Week 5: Storytelling: The Birth of Hanuman

The Birth of Hanuman

“Caesar, it is time for bed,” the mother monkey said.

“Awww man, but I don’t want to yet,” begged Caesar.

“Now!”

“Okay, okay, I’m coming, but will you read me a bedtime story?”

“Yes, I will Caesar. Now  get into your pajamas and come to bed. I will find you a story that you haven’t read before. I am quite tired of reading you the same bedtime stories over and over!” Mother said while smiling at Caesar. “Okay, let’s see here… Hmmm. Ravana and the Monkey...or Rama’s Exile. Sita’s Captu- No. AH! Here we are! I will tell you the story of Hanuman. Specifically the beginning.”

“This book is called the Birth of Hanuman,” the mother said while reaching for the book on the shelf. “He is a monkey like you! Do you want to hear this story?

“Yes!” exclaimed Caesar.

 "The story begins at the center of the surface of the Earth, Mount Meru. Since Meru is on the center of the planet, the sun will appear to just rotate circles around you 24/7! It is always bright there and  the bright sunlight had turned the mountain into solid gold. Luckily enough the solid gold ground didn't hinder the flowers from blooming, or the grass and trees growing. It was a beautiful place. There was water, animals, and birds that lived on the hill.

Lord Brahma comes down to earth whenever he wants to just relax, and the place he chooses to go is Mount Meru. One day while resting, Lord Brahma shed a tear from his eye and it fell down onto the solid ground. It was at that exact spot the first money was born.

Brahma called him Riksharaja. He decided to stay at Meru for a while to keep the Riksharaja company. The monkey played all day and ate fruit whenever he liked. Every evening he would put flowers at Brahma’s feet.

One day Riksharaja saw his own reflection when he bent over to take a drink of water. He thought that it was an enemy trying to steal his supply, so he jumped into the pool of water after the thief. There was nobody there, and when he came back up from the water he was turned into a female! She was the most beautiful monkey girl ever. When Indra, the god of Storms, and Surya the Sun saw her, they had to come down and met Riksharaja. Eventually she bore children from the gods, and they were two gold-colored babies. Riksharaja and Brahma named them Vali and Sugriva.

Brahma then gave the city of Kishkindhya to Vali. He became the Monkey King, and growing up he always got whatever he wanted. Riksharaja didn’t want Sugriva to be left out so she went and asked Vayu, the God of the Winds, to father a son. Vayu and Anjana,who was an apsara previously named Puñjikastalā then gave birth to Hanuman. He was a small monkey with white fur and a red face with brownish-yellow eyes. Anjana left Hanuman all alone by the mouth of a small cave.

Mango- Wikimedia Commons

Almost a whole day went by and no one came to feed Hanuman, and as the day began Hanuman stared at the sky and ran into the Sun. He thought that it looked like a giant Mango fruit. As soon as he saw this, Hanuman licked his lips and leaped up into the air after the Sun. On his way there, his father the Wind blew a steady cool breeze all over Hanuman so that be wouldn’t be burned by the Sun’s rays. As Hanuman approached Surya the Sun he smiled and opened his mouth nice and wide. Hanuman was spell-bound!  They all looked like fruits! Hanuman took off and bit Rahu’s ear, and went with his arms and legs swinging for Indra. Indra hit him with the flat side of his thunderbolt and he came crashing down back to earth breaking his jaw. Vayu was angry and raced to hold his son. Brahma came back to earth and healed Hanuman. Surya came down and smiled at Hanuman while giving him three large mangos for him when he woke up.

Hanuman would grow up to become a loyal friend to Sugriva and eventually help Rama on his quest to save Sita and vanquish Ravana. He just didn’t know it yet."

THE END

Caesar was already asleep.

Author's Note

This week I decided to re-tell the story of the Birth of Hanuman. If you noticed that I used the main characters stories name Caesar. I got the idea from the movie "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes." The reason I chose to write about this story was because I found it to be a very funny story within the Ramayana. Hanuman is one of the most important characters in the Ramayana, and I just wanted to remind readers how he came to be. It can be easily overlooked because there are many small stories in the Ramayana. I basically retold the same story from Buck's book, and I only left out some small details here and there like when Vayu and Anjana conceived,  and Hanuman's role on earth. One thing that I decided to do for my story was to tell it as a bedtime story. I got this idea from the Storytelling Ideas page and it stuck with me. I chose to use a bedtime story setting because I believe it is the best way to explain his story in a fun and innocent way to a kid. I wanted to focus most on Hanuman, so that is why I left out some dialogue and information of other characters in the story like Rahu. Besides kids ill just fall asleep if the story becomes too long or confusing.