Chapter 36 - How Hanuman was cursed by the Ascetics

[Full title: The Boons bestowed on the Child Hanuman and how he was cursed by the Ascetics].

“As soon as he beheld the Grandsire of the World, Vayu, taking his young child, for whom he had wept as one dead, rushed towards Dhatar. With his waving lodes, his diadem and the garlands with which he was adorned, Vayu, having bowed three times, fell at the feet of Brahma.

“Then he, who was conversant with the Veda, his arms decorated with dazzling bracelets, touched the child as if in play, thereupon, that God sprung from the lotus, merely by caressing the child, revived him as seed that is watered.

“Beholding his son restored, the Wind-god, blowing auspiciously, began to circulate in all beings as erstwhile and, freed from the obstructions caused by Maruta, all creatures became happy, like lakes covered with lotuses over which an icy wind has ceased to blow.

“Then Brahma, who possesses the three pairs of qualities^[1], who is Himself the essence of Trimurti, having his abode in the Three Worlds^[2], He who is revered by the Gods, said to the Celestials, in his anxiety to propitiate Maruta:—

“‘Know the truth, I will impart it to you for it is important! Hear all of you, Mahendra, Agni, Varuna, Maheshwara, Dhaneshwara and others—this child will carry out all you have to accomplish, therefore grant him every boon in order to gratify his sire.’

“Thereupon the God of a Thousand Eyes, delighted, his brow radiant, took off his garland of lotuses and spoke thus:—

“‘Since the thunderbolt escaped from my grasp and shattered his jaw, this child shall be called Hanuman. I shall bestow an excellent boon upon him; from to-day, he will be invulnerable to thunderbolts I’

“Then Martanda, in his turn, that blessed One who dispels the darkness, said:—

“‘I will bestow a hundredth part of mine effulgence upon him and when he is able to learn the Shastras, I will endow him with eloquence!’

“Thereafter Varuna accorded him the following boon, saying:—

“‘Innumerable years shall pass, yet shall my noose and my waters never be used against him I’

“After this, Yama granted him the boon of invulnerability and immunity to disease and said:—

“‘As a sign of my satisfaction, I shall grant him the further boon of never being slain in battle!’

“Then the red-eyed Dhanada spoke thus:—

“‘This mace held by me shall protect him in combat 1’

“Thereafter the God Shankara, bestowing the foremost of favours upon him, said:—

“‘I shall restrain my shafts from wounding him!’

“Then Vishvakarma of the great Car, casting his eyes on the child, said:—

“‘He will be invulnerable to the celestial weapons forged by me and his life shall endure!’

“Finally the magnanimous Brahma spoke thus:—

“‘None of my weapons shall be able to harm him!’

“Beholding the child enriched by the boons of the Gods, the Four-faced Lord, Guru of the Worlds, in his satisfaction addressed Vayu, saying:—

“‘Your son, Maruti, will be the terror of his foes, the support of his friends and invincible! Able to change his form at will, he will accomplish all he desires and go wheresoever he pleases with unimaginable velocity. In order to destroy Ravana and gratify Rama, he will perform such feats of arms that will cause every being to tremble 1’

“These words pacified Vayu, as also the Immortals and, with the Grandsire at their head, they all departed to the place from whence they had come.

“Vayu, the Bearer of Perfume, taking his son, returned home and, telling Anjana of the boons he had received, went away.

“O Rama, receiving these favours which filled him with power, and with the temerity natural to him, Hanuman resembled the ocean that is overflowing.

“In his intemperate ardour, that bull among monkeys shamelessly began to create trouble in the hermitages of the great Rishis. Scattering the spoons, jars, sacrificial fires, and heaps of bark used by those peace-loving Sages, overturning and shattering them, by such exploits, he, who had been rendered invulnerable to all brahmanic weapons by Shambhu, distinguished himself.

“Knowing from whence his power was derived, the great Rishis bore with him, nevertheless, despite the warnings of his sire, Kesharin, the son of Anjana exceeded all bounds, whereupon highly indignant, those mighty Rishis, born in the line of Bhrigu and Angiras, cursed him, O Prince of the Raghus, without, however, giving rein to their full anger and irritation.

“They said:—

‘Since, in the knowledge of your power, 0 Plavamgama, you dost harass us, by the adverse effect of our curse you shalt become unaware of it for a long time, but, when it is remembered by you, you shalt be able to wield it effectively.’

“Thereafter, the knowledge of his powers was taken from him in virtue of the great Rishis’ words and, from that moment, Hanuman ranged the solitudes in a placid mood.

“At that time, Riksharajas, full of effulgence, like unto the sun, the father of Bali and Sugriva, ruled over all the monkeys and after a prolonged reign, that Sovereign of the Monkeys succumbed to the natural law of time and, having died, the ministers, learned in the sacred formulas, installed Bali in his father’s stead and Sugriva as heir-apparent.

“Hanuman and Sugriva were as one and there was no difference between them; they loved each other as do Agni and Anila but when the quarrel between Bali and Sugriva arose, Hanuman, on account of the brahmins’ curse, was unaware of his powers, nor, in the terror in which Bali had thrown him, did Sugriva call them to mind, O Lord. The curse of the brahmins having robbed him of that knowledge, the foremost of Monkeys, supported Sugriva as an ally in the fight, who resembled a lion that a great elephant subdues. For valour, energy, intelligence, strength, amiability, sweetness of disposition, knowledge of what is fitting and not fitting, steadfastness, skill, courage and audacity, who can surpass Hanuman in the world?

“That Indra among monkeys, in order to acquire grammar took refuge with the Sun-god and, in his spirit of enquiry that was without equal, he travelled from the mountain where he rises to the one where he sets, with a large book, a vast encyclopedia comprising the Sutras, their Commentaries, their meaning and the synthesis.

“That Prince of Monkeys became an accomplished scholar and none equalled him in the Shastras nor in the interpretation of the Prosody. In all the sciences and in the rules of asceticism, he rivalled Brihaspati. By your grace, he will become a very brahmin conversant with the meaning of the most recent grammatical systems. Like unto an ocean, eager to engulf the worlds, like unto Pavaka desirous of consuming them at the final dissolution, who is able to challenge Hanuman, that second Antaka?

“O Rama, on thine account, the Gods created Hanuman and the other foremost of monkeys, Sugriva, Mainda, Dvivida as also Nila, Tara, Tareya, Nala, Rambha, Gaja, Gavaksha, Gavaya, Sudamshtra, Prabhojya, Atimukha and Nala as also the bears with those leading monkeys who were all created by the Gods, O Rama.

“I have answered your question fully and have just told you of Hanuman’s exploit accomplished in childhood.”

Agastya’s tale greatly amazed Rama, Saumitri, the monkeys and the Rakshasas, and Agastya addressed Rama, saying:—

“You have learnt all that I have to tell; now that we have beheld you and received thine hospitality, we crave leave to depart!”

Hearing the words of the supremely pious Agastya, Raghava with joined palms, bowing to that great Rishi, said:—

“To-day the Gods, my parents, ancestors and my family have been blessed by your holy sight, yea, sanctified for ever. In the joy of my return, this is what I have to ask of you. It is for you in thine affection to concede it.

“I, who came to establish the inhabitants of the city and the country in their personal duties, desire your co-operation in the sacrifice that I now wish to perform, O You who bdongest to the virtuous. Will you, whose asceticism eliminates all faults, not assist me in these ceremonies, for then shall I be welcomed by mine ancestors and my felicity be complete? Do you all assemble here!”

On this request, Agastya and the other Rishis of rigid penances, answered, “Let it be so!” and went to their hermitages.

Having spoken thus, all those ascetics departed in the order in which they had come.

Raghava, having reflected on the utterances of the Sage, was greatly astonished, and the orb of the day having withdrawn behind the Asta Mountain, be dismissed die monkeys and the kings; thereafter that foremost of men, having performed his evening devotions and the night having come, retired to the inner apartments.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The three pairs of qualities—Renown and Virility ; Majesty and Beauty; Knowledge and Detachment.

[2]:

The three worlds—Bhur; Bhuvah; Swah.