Week 5 Storytelling: Hanuman

Hanuman swung through the trees, on the hunt for something delicious to eat. His father was the mighty Vayu, the wind god, of the world. His mother was named Anjana, but she had abandoned Hanuman shortly after his birth, when he was still a baby monkey. In the absence of his mother, Hanuman had no one to teach him the things he was supposed to eat and the things he was to avoid eating since his father was so busy throughout the day making wind for people in need. Hanuman didn’t really know the difference between dangerous and safe as a young monkey. All he knew was that sometimes there was tasty fruit hanging from the branches of the trees, ready to be picked off and eaten.

This day, it was taking especially long for Hanuman to find food. The longer he swung through the trees, the more tired and careless he became. This proved to be harmful because Hanuman accidentally swung from one tree and grabbed the branch of another tree that was very thin and weak. The branch snapped in half instantly and down went Hanuman…

As Hanuman woke up in a daze, his head and body aching from the impact he made on the ground, he noticed an orange circle through the canopy of leaves above him. It looked oddly like a mango to him. Hanuman grew more excited by the second, thinking he had finally found food! What he thought was a mango was actually the sun out in the distance, ready to set. Hanuman reached out for the “mango,” licking his chops, eager to eat, when Vayu stopped him from burning himself in the nick of time!

“Don’t touch that!” Vayu roared, causing Hanuman to falter and tumble to the ground.

Hanuman looked up at his father with a confused expression on his face because he still thought the sun was a mango.

“That’s not a mango, you clown. That is the sun and you will burn yourself if you touch it,” said Vayu.

Vayu, worried about Hanuman after this incident, quit his job as the God of the wind and decided to pay more attention to Hanuman. After all, raising baby Hanuman was Vayu’s job since Anjana had abandoned them. This, though, caused a problem within the world. Without wind, there would be no air, and with no air there would be no oxygen, and without oxygen, there would be no life! What a dilemma this had caused! So Vayu went to Brahma, the creator of the universe and asked for advice. Brahma, in turn, granted Hanuman the gift of eternal life. Surya, the god of the sun, gave Hanuman an unlimited supply of mangoes so he would never go hungry again. This way, Hanuman doesn’t have to risk hurting himself while looking for food. This allows Vayu to resume his job because he doesn’t have to worry about baby Hanuman hurting himself. All is right again in the world once again and everyone lives happily ever after.

Author's Note: I just took the story of Hanuman and expanded on it a little bit. I thought it would be a good idea to describe the story of how Hanuman thought the sun was a mango in more detail. I imagined him being a clueless, innocent little monkey who didn’t even know the basics of finding food. Vayu, being the wind god, doesn't have much time to look after Hanuman so he doesn't get very much guidance. He always gets into some kind of trouble and has to learn from his countless mistakes.

The picture I used for this story assignment was pretty much perfect because it depicts basically my whole story into that one picture. It's Hanuman reaching for a mango (which is actually the sun in the distant sky). I don't think I could have found a better picture for this story.

I chose to write this story because I thought it would be a funny story to write. I knew by adding in some choice vocabulary and depicting Hanuman as an innocent baby monkey, I could get a lighthearted, comical story. At the same time, I wanted to show how Hanuman uses his mistakes as learning experiences and how his father still teaches him even though he's pretty busy. I liked how it turned out overall.

Bibliography: Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way. 

Hanuman mistakes the sun for a mango; Wikipedia

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