Suddenly, he saw a huge-bodied asura moving across the sky, carrying a mountain in its hand. Worried that it would be a threat to his Rama’s Ayodhya, Bharata immediately lifted his bow, mentally praying to Rama, and shot an arrow at the ‘asura’.
The arrow struck its mark, and the being hit the ground hard, falling close to where Bharata stood.
In the stillness of the night, Bharata heard it cry clearly. “Raamaa…..”
Had he foolishly erred like his father by hastily shooting the arrow?
Aghast, Bharata rushed to the spot, and saw a huge monkey sprawled on the ground, carrying an entire mountain in his hand.
To his complete astonishment, the monkey greeted him by name.
“Pranaam, Bharata Maharaja! I am Hanuman, the daasa of Rama.”
Quickly, he outlined the entire set of events to the unwitting Bharata.
Ravana’s abduction of Seeta. The ongoing battle. The grave injury of Rama and Lakshmana and all vaanaraas. Jambavan’s bidding to carry herbs from the Sanjeevani mountain. His own inability to identify the herbs and hence, uprooting and carrying the entire mountain.
Bharata was distraught.
“How could I make such a terrible mistake? Why couldn’t I see your real form? How could I think of a devotee like you as being an asura?”
“Fret not, O dear brother of Rama! You were not wrong in what you saw.”
“What? But you’re a bhakta, not an asura!”
“In the moment when you saw me, that’s exactly who I was,” explained Hanuman. “As I sped across the sky with the mountain, for just one tiny moment, I worried whether I would reach on time. For that fraction of time, I forgot that Rama is the doer, and I’m nothing more than an instrument in His hands. I took on the kartrutva, the doership of the action. No wonder I appeared like an asura to you!”
Bharata, still filled with remorse, tried to smile.
“You were already in a hurry, and I have delayed you further. Let me make amends. I’ll shoot an arrow to carry you to Lanka at once.”
Hanuman had learned his lesson. He didn’t wonder if the tiny arrow of Bharata had the strength to support his mighty form and the huge mountain. He only bowed in gratitude, seeing the will of His Rama in the words of Bharata.
Invoking the name of Rama, Bharata made his sankalpa and shot an arrow.
The next moment, Hanuman landed in Lanka in front of Jambavan and Vibheeshana with the herbal mountain.
Even a humble devotee like Hanuman, steeped in the spirit of servitude, was touched momentarily by the sense of ego, the feeling of doership, which, we understand from this story, is an aasuric quality.
When Hanuman faltered thus, the Lord did not punish him; but rather, corrected him, through another devotee.
How much more important, then, is it for ordinary mortals like us, who are so full of self-importance, to seek the company of other devotees, through whom the Lord can correct us?
This incident does not appear in the Valmiki or Kamba Ramayana. It was narrated to me by someone who heard it from a genuine source who said it was probably in some other regional version of the Ramayana. We may not know the origin of the story, but that need not stop us from appreciating the value of this principle in our life and sadhana.
Beautiful narration. Thank you so much 🙏
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