After the alliance between Shri Rama and Sugriva was sealed and the vast vanar sena (army) assembled, the search parties went out in all directions to find Mata Sita. It was Sampati тАФ the elder brother of Jatayu, the great eagle тАФ who told them: Mata Sita was in Lanka, the island fortress of Ravana, across the great southern ocean.
The vanar sena arrived at the southern shore. Before them stretched an ocean so vast that the other shore could not be seen. A hundred yojanas of open sea тАФ an impossible crossing.
The army fell silent. Great warriors looked at the water and then at each other. One by one, each captain described what distance he could leap: five yojanas, ten, twenty. Even the mighty Angad тАФ Bali's noble son тАФ said he could perhaps reach Lanka but would not have the strength to return.
Hanuman sat apart from the others, quiet, his head bowed, seemingly lost in thought. He had been subdued like this for some time тАФ since childhood, a curse placed by sages who had grown tired of the young Hanuman's pranks had made him forget his own divine strength. He knew he had power, but its full extent lay hidden from his own memory.
The great sage Jambavant, the elder bear king whose wisdom spanned many ages, looked at Hanuman and understood. He walked over and sat beside him, and in a gentle voice, began to remind him.
He spoke of Hanuman's birth тАФ of Vayu Dev and the blessings of all the devas. He spoke of the day the young Hanuman flew toward the sun. He spoke of the boons that could not be recalled. He reminded Hanuman that this very task тАФ finding Mata Sita тАФ was the purpose for which he had been born.
As Jambavant spoke, something stirred in Hanuman. A power that had been sleeping began to wake. His body, which had been still, began to grow. His form expanded. His shoulders widened. His eyes brightened with a golden fire. The mountain beneath him trembled as he rose to his full, magnificent stature.
The vanar sena stared in awe.
Hanuman walked to the edge of the shore, looked out at the vast ocean, and felt тАФ for the first time fully тАФ who he was. The son of Vayu. The blessed of Shiva. The servant of Rama.
He climbed the summit of Mahendra mountain at the shore, compressing the earth beneath his feet. With the name of Rama on his lips and the form of Rama in his heart, he gathered himself тАФ and leapt.
The ocean shook. A great wave spread out from the shore. Birds scattered from the cliffs. Trees were blown flat by the rush of wind. And Hanuman flew тАФ high above the sea, his golden form visible against the sky, moving with absolute certainty toward the far shore.
He faced tests along the way: Mainaka, the golden mountain that rose from the sea to offer him rest, which he respectfully declined тАФ there was no time for rest when Rama's work called. Surasa, who had been sent by the devas to test him and whom he outthought with intelligence and humility. Simhika, the demoness who tried to seize him by his shadow, whom he defeated swiftly.
And then тАФ Lanka appeared on the horizon.
Hanuman reduced his form back to a small, inconspicuous size and landed on the shores of Lanka as the sun was setting. Ahead of him lay the greatest city of the age, fortified and guarded, enemy territory тАФ and somewhere inside it, Mata Sita.
He had crossed the impossible ocean. Now came the search.
*"Manojavam Marutatulyavegam"* тАФ swift as the mind, fast as the wind. This is how Hanuman is described. And on this day, both were true.
