August 17, 2004
The Mystery of Hanuman - Inspiring Tales from Art and Mythology.
Hanumanasana (Monkey Pose)
It isn't always easy being a God.
Yes, I know. Especially when you have no worshippers.
/false god
The Story of Hanuman
Also, whenever this comes up I am reminded of the Stone Monkey
OOOh I like that story of Hanuman. Here's another in comicbook form. Excerpt: Hanuman builds a bridge to Sri Lanka, as spotted by NASA (not).
Was that Stone Monkey link supposed to link here?
Hanuman also built a bridge to Sri Lanka.
Ignore that last sentence, too much cutting and pasting.
Oops! Sorry. Good catch John Hardy, thank you.
My parents named me after Hanuman's (god)father and as a baby I used to wear a pendant with his likeness.
Thinking that the glowing sun was a ripe red fruit he mistook it as an apple and tried to grab it...I also like the tale of how he rescued Sita from Ravana, burning Lanka with his tail in the process. Though I do remember hiding that comic behind the bookshelf when we hosted a Sri Lankan student, in case she might take offense.
Some swamis believe that the source of his tremendous physical/spiritual strength is his celibacy, er celibacy.
I just love the fact that He was "proficient in grammar and music."
He must be a god! :)
tale of a tail ...
he climbs a tree
but when is a man
not a monkey?
The monkey's tail
-- Ashvin Iyengar
On a busy street in a busy town
was a monkey playing the clown.
Searching for something,
it found - a broken butterfly's wing,
a child carrying a slate,
a teenager to meet his date,
an officer waving to his wait,
an old man inconsolably sad
his son did not turn out like his dad;
an old lady trying to borrow
someone else's sorrow;
a fair damsel whose name we shall not take,
serious souls with something at stake -
they all stepped on the monkey's tail.
Didn't you hear them wail ?
It held its tail up in the air
and a righteous bee stung it there.
Broken of spirit, drained of jest,
the monkey vanished into the forest.
Another monkey did what was bade
which duly won him much accolade.
He had his share of fun
and he had his ambition.
No bee did dare no dog to bite,
for e was a man by day, a monkey by nite.
Still as far as prudence allow'd -
the city was ugly, the city was loud
something was missing and in quest
the monkey rode to the forest.
When such monkeys get together,
they do not talk about the weather.
So they hung from trees,
they swung from trees,
flowers danced and leaves crackl'd,
as the monkeys pranced about unshackl'd.
One monkey recorded the music and the melody,
in the city it'd serve as a remedy.
Another tried but to fathom,
what lay beneath, what made the rhythm.
Could it listen to the music alone?
could it feel the sun that shone?
the source of the spring could it find?
when it had left its heart behind?
And people came on a picnic spree
came and perched beneath the tree.
Sandwiches and cakes and farsaan too,
no dog to scare, no crow to shoo.
And they looked at them amused
and they looked at them confused
they laughed at them
they scoffed at them.
"Do we have a problem brother"
said the monkeys to one another
"Look at their faces look at their gall
then they are people after all
but children who'd rather monkeys be
why can't they be like you and me" ?
With what they found, for what they lack'd
the monkeys went to the city back.
One monkey had a lot to do
for things had to fit into their groove.
The other had to search the way
for that which'd gone astray.
Behold the city's pumping station
what human mind it cannot stun!
Lines going in and lines going out,
lines going straight and lines roundabout.
One line going up God knows where,
for angels fear where devils dare.
"But what goes up has to come down"
thus said the sage of the town.
You cannot have a pipeline free
you have to pay the Brahmin's fee
and the tomato sauce that flows thru
into your account must accrue.
This tale perhaps will never end
monkeys, their ways will never mend.
Still I have done what I could do.
The rest, amen is up to you
While walking on a crowded street
you have to step on each other's feet
you have to kick the donkeys that fail
but do you have to pull a monkey's tail ?
Obama's Lucky Charms
It's easier to see in the magazine, but one of them is a little Hanuman.
Narasimha - so that's where they got the inspiration for Vincent!
Mosque-Mad Tea Party Leader Not a Fan of Muslims or Their 'Monkey-God'
Someone is confused.
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