The Baby Who Flew to the Sun
Little Hanuman thought the sun was a fruit. So he went to grab it.
Baby Hanuman wakes up hungry on Mount Anjanadri, sees the sun rising and thinks it is a giant red fruit. So he flies up to grab it. What happens next involves a thunderbolt, a heartbroken father, the world running out of wind, and so many blessings from the gods that Hanuman grows up almost too powerful for his own good.
Hungry on a Mountain
On the soft green slopes of Mount Anjanadri, just as the sky was turning pink, a baby with golden fur opened his eyes. His mother, Anjana, had stepped away for a moment to fetch water. The baby looked around. Birds were just starting to chirp. Small dewdrops sat on every leaf. He sat up.
He was very, very hungry.
His name was Hanuman, and he was no ordinary baby. His father was Vayu, the god of wind. From the day he was born, the breeze always blew a little softer when he was around, like the world was being careful with him.
Hanuman rubbed his tummy. He looked left. He looked right. There was nothing to eat anywhere nearby.
Then he looked up.
The Big Red Fruit
There, at the edge of the sky, the sun was rising over the trees. Big. Round. Bright orange-red, like a ripe mango. The kind your mother slices for you in the summer.
Hanuman's eyes lit up.
"A fruit," he thought. "A really, really big fruit."
He stood up on his pudgy little legs. He took one step. He took another step. And then, because he was the son of the wind god, he simply went up.
He flew. Higher than the trees. Higher than the mountains. Higher than the clouds. The world below got smaller and smaller. The sun stayed where it was, big and red and round, and Hanuman flew toward it with his arms stretched out and his little mouth open.
It is, when you think about it, the most baby thing in the world to do.
Indra Panics
Now, far above the clouds, in Swarga (the kingdom of the gods), Indra was sipping his morning amrita. Indra was the king of the gods. He carried a thunderbolt called the vajra, which he used to keep the world in order.