random and unexpected. He dies because a hunter thinks the soles of Krishna’s feet are two birds. I didn’t really understand why Gandhari cursed Krishna because he did technically help the Pandava’s win the war against Duryodhana. 

Karna confronts Arjuna in Kurukshetra War; Wikipedia

Week 9 Reading Diary B:

In this section of Narayan’s Mahabharata, I found the game of dice to be an interesting read. I’m not even really sure how to play dice, but it seems like that game was the game to play back then. I found Duryodhana’s jealousy and hate towards the Pandavas to be quite comical actually. He’s like the annoying little villain who never gives up on getting rid of the protagonist. I don’t get why Yudhishthira doesn’t just quit the first game of dice when he realizes how bad he’s losing instead of losing all his possessions. I mean, he loses his wife, Draupadi, his clothes, and even his brothers! Luckily, Krishna comes to Draupadi’s rescue when Duryodhana forcefully tries to undress her. He somehow makes another sari appear on Sita when the original is removed.

Luckily, Dhritarashtra gives Draupadi three wishes that he vows to grant. She uses the first two wishes to set Yudhishthira free, as well as her other four husbands. She refuses to request a third wish so Dhritarashtra gives the Pandavas’ possessions back to them and lets them return to Indraprastha without any further trouble. I really don’t understand why he let them go so easy after the trouble of building the assembly hall and setting up the game of dice with the Pandavas. Although the second game of dice would go in Duryodhana’s favor as well, it’s weird that he let them go so easy. The second game of dice results in the Pandavas being exiled for thirteen years; twelve years in poverty and one in disguise.

The game of dice; Wikipedia

Week 9 Reading Diary A: Intro to the Mahabharata

The main thing that caught my attention in Narayan’s Mahabharata was the fact that there’s an abundance of new characters introduced very quickly. I was kind of overwhelmed trying to keep names associated with their characters but I think as I keep reading I’ll be able to sort it out and keep it straight in my head.

I was immediately curious at the beginning of the book when it was mentioned that Ganga would only marry Shantanu, the king of Hastinapura, if he never questioned her actions. That seemed very sketchy and odd to me because everyone questions everything. When Ganga starts throwing the babies in the river I was shocked and then curious to know her reasoning behind doing so. It’s surprising how it took Shantanu seven drowned babies to finally question Ganga’s motive behind doing do. Ganga then explains that she is actually the river Ganga reincarnated as a human to give birth to eight gods, called the Vasus. The Vasus are being punished by being reincarnated as humans for stealing a cow. Ganga explains that she is just returning the gods to the heavens by drowning the babies.

As the book goes on, character such as the Pandavas, are introduced. The Pandavas are the sons of Pandu, who eventually dies along with one of his wives. Pandu’s other wife, Kunti, is left to raise the five sons. The names of the five Pandavas are Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. I’m excited to finally be reading about Arjuna because I have always been intrigued by his character. The Pandavas all marry Draupadi, whom Arjuna wins over in a competition.

Draupadi and the Pandavas; Wikipedia

Week 7 Reading Diary B: Rama is Coronated

On his way back to Ayodhya aboard the Pushpaka chariot, Rama stops at Kishkindha and the Bharadwaja’s hermitage. As they travel, Rama shows Sita where he met Hanuman for the first time and where Jatayu’s body was cremated. As his fourteen years of exile nears an end, Rama sends Hanuman ahead to Ayodhya to announce that Rama is on his way to resume his rightful position as king and relieve Bharatha of the duty. When Hanuman reaches Bharatha and informs him of the good news, Bharatha breaks down and weeps tears of absolute joy!

Not long after Hanuman’s announcement, Rama arrives back in Ayodhya and the celebrations begin! Bharatha ties Rama’s sandals back to his feet as a symbol of his return. Coronation preparation is in full swing as everyone is busy getting ready for the ceremony. Sugriva sends Hanuman to retrieve water from all the rivers in the world as a gift to Rama while in return, Rama gives an abundance of presents to Sugriva for all the assistance he has given him in the last fourteen years. Hanuman also receives a present, this one from Sita, as a token of her appreciation. She gifts him her very own pearl necklace which he graciously accepts.

After the coronation is complete and all is well in Ayodhya, Sugriva and Vibhishana return back to their homes and resume their normal lives. Rama also sends the Pushpaka chariot back to Vaishravana on Mount Kailasa. After that, all is well for about ten thousand years.

Rama returns to coronation festivities in Ayodhya; Wikipedia

Week 7 Reading Diary A: Ravana's Downfall

This week’s reading was really interesting because it marked the death of Ravana and Rama’s return to his rightful throne. The reading starts out with Jambavan, Hanuman, and Sugriva slaying the demons of Lanka with apparent ease. The demon magicians, Lightning Tongue and Thunder Tooth are killed by Hanuman and Sugriva, while Jambavan is a ruthless force to be reckoned with! Ravana, sensing that the time is near for battle, prepares himself under the stars. He dances and causes a great wind storm! Kala (time) comes and scolds Ravana for being a fool but Ravana just smirks at her and dismisses her threats.

The time for the final battle has arrived and Rama and Ravana are facing off in an epic battle. Rama succeeds in cutting off Ravana’s heads but they just keep growing back. The two use an array of weapons, mantras, and astras to fight each other. Ravana’s mace knocks Matali, his chariot’s driver, off the chariot but Rama revives him. Ravana then turns himself into Indra, which leaves Rama in a state or shock/paralysis, but Matali comes to the rescue and is able to see through the disguise. Rama takes advantage of this and slays Ravana with his bow and arrow.

I thought the battle scene in this version had a lot more detail than the first version we read in class. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the scene because it was vivid and I could definitely imagine it all happening in my head. The death of Ravana is kind of like the end, but also a new beginning because now Rama can go peacefully back to Ayodhya and rule as King when his fourteen years of exile are up.

Rama battles Ravana; Wikipedia

Week 6 Reading Diary B: War Is Brewing

Hanuman returns to Rama with his news of Sita. Upon hearing this news, Rama and his allies head south towards the ocean, in hope of finding a way to cross to get to Lanka. Rama gets frustrated, as he cannot find a reasonable way to get across the ocean with all his allies. He grows angry at the ocean and curses it. In response, Samudra, the water king, rises up from out of the water and explains to Rama that the monkey, Nala, is able to make rocks float in water. Rama is enthused, as this solves his main problem of having to cross the ocean! With the help of Nala and his useful skill, and the help of the squirrels and other animals, a bridge to Lanka is built in no time!

Rama, his allies, and the other animals proceed to cross the bridge and come to Trikuta Hill. There, they spot Shuka, a hawk who is spying on their activities on behalf of Ravana. Angada seizes Shuka and tried to strangle him but Sugriva stops him from doing so in the nick of time! Sugriva send Shuka back to Ravana with a grave message and Ravana retaliates by sending two more demon spies that go by the names of Sardula and Sarana, respectively. They appear in the form of monkeys, but again, they are detected as traitors, this time by Vibhishana. He captures them and brings them to Rama but Sarana vanishes into thin air. Rama send Sardula back to Ravana with another message. War is nearing.

Building the bridge to Lanka; Wikipedia

Week 6 Reading Diary A: Hanuman's Journey to Lanka

After Sita’s abduction, Hanuman takes it upon himself to find the whereabouts of Sita. Sampati, Jatayu’s brother, explains to Hanuman that he has seen Ravana flying high in the sky, towards the city of Lanka. Hanuman is the only one capable of making the hundred league journey across the ocean to Lanka, which he does. Along the way, Hanuman catches a rest when the mountain Mainaka rises up from out of hiding. Mainaka had been hiding under the ocean in fear of Indra. As Hanuman gets closer and closer to Lanka, a female rakshasi, named Sinhika, appears from out of the water and ingests Hanuman! Hanuman is going to have none of this nonsense, as he easily crushes her heart and escapes from her ear. I thought this part of the story was super interesting because it had not been mentioned in the other version of the Ramayana.

Finally, after what seems like forever, Hanuman arrives at Lanka. To keep himself void of detection, he changes himself into the shape of a cat so he can move around freely without any trouble. Lanka appears in front of Hanuman and kicks him, which he returns swiftly with a punch. Lanka then realizes that Hanuman’s arrival is part of a curse that has yet to be fulfilled. Hanuman searches everywhere for Sita but cannot find her. As he is about to give up, his father, Vayu, the wind god, directs him to Sita’s whereabouts in the ashoka grove. At last, he has found Sita!!

Hanuman's journey across the ocean to Lanka; Web Source

Week 5 Reading Diary B: Sita's Abduction

In this section of the Ramayana, Ravana tried to concoct a plan that will help him abduct Sita away from Rama. He wants to do this because Panchavati tells him that Sita is more beautiful than all his wives. It is something he must have! The plan is for Maricha to turn into a magnificent, golden deer which would hopefully distract Rama. At Sita’s insistence, Rama chases the deer and kills it. Maricha (the deer) lets out a horrible cry of help of Rama’s voice, which fools Sita. She sends Lakshmana into the forest to find Rama, and to make sure he is okay.

At this point, Ravana’s plan has worked marvelously. He has succeeded in luring Rama and Lakshamana away from Sita so he can complete the abduction. He disguises himself as an old man and fools Sita once again. He quickly reveals himself and carries Sita off in his chariot against Sita’s will. He cannot rape her because he is cursed to have his head blown off if he does. He must convince Sita to willingly sleep with him.

Before Ravana can go very far, Jatayu appears and valiantly tries to fight off Ravana. Unfortunately, he is no match and has his wings cut off. He lies there wounded as Ravana speeds off with Sita to Lanka. Rama and Lakshmana arrive just in the nick of time to hear from Jatayu that Sita has been abducted be Ravana and that they were heading South. Off go Ravana and Lakshmana to retrieve Sita.

Ravana abducts Sita and kills Jatayu; Wikimedia

Week 5 Reading Diary A: Rama's Exile

In this section of the Ramayana, Dasaratha has just died due to his foolish decision in fulfilling Kaikeyi’s request to exile Rama for fourteen years. Bharata hears this news through messengers sent from Ayodhya. He cannot believe what his mother has done so he ventures into the forest with a massive crew to find Rama and tell him of the bad news. They run into Guha, who directs them to the sage Bharadwaja, who then directs Bharatha and his crew, including the queens, to Chitrakuta. Once Bharatha find Rama there, he tells Rama about the death of their father and insists that Rama come back to be King. Still, Rama refuses to return until the end of his fourteen year exile and insists that Bharatha rule as King in his stead until he returns from exile. Bharata reluctantly agrees to rule in Rama’s stead and takes his sandals as a memento of Rama’s return.

I found this whole section to be very interesting because Bharatha clearly does not want to be the King of Ayodhya. In my opinion, if I was in Bharatha’s place, I would be sad to know that Rama was exiled, but at the same time, I would be somewhat ecstatic that I was going to be the new King! I don’t really understand why the sage Bharadwaja blesses Kaikeyi because she is the sole reason why this mess happened in the first place. She should feel guilty for ultimately causing the death of Dasaratha instead of receiving blessings for her deed.

Rama leaves in exile for 14 years; Wikimedia

Week 4 Reading Diary B: Rama's Exile

In this portion of the Ramayana, I wanted to focus on Rama's exile. Dasharatha originally declared Rama as his successor and Kaikeyi is ecstatic as first until her servant Manthara convinces her that it’s a bad idea if Rama happens to end up being the King. Dasharatha owes Kaikeyi two promises and she takes advantage of those two promises by telling Dasharatha to make Bharata king and to send Rama into the forest in exile for fourteen years. Dasharatha is helpless and has no choice but to honor Kaikeyi’s requests. Rama obediently agrees without any hesitation. The citizens of the Kingdom really don’t want Rama to leave and are adamant on following him wherever he goes. Sumantra does all he can to try and persuade Dasharatha to change his mind but his efforts go to waste as Rama and Sita still make the trek into the forest. Before Rama leaves, he tells Dasharatha not to be mad at Kaikeyi. Rama seems unusually understanding in this situation. I would’ve expected him to at least question Dasharatha as to why exactly he is being exiled. Rama is received in the forest by Guha. After Rama leaves, Dasharatha dies of guilt at how easily he let his own son Rama go. He was supposed to be his successor after all. He remembers something in his past that he can relate to now.

I feel like this is a huge moment in the Ramayana because after Rama is exiled so much happens to him and Sita and everyone else. 

Rama leaving for 14 years of exile; Wikimedia

Week 4 Reading Diary A: Ravana's Conquests

First off, I liked how this version of the Ramayana was so much more in depth and focused on other character as well. I especially liked that Ravana was more of a focal point in this first part of the reading because I feel like he wasn’t developed much in the other version of the Ramayana. It’s cool to know all the different kinds of gods surrendered to him because he was pretty much invincible. Ravana could not be conquered by gods, asuras, yakshas, rakshases, or nagas. Only mere human beings could try and overthrow him. An emissary was sent to Ravana but Ravana killed him and ate him. Ravana then attacked Mount Kailasa and attacked Manibhadra and the yakshas. After this, he was cursed by Indra and Shiva’s bull, Nandi.

Some of the other characters Ravana conquered were Yama (the god of death), Surya (the sun), and Chandra (the moon). Ravana then attacked Amaravati, Indra’s heaven. A huge battle erupted there, but in the end, Ravana’s son, Meghananda, captured Indra. Thus, Meghananda acquired the name Indrajit, which means conqueror of Indra. Arjuna of the Thousand arms and the Haihaya people were some of the only beings that Ravana was not able to make surrender to him. Ravana tried attacking the king Arjuna while he was taking a bath in the river, but the king caught Ravana and squeezed him with his plentiful arms! Pulastya, Ravana’s grandfather, had to rescue him from Arjuna’s grasp.

I think I enjoy this version of the Ramayana more than the version we read the last two weeks!

Statue of Ravana; Wikimedia

Week 3 Reading Diary B

·         Hanuman crosses the ocean into Lanka and almost mistakes Ravana’s wife, Mandodari, for Sita.

·         He then finds Sita in the Ashoka Vana pleasure gardens.

·         She is guarded by demons but he manages to give to her Rama’s ring. In exchange, she gives him some jewelry that she had saved.

·         Hanuman then proceeds to wreak havoc and destroys the Ashoka Vana.

·         Indrajit “captures” Hanuman and takes him to Ravana. They attempt to negotiate but to no avail so Ravana lights Hanuman’s tail on fire.

·         Hanuman then burns down Lanka to the ground with his tail (city is rebuilt).

·         Vibhishana is exiled by Ravana and goes to seek refuge with Rama. Rama takes him in and in exchange, Vibhishana gives Rama advice on how to attack Lanka.

·         Rama goes to the sea god in hope that it will let Rama build a bridge to cross into Lanka. The sea god agrees and a bridge is built with the help of men, monkeys, and a variety of other animals.

·         In the meantime, Ravana tries to trick Sita by showing her a decapitated head of Rama but she doesn't buy it this time. She knows how Ravana is full of trickery.

·         Rama begins the attack on Lanka but is struck by poison darts and faints with Lakshmana.

·         Garuda helps Rama overcome the poison darts and eventually Rama strikes Ravana in the heart which kills him.

·         Rama tests Sita to ensure that she is still pure.

·         Rama returns to Ayodhya as King.

Ravana; Wikimedia

Week 3 Reading Diary A

•  After hearing Rama’s call for help, Sita is left alone and then abducted by Ravana. Jatayu puts up a valiant fight but in the end he is defeated and killed.         Hanuman, a monkey, is introduced into the story.        
•  Sugriva finds some of Sita’s jewelry and gives it to Rama and also agrees to help find Sita if Rama helps him defeat Vali, the King of Kishkinda. 
• Once Rama defeats Vali, Sugriva becomes King and eventually sends out search parties looking for Sita. 
•  Rama gives Hanuman his ring to show Sita just in case she is found.
• Hanuman and Angada get trapped in a tunnel while heading south and find themselves in some sort of underground kingdom.
• There they find a nymph called Swayamprabha who was a former goddess.
• They break out and release Swayamprabha but still have no luck finding Sita.
• At the ocean’s edge, they meet Jatayu’s brother, Sampathi. Sampathi had no wings because they had been burned. Upon hearing Rama’s name, his wings miraculously grow back!
• Sampathi then says that he saw Ravana taking Sita to a place called Lanka.
• To get to Lanka, Hanuman needs to cross the ocean, which he does by growing to a gigantic size and stepping to the other side.

Hanuman; Wikipedia