Uttara Kanda, Sarga 36

Meaning

“On seeing Brahmā (the grandfather of the entire creation, which is evolved by his ten mind-born sons), the wind-god, who was tormented by the death of his son, stood in front of the creator, bearing that child in his arms. (1)

Meaning

“Standing thrice submissively before the creator, the wind-god with swinging earrings, nay, adorned with a diadem and garland, and ornaments of gold, fell at the former’s feet. (2)

Meaning

“Lifting up the wind-god, Brahmā (the knower of the Vedas) stroked that child with his long, outstretched and adorned hand. (3)

Meaning

“The moment Hanumān was sportingly touched by Brahmā (the lotus-born), he thereupon forthwith came back to life like a crop which has been watered. (4)

Meaning

“Seeing Hanumān restored to life, the wind-god, constituting the vital breath of the entire creation, began once more to circulate inwardly as before in all creatures. (5)

Meaning

“Completely freed from the obstruction caused by the wind-god, all those created beings became joyful again like lakes spotted with lotus flowers when rid of cold winds. (6)

Meaning

“Thereupon Brahmā, who is endowed with three pairs of divine properties (viz., glory and prowess, power and wealth, wisdom and dispassion), who appears in three forms (viz., Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva), who has His abode in all the three worlds, and who is worshipped by all the gods (lit., those who pass through only three stages in life, viz., infancy, boyhood and prime of youth) spoke as follows to the gods with intent to oblige the wind-god: (7)

Meaning

“ ‘O mighty Indra, Agni (the god of fire), Varuṇa (the god presiding over the waters), Lord Śiva (the Supreme Ruler) and Kubera (the god of riches) to you, even though you know everything, I will tell you what is conducive to your good; please listen. (8)

Meaning

“ ‘Your purpose shall be accomplished by this infant. Therefore, grant him boons all of you with a view to the appeasement of the wind-god.’ (9)

Meaning

“Taking off his wreath of lotus flowers and placing it round the neck of Hanumān, Indra (the thousand-eyed god), who had a charming countenance, uttered the following words: (10)

Meaning

“ ‘Inasmuch as the chin of this infant was broken by the thunderbolt hurled from my hand, this tiger among the monkeys will surely go by the name of Hanumān. (11)

Meaning

“ ‘I hereby grant him the supreme and wonderful boon that from this day onwards he will be invulnerable to my thunderbolt.’ (12)

Meaning

“The glorious sun-god, the dispeller of darkness, for his part said on that occasion, ‘I bestow upon him a hundredth part of my brilliance. (13)

Meaning

“Again, when the ability to study the Śāstras (the various branches of learning) appears in him, then I shall impart to him the knowledge of the Śāstras, whereby he will become a good speaker. Nay, none shall vie with him in the knowledge of the Śāstras.’ (14)

Meaning

“Nay, Varuṇa conferred on him the boon that his death will not occur even in millions of years from his noose or from water either. (15)

Meaning

“Yama granted him invulnerability to his rod and freedom from ailment. Then Kubera (the bestower of riches), who was brown of one eye, actually said, ‘Highly pleased, I grant him the boon that this mace of mine shall not cause his death in conflicts and further vouchsafe him unweariness in war.’ (16-17)

Meaning

“The supreme boon that ‘This child shall be immune from death at My hands as well as from death caused by My weapons’ was bestowed on him by Lord Śaṅkara, the Bestower of happiness. (18)

Meaning

“Nay, beholding that infant, who vied with the rising sun, the highly intelligent Viśwakarmā, the foremost among the builders, granted him the following boon: (19)

Meaning

‘Having acquired invulnerability to celestial weapons that have been forged by me as well as to those which exist in my mind, he shall be long-lived.’ (20)

Meaning

“Brahmā made the following augury concerning the infant: ‘This infant shall be long-lived and magnanimous and shall be invulnerable to all rods of punishment connected with Brahmā (the creator) or to the imprecations pronounced by the Brāhmaṇas.” (21)

Meaning

“Gratified to see the infant enriched by the boons granted by the gods, Brahmā (the four-faced god), the teacher of the world, spoke to the wind-god as follows: (22)

Meaning

“ ‘Your son, Hanumān, O wind-god, will prove to be a terror to his foes, will vouchsafe immunity from fear to his friends and will prove invincible. (23)

Meaning

“ ‘This jewel among the monkeys shall be able to change his form at will, and go wheresoever he pleases at the speed of his choice; his movements will remain unimpeded and everywhere he shall turn out glorious. (24)

Meaning

“ ‘In the war he shall accomplish feats intended to uproot Rāvaṇa, pleasing to Śrī Rāma and causing one’s hair to stand on end.’ (25)

Meaning

“Saying so and taking leave of the well-known wind-god, all the petitioners including the gods, with Brahmā (the grandfather of the entire creation) at their head, returned even as they had come.(26)

Meaning

“Taking his son with him, the wind-god (the wafter of smells), brought the child home and, telling Añjanā of the child having been granted boons by the gods, departed. (27)

Meaning

“Having obtained boons from the gods, and enriched by the strength which accrued from the bestowal of boons, O Rāma, this celebrated Hanumān replete with his native velocity, resembled the ocean. (28)

Meaning

“Overflowing with vigour, Hanumān (a bull among the monkeys) fearlessly began to offend even against the sanctity of the hermitages of eminent Ṛṣis seers of Vedic Mantras at that time. (29)

Meaning

“He broke the sacrificial ladles and vessels, interrupted the pouring of oblations into the sacred fires and tore to shreds the piles of bark belonging to the perfectly tranquil ascetics living in the hermitages. (30)

Meaning

“Hanumān, who was endowed with extraordinary might, freely indulged in such pranks. Knowing that he had been rendered immune by Brahmā (the source of happiness) from death caused by all kinds of curses pronounced by Brāhmaṇas, all those Ṛṣis (seers of Vedic Mantras), put up with them because of the power derived from the boons. Even though prohibited by Kesarī (Añjanā’s husband and Hanumān’s foster-father) as well as by the wind-god, the yonder monkey, the son of Añjanā, for his part continued to exceed the bounds of propriety. Provoked to anger, the eminent sages, born in the line of Bhṛgu and Aṅgirā (the mind-born sons of Brahmā), who were really speaking neither enraged nor highly indignant, thereupon cursed him as follows, O jewel among Raghus: “ ‘Bewitched by our imprecation, you will remain unconscious for a long time of the power, banking on which you are harassing us, O monkey! You will become aware of your mighty prowess when someone reminds you of your glory.’ (31—35)

Meaning

“Deprived of the knowledge of his energy and vigour by the strength of the execration pronounced by the eminent sages, Hanumān, for his part, thereupon ranged over those very hermitages in a placid mood. (36)

Meaning

“At that time, the father of Vālī and Sugrīva, Ṛkṣarajā by name, who resembled the sun in splendour, was the ruler of all the monkeys. (37)

Meaning

“Having ruled for a long time, that suzerain lord of the monkeys, Ṛkṣarajā by name, for his part, was subjected to the natural law of Time. (38)

Meaning

“He having met his death, Vālī was forthwith installed in the position of his father and Sugrīva in the position of Vālī (the Crown prince) by his counsellors, who were expert in counselling. (39)

Meaning

“From his very boyhood Vāli developed with Sugrīva an unwarying and unbroken brotherhood, similar to that of the wind with fire. (40)

Meaning

“By reason of that very curse, Hanumān was not conscious of his might. When hostility arose between Vālī and Sugrīva, O Rāma, neither the yonder Sugrīva, even while he was being forced to wander from place to place, O Lord Rāma, nor this son of the wind-god, Hanumān, was actually aware of the strength which existed in him. (41-42)

Meaning

“Deprived of the knowledge of his own might by the curse of the sages, Hanumān, the foremost of monkeys, remained standing by the side of Sugrīva during that very period like a lion kept back by an elephant, in the course of the latter’s combat with Vālī. (43)

Meaning

“Who is there in the world superior to Hanumān in respect of prowess, energy, extraordinary glory, amiability, sweetness of temper and the knowledge of what is prudent or otherwise, as well as of profundity, cleverness, extraordinary virility and firmness? (44)

Meaning

“With his face turned towards the sun-god with a view to learn grammar and desiring to put questions to him, (in order to remove his doubts) the yonder chief of monkeys, of immeasurable energy, journeyed from the hill where the sun rises to the hill where it sets, with intent to master the great work on grammar. (45)

Meaning

“Hanumān (the chief of monkeys) has mastered the great gloss on the aphorisms including the aphorisms of grammar as well as the Vṛtti (comment), the Vārtīka (annotation) on the aphorisms and also the monographs on the subject. Indeed there is none like him in the knowledge of other branches of learning as well as in prosody. (46)

Meaning

“He actually rivals Sage Bṛhaspati (the preceptor of gods) in all the branches of learning as well as in the practice of austerities. Well-versed in the subject-matter of the nine systems of grammar, the yonder Hanumān shall prove to be a very Brahmā by Your grace. (47)

Meaning

“Who can stand face to face with Hanūmān, who resembles the ocean threatening (at the time of final dissolution) to corrode the earth or the fire which (at the end of the world-period) is out to consume the universe and who resembles Death on the occasion of the destruction of the world? (48)

Meaning

“Like him, other great leaders of monkeys too, viz., Sugrīva, Mainda and Dwivida including Nīla, Tāra, Aṅgada (son of Tārā) and Nala as also Rambha were actually procreated by the gods for your sake, O Rāma! (49)

Meaning

“Nay, alongwith the aforesaid leaders of monkeys, Gaja, Gavākṣa, Gavaya, Sudaṁṣṭra, Mainda, Prabha, Jyotimukha and Nala—these bears too were actually procreated by the gods for your sake only, O Rāma! (50)

Meaning

“All that you asked me has hereby been related by me. The feats performed by Hanumān in his childhood have also been recounted by me.” (51)

Meaning

Hearing the tale of Agastya, Śrī Rāma as well as Lakṣmaṇa, as also the monkeys alongwith the ogres experienced great wonder. (52)

Meaning

Agastya for his part said to Śrī Rāma, “All this has been listened to by You. You have also been seen and spoken to by us, O Rāma! We now depart.” (53)

Meaning

Hearing this statement of Agastya of formidable lustre, Śrī Rāma (a scion of Raghu) submissively replied as follows with joined palms to the great sage: (54)

Meaning

“The gods, the eternal manes as well as the souls of My departed ancestors are pleased with Me today. As for ourselves we stand ever gratified with our kinsfolk through your very sight. (55)

Meaning

“Here is something actually worth bringing to your notice. Seized with a longing, that which I submit to you must be carried out by you out of compassion to Me. (56)

Meaning

“After appointing the citizens as well as the people of the countryside to their respective duties, now that I have returned from My exile in the forest, I intend to perform sacrifices through the goodwill of saintly persons like you. (57)

Meaning

“Longing, as you do, to bless Me, you, for your part, who are endowed with extraordinary prowess born of asceticism, should constantly act as superintending priests at My sacrificial performances. (58)

Meaning

“Fully depending on you, who have shaken off all sins through asceticism, I shall be blessed by My ancestors and feel exceedingly happy. (59)

Meaning

“You all should always come here in a body at the time when the sacrifice has commenced.” Hearing the aforesaid request and saying “Amen” to Him, the sages of rigid vows, the foremost of whom was Agastya, began to depart. Saying so, all the aforesaid sages left as they came. (60-61)

Meaning

Śrī Rāma too pondered in amazement over that very subject of performing sacrifices. Having seen off the assembled kings and monkeys on the sun having set, and performed the Sandhyā devotions with due ceremony, Śrī Rāma, the foremost of jewels among men, for His part retired into the gynaeceum when the night had set in. (62-63)