Hanumansana

Word about the attack on Lanka and Ravana spread around the land of the Rakshasas like a wildfire. Within less than twenty-four hours Indrajit, Ravana's son, knew of the ambush his father endured. Enraged, Indrajit vowed to avenge his father... and so Indrajit sat down and began to draw out a plan.

For several weeks Indrajit returned to the drawing board to work out exactly how he was going to defeat Hanuman and his army. Although Indrajit wanted nothing more than to destroy Hanuman, Rama and his army, he knew that he must be patient and deliberate for Hanuman was a very powerful being and was not easily overpowered.

Finally! Indrajit came up with the perfect plan and he waited for the right moment to carry it out. Indrajit decided that the next full moon he would carry out and complete his task.

The night arrived and Indrajit traveled to the top of the mountain where he planned to carry out a sacrifice in order to obtain a secret weapon. This weapon was no ordinary weapon, but one that he knew he could use to defeat Hanuman, Rama, and Rama's army. Once Indrajit completed the sacrifice, the Fire-God rose up, bringing with him a Brahma-weapon.

Feeling invincible, Indrajit decided to go to the monkey village where Hanuman's monkeys slept.

Upon his arrival in the village, Indrajit drew his weapon and slayed monkey after monkey. Other monkeys overheard the blood-curdling shrieks of their comrades being slayed but every time they attempted to fight Indrajit, they became victims.

Word traveled to Hanuman, who was away. Hanuman knew immediately that he must return to check on his monkeys for he was the only hope that they had. When Hanuman arrived at the army base outside of Lanka, he saw all of his monkeys strewn across the village; there they lay lifeless.

Then, Hanuman heard a faint cry. Hanuman followed the weak voice which grew louder and louder with every step, but Hanuman was unable to locate where it came from. Finally, as he started to feel helpless, the voice came to him again. Hanuman then realized that it was the Wind-God who spoke to him. The Wind-God, Hanuman's father, commanded that Hanuman go to the Himalayas where he must find healing herbs in order to heal and bring his monkeys back to life.

Just as Hanuman came, he was gone... gone with the wind.

Hanuman arrived at the Himalayas and here he searched endlessly for the healing herbs. Distraught and irritated, Hanuman decided that his only option was to return with the mountain in its entirety. Hanuman gathered all of his strength and lifted the mountain from where it sat. Once he had the mountain secured Hanuman turned and leapt away. Hanuman's legs stretched from where the mountains sat back to his home where his monkeys had been massacred. Within seconds Hanuman was able to return to his monkey village with the healing herbs so that his monkeys rose up from the dead.

The Pose:

The Monkey Pose or Hanumanasana replicates Hanuman's giant leap from the Himalayas to the village where he is able to cure the injured monkeys. Below is an example of how to do the Monkey Pose.

Author's Note:

The original story comes from the Ramayana and the version which I used is by Sister Nivedita. The link can be found here; it is titled Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists. In the original text, Indrajit also attacks Rama and his younger brother Lakshmana, where they collapse on the battlefield. Hanuman then leaps to the Himalayas to find the herbs that will cure the deceased and ill. I chose to omit Lakshmana because he did not play a key role in the version of the story that I wanted to retell. The weapon which Indrajit obtained is a specialized weapon which allows for him to become invisible. This weapon was one of the reasons for why he was able to kill as many monkeys as he did. In addition to killing the monkeys, he also killed bears and other beings. In the story written by Sister Nivedita, the king of the bears was the one who told Hanuman to gather herbs from the Himalayas. Hanuman traveled to the Himalayas in search of these special herbs but he grew frustrated and impatient so he chose to take the mountain with him. Once Hanuman retrieved the mountain in its entirety, he returned to save his monkeys but the demons of Ravana (called Rakshasas) were also cast out to sea. Hanuman then returned the mountain back to its resting location.