| Great Devotees |
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| Biographies of Great Indians & Hindus |
HANUMANTHA |
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| The Bold Baby
Which Snatched At the Sun There was a heavenly nymph by name Punjikasthale. She was very beautiful. Because of a curse she was born as the daughter of Kunjara, a monkey, on earth. She was now called Anjanadevi. Once, when she was taking a stroll near a mountain, Vayu, the Wind God fell in love with her. The son born to the Wind God and Anjanadevi was Anjaneya. Hanumantha was extraordinary from the very moment of his birth. There are very interesting stories about him. Soon after he was born, Hanumantha felt very hungry. Looking up he saw in the east something red. Hanumantha thought that the red sun was a fruit and flew up to snatch it. What was a child's whim became something serious. Though the sun's heat burnt his face, Hanumantha was obstinate and continued to fly towards, the sun. Indra, the Lord of Heaven, feared that the sun might be caught. So he hit at Hanumantha with his terrible weapon Vajrayudha. Hanumantha fell down and was hurt. His left cheek became swollen. (This is why he came to be called Hanumantha. 'Hanu' in Sanskrit means the cheek. Sometimes he is called Hanuman.) Now, Hanumantha's father, the Wind God became very angry. So he would not move at all. In all the three worlds there was no air to breathe. Then all the gods came and consoled the Wind God. Each god conferred a boon upon the Hanumantha. Brahma and Creator said, "No weapon will be able to kill this boy". Indra said to the boy, "You will be a 'Chiranjeevi'(immortal)." Blessed thus by the gods, Hanumantha grew up to be as strong as his father. He flew about as freely and was quite mischievous. The Rishis - the ancient sages - who were troubled by his mischief pronounced a curse on him. Hence, Hanumantha would never know how powerful and strong he was. Others would have to explain to him his strength. Only then would he be realizing it. |
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