Acquaint yourself with the legend of Hanuman, which is told through one of India’s most celebrated texts, the Ramayana. It’s a rapturous tale—an epic love story filled with outrageous characters, dramatic plot twists, and all manner of magic and superhuman feats. Good translations of it read like literary novels, with such compelling action that you’ll find it hard to put down. And the unfolding dramas provide a magnificent backdrop for the protagonist, Lord Rama (a human incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu and the prince of a vast kingdom), to model divine behavior, deliver philosophical discourses, and test his mettle when confronted by the most provocative and dire of events. It is a spiritual teaching story par excellence.
We meet Hanuman in the fourth kanda, or book, of the Ramayana. At this point in the tale, Lord Rama (or just Ram) has been banished from his kingdom, and his wife, Queen Sita, has been abducted by demons. Ram is searching for her all over India, unaware that she has actually been spirited away to the island of Lanka (modern-day Sri Lanka).
There are many versions of the story, but in one common telling, Hanuman meets Ram and immediately discerns the prince’s divine nature. While Ram’s origins are indeed godly, his divinity is not something he wears on his shirtsleeve, and many characters he meets treat him as they would any other prince. That Hanuman recognizes the godliness in Ram is our first clue that Hanuman is tuned in, able to perceive something greater than appearances.
Hanuman soon offers both his allegiance and his assistance to Ram in the quest to find Sita. After fruitlessly scouring the landscape, they at last learn that Sita was seen flying south in the sky chariot of the demon god Ravana. Realizing that they must cross the ocean to find her, Ram beseeches the gods to dry up the ocean or to make it part for him. When his prayers go unanswered, he falls into an agonizing depression.
Hanuman, from the depth of his devotion to Ram, taps into an inner power that allows him to grow to many times his normal size and leap across the ocean to Lanka in a single bound. This is the moment of the tale that most yogis hear about, because the pose Hanumanasana is named for Hanuman’s bold leap.
Once he lands on Lanka, Hanuman quickly finds Sita and introduces himself as Ram’s servant, who has come to rescue her. Sita is grateful but refuses to go, insisting that it is her husband’s duty to save her. Hanuman reluctantly leaves her in the hands of the demons but begins an attack on the kingdom.
Hanuman eventually leaps back across the ocean to Ram. There, he joins an army of monkeys and bears who construct a bridge to Lanka, so that Ram can march to the demon kingdom. Hanuman remains by Ram’s side throughout the journey and the devastating battles that rage between Ram and Ravana. At one point, Hanuman flies all the way to the Himalayas for medicinal herbs to heal Ram’s wounded brother. In the end, Sita is rescued and Ram regains his happiness and his kingdom, thanks largely to Hanuman’s devoted service. And not only Sita, Ram, and Hanuman, but the whole kingdom rejoices and takes comfort in the sense that all has been made right in the world.
You could interpret the story of Hanuman, then, as a parable of what happens when you recognize the divine nature of life, offer yourself in service to it, and allow it to transform you in ways you never thought possible, so that you are even more capable of serving your highest ideals. And when you approach the pose with such inspiration, you’re likely to enjoy your journey, no matter how “far” you go in the pose
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