The Strongest One Who Forgot

Hanuman had all the power in the world. But he forgot. Until someone reminded him.

When little Hanuman tried to grab the sun, the sages got worried. They placed a quiet curse on him. The strongest being in the world would forget how strong he was, until somebody reminded him. Years later, on the southern shore of India, Hanuman sits with a group of monkeys and bears who are about to give up. The ocean is too wide to cross. Sita is somewhere on the other side. And then an old bear named Jambavan walks up, sits down next to Hanuman, and starts saying his name out loud.

A Curse to Keep Him Safe

In the last lesson, you saw what happened when little Hanuman thought the sun was a fruit. He jumped into the sky, grabbed it, and almost broke the world. Indra had to throw a thunderbolt to bring him down. His father Vayu, the wind god, almost stopped breathing for the whole earth.

The gods felt bad about all of this. They came back and gave Hanuman a hundred blessings to make up for the bolt. They said, You will be the strongest being who has ever lived. No weapon will hurt you. You will be able to fly. You will be able to grow as big as a mountain or as small as a thumb. You will live forever.

The child was now an unstoppable force.

Which, when you think about it, was a problem.

A toddler with all the power in the world is a very scary thing. The sages of the forest, who are wise about how children grow, came together and decided something. They placed a gentle curse on Hanuman. Not a punishing curse. A protecting one.

They said, "Until somebody else reminds you of how strong you are, you will forget. Your powers will sleep inside you. You will live as a regular monkey, fast and clever, but the sky-jumping and mountain-lifting will not come to you naturally. They will wait. Quietly. Until the right person, at the right moment, says your name."

The little Hanuman did not even notice the curse landing on him. He was busy chasing a butterfly. But from that day on, the biggest power in the universe was tucked away inside a small monkey, waiting to be remembered.

And Hanuman grew up.

A Beach in the South of Bharat

Many, many years later. Hanuman is no longer a toddler. He is a grown monkey, strong, careful, devoted, the chief minister of the monkey king Sugriva.