In this episode, we’re back into the Ramayana where we’ll hear the story of Hanuman in Lanka! If this is the very first Ramayana episode you’re hearing on this podcast, it took you long enough. But better late than never. I’m also not going to ask you to hit the pause button and find the links in the show notes to those earlier episodes and listen to them. But, if you have the time that might not be such a terrible idea. Still, I’ll recap the story so far.
Ram, was the crown prince of Ayodhya who was cheated out of his throne. Well not cheated. Technically. His stepmother Kaikeyi had the law on her side when she pressured her husband, Ram’s father, into exiling Ram for 14 years. Only, Ram didn’t go alone. Sita, his wife and Laxman, his brother, went along. It is worth mentioning here that Ram was an avatar of Vishnu, one of the holy trinity in Indian mythology. Vishnu is the preserver of the Universe, creating a kind of balance between Brahma the Creator and Shiva the Destroyer. Shameless plug here, but Brahma is my dad. Yup, I am a bonafide mythological character. I’m just clarifying that in case you ever had any doubts about that!
Anyway, Ram, Laxman and Sita left Ayodhya. Sadly, in Ancient India there was no remote working option. Especially not for Kings. So they spent the years moving from one forest accommodation to another. Sort of like the World’s toughest eco-adventure races pitting their survival skills against Mother Nature. Those races may look enjoyable when watched on a 75 inch TV while sitting on a comfy sofa with freshly made popcorn. For the Ayodhya trio, the next 14 years were anything but a vacation.
For the trio life was sometimes exciting but mostly exhausting. Because they had one challenge after another to deal with. A demoness who wanted to eat Sita, followed by her brothers who wanted to avenge their sister, and then the ultimate escalation that led to Ravana kidnapping Sita. Ravana was the Emperor of Lanka and the mega villain and boss character in this epic.
Through some painstaking clues, Ram and Laxman picked up Sita’s trail. They needed help, and they got it. It was the vaanars – a kingdom of monkeys that jumped in to help. The Vaanars were led by Sugriva whom Ram and Laxman helped in a bitter dispute with Sugriva’s brother Vaali.
Sugriva sent Vaanars in every direction. That included the South, where Lanka was. This group was headed by Hanuman, who was Sugriva’s loyal friend and advisor. Hanuman had superpowers. There’s more about his superpowers in Episode 25. But let’s just say that Hanuman was stronger than the Hulk, could fly longer range than Iron man, without the aid of an AI system solving all problems for him, and he could walk on water. He also had the power to move mountains. Literally.
Which meant he could make the trip to Lanka across the sea. But because he was the only Vaanar who could do so, it was a solo trip. He encountered many dangers and dealt with each in an appropriate way. And now he had set foot in Lanka.
That’s where we’ll continue the story today.
Hanuman landed on the Lankan shore when it was already rather dark. The beaches were deserted. All he saw were anachronistic beach chairs and umbrellas. There was a “Welcome to Lanka!” at a nearby disused dock. Come to think of it, why hadn’t there been any boats between India and Lanka? Hanuman wondered. Flying was rather tiring. And it had made him thirsty too. It was ironic. When he had been flying there was water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. Someone should write a poem about it in the future, Hanuman thought.
Now the first thing a normal person might search for after a long and tiring journey, might be a bed. Or maybe a restroom. Or a bite to eat. Or a drink. But Hanuman was not just an ordinary person. He was on a mission. So the first thing he began looking for was Sita.
Hanuman hadn’t expected Ravana to be waiting on the beach for him, but this place seemed like a ghost town. Was anyone even living here? Should he wait for dawn to get his bearings? No, he didn’t want to lose valuable time. And the cover of darkness might allow him to do what others couldn’t.
The Palace wasn’t mentioned in Google Maps. “Primitives” he muttered. But he had an idea so he went back to the Welcome sign. There might be pamphlets for tourists, including palace visiting hours, overpriced admission fees to view a changing of the guard, and more importantly how to get there. He found the pamphlets but not in Sanskrit, which was the current international standard. Google translate, if it existed, wouldn’t have worked. Millenia ago, it would probably do a worse job than it does today. The choice of language on the pamphlets made it clear – Sanskrit-speaking tourists from India were not welcome here.
Tired though he was, he was left with no other alternative except to fly. He launched in the direction where there seemed to be more buildings, hoping the road would lead to the capital. he could have changed his size and walked miles with every step. But there’s a big price to doing that,. Remember Godzilla, or Cloverfield or Jurassic or any of a hundred monster movies where a 300 foot monster suddenly shows up in a major city? Instead of welcoming the monster, people are running for cover. Seriously, why does every monster prefer to show up in New York City instead of a bajillion other places? Maybe they are attracted to the Statue of Liberty. And when the metal statue doesn’t respond, these monsters blow off some steam by trampling on people, buildings, and cars. I digress a little. My point is that if Hanuman enlarged himself and ran to the palace, his footsteps would cause more than just tremors in cups of water. They would cause massive earthquakes and alert everyone. And they would likely attack him with everything they had. He wasn’t worried about his own safety but he was worried they might harm Sita.
So he flew in the direction of some lights and reached a walled city. It was pretty big and it seemed shiny in the night. The buildings and homes in the city were covered with gold. These Lankans do themselves well, Hanuman thought.
Sita had to be in this city. But where? He needed to gather some intelligence. So he grabbed a newspaper from a vending machine. He didn’t have the correct Lankan currency, so he dropped in a few more rupees than were necessary. He didn’t want to harm the poor newspaper vendor’s business.
And that was a good thing because the headlines were all about the Lankan economic crisis. Not the one the world is seeing right now in 2022. There were economic crises back in Hanuman’s day as well. The reporter strongly criticized the government sponsored program of coating people’s homes and office buildings with gold. It was already warm and the metal made things appear hotter. Another article talked about the leader of the opposition bringing a vote of no-confidence against Ravana for wasteful government expenditure, unnecessary foreign trips by senior government leaders, and a failure to establish a succession after Khar and Dushana’s recent involuntary resignation(which Hanuman translated to mean their deaths).
The article continued describing how the vote of no-confidence was quashed because the opposition leader himself was quashed. Literally. Ravana dropped a mountain on him. No one dared to complain. Some even tried to see it as a good thing – hey they had a new hiking trail right in the middle of their own city now. That enthusiasm didn’t last very long when Ravana flicked away the mountain when he got bored. Even though there were still some hikers on it. The rest of the newspaper was boring. One section that was useful was an interview with Lankini. She had about a dozen titles, but the one that interested Hanuman was the one called the defender of the city. Lankini was guarding the main entrance to the city. He must go see her immediately.
Hanuman walked around until he found the main gates. And there stood Lankini. Unmistakable. Her newspaper photo was a good likeness, but didn’t show scale. Lankini was gargantuan. She could have held Hanuman between her finger and thumb and crushed him. Not that she would have been able to, but she was that immense. Hanuman walked over confidently.
“Let me in please” he asked, politely. Always a good idea in my opinion.
“Go away, you insignificant fly” said Lankini.
“Monkey” corrected Hanuman.
Lankini paid no attention and continued “Come back tomorrow and apply to the office of immigration with your passport, visa, demonstrate sufficient funds to prove you won’t claim welfare and then I might let you in. Listen, I don’t set the rules here. I just work here. If it were up to me, there is no one I would rather have sneaked into my city than you. But I am in the employ of Ravana and he’s a boss who can drop a mountain on you if he’s even mildly annoyed at you.”
“Yes, I read the newspaper” Hanuman added. “But I’m on a mission, I have a kidnapped princess to rescue. I must get in now”
“Oh so you are here to negotiate her release. You need the DiD visa. Standard Damsel in Distress.That requires extra paperwork. We need proof of abduction, a witness affidavit confirming that it was indeed Ravana who abducted the lady in question. We also need your Kingdom’s financial statements so Ravana can decide if it’s profitable to ransom her. Current backlog for the visa is 3.5 years”
“Step aside Lankini and let me through. I was just being polite. I need not have asked at all,” Hanuman said.
“You little rat!” Lankini said
“Monkey” Hanuman corrected patiently.
“You dare to command me? I used to guard the house of Brahma the Creator himself”
Lankini was not lying. She did guard our home. Now if you have been listening to this show, you probably think that being Brahma’s guard doesn’t make her competent. Brahma after, all is a poor judge of character. We have seen this dozens of times on the show when he decides to grant superpowers to practically anyone. Ravana got his superpowers from Brahma as well. Lankini was hired as Brahma’s security guard without an interview and solely based on her giant size. But it’s a lot easier to get a job than to keep it. In all the time I met Lankini when visiting Brahma, she was rude and arrogant, and other visitors felt the same as well. Come to think of it, that is why Brahma gave her the pink slip and helped her get a new job. Only her new job wasn’t her choice. He cursed her to guard this city of the Rakshasas.
Hanuman felt this had gone on long enough. If he spent all this time negotiating it would be daybreak and ruin his chances of finding Sita.
“You see that stain on the floor?” he asked Lankini
Lankini stared and then exclaimed “Chauvinistic pig!”
Hanuman was going to correct her again, but it wasn’t worth it, he thought. Lankini continued “You think it’s a woman’s job to do the cleaning? You don’t like the stain, clean it yourself”
“I will. That is precisely what I was suggesting. I’m going to wipe the floor with you”
Lankini jumped on him suddenly with her sword raised. Which was not a problem for Hanuman. He simply brushed her off. The gargantuan Lankini went crashing against a far wall.
“Sorry about that,” Hanuman said. “But I do have a mission to accomplish”
Lankini continued lying there on the ground. It wasn’t that she was terribly hurt. She had two questions. Brahma had told her that she would be released from her curse when a monkey defeated her. Could Hanuman have been the monkey? And why hadn’t Hanuman wiped off the stain on the floor when he said he would?
Hanuman was that monkey and that is what allowed Lankini to be liberated from her guardian duty. A good thing, as we’ll see later in the Ramayana. One less giant to defend Lanka.
Hanuman went straight for the palace. Ravana lived there, and so Sita must be there as well. He was largely unchallenged. I guess everyone felt that with Lankini on guard there was nothing to worry about. They clearly overestimated her abilities based on her glowing Linkedin recommendations.
Hanuman, being a Vaanar, could climb the palace walls easily enough. Which might make you ask – why didn’t he just climb the city walls without Lankini’s knowledge? Well, it was because he was kindhearted and chose to free her of the curse. Which also explains why he went easy on her.
Anyway, Hanuman moved quickly from one tree to another and started searching for Sita. After peeking into seventeen windows, he found her. There was a lady sleeping in a bed. She seemed to match Ram’s description of Sita as being extremely beautiful. Last seen wearing plain clothes, and a little bit of jewelry. There was only one way to be sure. He would wake her up and ask her. But wait. This lady he was looking at could not be a kidnap victim. Ram was visibly upset and distraught at being apart from his wife. It was inconceivable that Sita would be sleeping comfortably in a huge royal bed. Where was the ball and chains that held her prisoner? This lady looked well-fed and content. This was probably Ravana’s queen. Maybe Mandodari whom Narada had referred to in Episode 55.
Sita couldn’t be here in the palace. But maybe she was in the dungeons? If so, it was pointless to go through windows looking for her. He needed to think of his next step. Maybe he should go hang around the garden. If there was any fruit there, it might help him think.
He swung down a few branches, and reached an apple tree. And then he saw her. At the base of a nearby tree sat a lady. She looked royal even though she was dressed in plain clothes. Her face was full of sorrow, of disappointment, of cheerlessness.
Still, Hanuman had learned a lesson from nearly waking up Mandodari to ask her if she was a Ravana abductee. This might still not be Sita. It might be another victim. Who knew how many princesses this Ravana dude had kidnapped? Hanuman also wouldn’t put it past the demon to plant a spy here who would pretend to be a rescue victim and entrap the would-be rescuers.
He decided that he would drop some hints and check the lady’s reaction. So he began humming a little limerick he composed on the spot.
There once was a rajkumar named Raam
When asked what was his Kaam
He answered that it was to obey his dad
Even if he asked for something bad
So he went into the forest with his wife and Sita was her naam.
Hanuman obviously said all this in Sanskrit, but I’ve loosely translated it to Hinglish for you listeners, because I care so much about giving you the right message.
Sita certainly saw that it was the right message. She stood up quickly, alert on hearing Hanuman’s limerick. “Hi,” she said. “I’ve never met a talking monkey before. But all that aside, how did you know my story?”
There was no mistaking her reaction. It was genuine excitement at finally being recognized.
If Hanuman needed further proof it was that Sita had on only one earring, and the pair was in his pocket. Ram had given it to him to help in his search.
“Mother Sita! I have found you” Hanuman exclaimed.
“You must be mistaken. I’m Sita alright, but I don’t remember having a child. And I’m certainly not a nun in a convent, so no need to address me as “mother””
“As you wish. You won’t believe how long it took me to find you! Oh Ram and Laxman will be so happy to see you again!”
“Are they here?” Sita was excited.
“No. They are back in India”. Sita tried to hide her disappointment but she didn’t succeed.
“But I can take you to them. Right now if you wish. Just hop on board Hanuman airlines. Sit on my back and I’ll fly back across the ocean”
“I don’t know about that,” Sita said cautiously. “I’ve been abducted once you know. I can’t just sit on your back and have you whisk me away wherever it is you’ll take me. How can you expect me to trust you?”
“Oh yes, I forgot. Here” he handed her Ram’s ring. He had given it to Hanuman before he began searching. And he had done that in case Sita asked exactly the question she was now asking.
Sita held the ring and shed a few silent tears, being reminded of her husband.
Finally she said, “I believe you Hanuman. You have come from Ram, no question. But I cannot go with you. That would not be right”
He was going to protest but she continued “hear me out. I was brought here by force when Ram was distracted. And you want to take me back. Not by force, but at a moment when Ravana isn’t aware. That won’t do. What I want is for Ram to come here himself, defeat Ravana and take me back with full honor! Also, I hate flying.”
It made sense to Hanuman, of course. He relented. “Alright so be it. I’m going to speed back so I can bring Ram and Laxman here quickly. Stay out of Ravana’s clutches please! Whatever delaying tactics you can manage use them. I’m off now, but say do you have a bite to eat?” he asked.
“Well look all around you. I was told I could only eat fruit that had fallen off the trees. So the same goes for you. Help yourself to some squishy mangoes and some pulpy apples.
That made Hanuman angry. Had this Ravana dude no decency? Hadn’t he heard of the Geneva convention? He walked over to a nearby tree and uprooted it in his anger. And then tossed it aside. He began to pluck up one tree after another.
There was a commotion and guards rushed to the scene.
They surrounded Hanuman quickly, their spears drawn and pointed straight at his heart. This was the end. Not Hanuman’s end obviously. The end of the episode. Hanuman smiled at the hundred or so guards who had surrounded him. “Perfect” he said. Things had gone according to his plan.
We’ll leave it there on a cliffhanger. It’s obvious that this is not the end of Hanuman. But hey, not all of you may know the high level story already so I’ll try not to reveal too much before the next time we come back to the Ramayana.
That’s all for now
Some notes on the show
Valmiki was the author of the Ramayana. We covered his origin story in Episode 6 – Fish Highwayman
The Ramayana kicks off in Episode 7 – Kingdom by Horse. Episode 15 – Rishi vs Rishi: Un-civil war! and Episode 16 – Six….teen Flags are about Rama and Laxman’s encounter with Vishwamitra
A flashback to Dasharath’s past is in Episode 24 – Promises made, hearts broken
Ram, Laxman, and Sita begin their exile in Episode 30 – Banished! and continue it in Episode 41 – Forest Life and Episode 64 – The First Kidnapping of Sita
They encounter Shoorpanakha in Episode 78 – Ramayana – An Indecent Proposal
We have also covered three episodes that aren’t part of the main storyline but feature some central Ramayana characters:
Hanuman’s origin story is in Episode 25 – Up, Up, and Away!
Episode 55 – Saturnine is about an encounter between Shani and Ravana.
Episode 81 – Ramayana – Wolverine Claws is the origin story of Ravana and Shoorpanakha.
And Episode 92 – Ramayana – Shanta is the story of Ram and Laxman’s sister – Shanta.
Episode 101 – Ramayana – A Wild Stag Chase explained how Ravana engineered a diversion so he could abduct Sita. In Episode 112 Ram and Laxman got their first hint of what had happened to Sita and also were told that Sugriva could help them
In Episode 118, Ram and Laxman learned more about Sugriva and Vali’s rivalry before finally meeting Hanuman and ensuring Sugriva’s victory in Episode 125 – Ramayana – Sugriva and Vali. Hanuman met Sampati in Episode 132 and then crossed the ocean in Episode 142. Vali was also the character of the Week in Episode 21.
Jambavan was character of the week in Episode 2.
Jatayu and Sampaati’s story is mentioned in the Character of the Week section of Episode 11.
That’s all for now.
Next Time
In the next episode, we’ll cover a couple of interesting folk tales from the state of Odisha. We’ll see a creative way of controlling the weather back in medieval India, and we’ll see why if you’re visiting friends for dinner, it’s always a good idea to take some food back to your mother – especially if your mother can bless you. Or maybe curse you.
Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next time!