Invocation
Upon the waves
of the milky ocean,
Using a coiled
serpent as his bed,
Lies the
shining deity Ranganatha
His lotus feet
I always seek,
His praises I
shall ever sing,
For wisdom lies
therein.
Story
My dearest
friend, sister mine,
You had always
taken a shine,
To the bedtime
stories I once told,
When you were
not yet half as old
As you are
today.
So I tell you
another tale,
Of a hero you
know and love,
Blessed with
strength and fearlessness,
But was too
young to know better
And abused it.
He liked fruits
you see,
Because he was
a monkey,
And in his
childish fun,
Set his eyes
upon the sun,
To eat it.
Monkey see and
monkey do,
Doesn’t think
things through,
Just to fulfil
his desire,
Leaps high and
flies higher
Into orbit.
Unlike another
young man,
From another
mythology,
Who flew wings
held with wax,
Our monkey
leapt into the sky,
And didn't die.
The sun looked
at him and fled,
And to the
other Gods he pled,
Save me from
that crazy ape,
Who follows
with mouth agape,
He'll kill me.
Then He who had
a thousand eyes,
Firstborn of
Aditi, ever wise,
Appeared at his
brother's call,
And to stop the
monkey small,
He punched him.
Mighty though
he was, the ape,
Was no match
for Indra the great,
And fell to the
ground nearly dead,
But at his
father Vayu's request,
Indra raised
him.
Little monkey
you are small but bold,
You will know
better when you're old,
Until then your
powers I keep,
Under lock and
key, for you to use,
In emergency.
I resurrect
you, said the King,
And heal your
broken jaw,
Because in
Sanskrit the same,
Is called a हनु (hanu), your name,
Shall be
Hanuman.
Thus it
happened when the time
To leap to
Lanka came around
To rescue Sita
and report to Ram
His awesome
powers were unbound
The rest you
know.
Benediction
Bonu, like your
favourite God,
You have
reached many heights,
The clan, the
country and career,
All behold you
with pride
And always
will.
In telling you
this ancient tale,
I hope to not
only regale,
And pass the
time, but also tell,
Know your
powers and know also
Your limits.
Know your foes,
choose your friends
For their
bravery and good sense
So that they
will not hesitate
To either
praise you or punch you
To set you
straight.
As in heaven
the thunder wielder
As on earth the
immortal ape
Guide their
respective realms
So may my
sister lead and protect
Her dependents.