Week 6 Storytelling: Monkey in a Dragon

Hanuman was feeling good about himself and his travel over the ocean.  He was thinking to himself how future generations would speculate on how a monkey could magically grow in size, and jump across a great sea in order to reach Lanka.  Hanuman had already left Mainaka, a great mountain with golden wings hiding in the sea from Indra, who attempted to return a favor to Vayu (the wind god).  Vayu had protected Mainaka from Indra before, and now he felt compelled to let the great Hanuman rest.  Hanuman was so energetic, fueled by his mission to find Sita, that he did not want to rest and in return granted Mainaka peace from feeling like that he had to repay Vayu in anyway.

Lanka's shores were growing larger and larger, and so did Hanuman's excitement.  Gradually, he began to see a streak of red intermittently flashing in the ocean below him.  At first Hanuman disregarded the unusual site, for he was more focused on reaching the land ahead of him.  All of a sudden a large dragon head popped out of the ocean and tried to grab Hanuman's tale.  If you did not know, a monkey's tale is his pride and joy, and this was enough to delay Hanuman's flight just for a moment.  Hanuman waited for this creature to make another appearance above the water, when the next thing he knew was in it's mouth.

(The top image is one version of Sinhika swallowing Hanuman: Source)

Hanuman shrunk to a minuscule size, injured the creature's heart, and finally escaped through their ear.  Hanuman knew he only had a few moments before the brute's demise, and demanded an explanation for such a rude attack.  The creature spoke, "I am Sinhika, a rakshasi, and I am the protector of Lanka's shores.  You are not a fellow demon, and I have made an attempt to prevent you from reaching your destination."  Hanuman replied," Do you demons lack knowledge of proper battle etiquette?!  You must never attack a warrior that is not already in battle, especially when their back is to you."  Sinhika howled in laughter, and said with her last breath, " Oh honorable monkey you must not know the ways of us rakshasis.  If you continue to use this noble mentality you will not survive in Lanka, for she herself will attempt to approach you as an illusion and kick you down.  With my last breath, since you have defeated me, I will advise you not travel in Lanka in your natural form, but do so as a cat in the night.  No one will look at you twice with suspicious eyes."  With these last words Sinhika died, and the large fish of the sea disposed of her body.

Hanuman continued his route to Lanka, thinking about Sinhika's last words.  He contemplated whether he should follow the advice, or do the exact opposite.  As he neared Lanka's gates he saw how magnificent the city was.  He climbed high into the trees, and hit for a while scouting the outer gates to look for any weak spots.  The closer in proximity that he go to the city, he noticed that her form began to change until all he saw was an old woman sitting in the road.  At this moment Hanuman decided that he would trust in Sinhika's finals words, assumed the form of a cat, and ventured off to approach Lanka in the road.

Author's Note:
 Hanuman's leap to Lanka was pretty uneventful, expect for speaking to Mainaka and his encounter with the female demon.  Although the main focus of this tale was to tell about Hanuman's short battle with Mainaka, I wanted to give the mountain some credit along with a brief background, in order to not confuse my readers.  The image of Hanuman being swallowed in this week's Reading Guide is what inspired me to retell this section of the epic (seen here).  I added more dialogue between the duo, and tried giving Sinhika more significance by having her advise Hanuman what to do while in Lanka.  I ended with Hanuman approaching Lanka in the form of a cat, because I thought this part was very interesting, and gave Sinhika the credit for Hanuman's transformation.

Bibliography:
Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.