The verse and its meaning · Sundarkand · Sundarkand — Hanuman Crosses to Lanka

Surasa's Test of Wit

Sundarkand 2

जात पवन सुत देवन्ह देखा।जानइ कहँ बल बुद्धि बिसेखा । सुरसा नाम अहिन्ह कै माता। पठइन्हि आइ कही तेहिं बाता॥१ । आजु सुरन्ह मोहि दीन्ह अहारा।सुनत बचन कह पवन-कुमारा । राम-काज करि फिरि मैं आवउँ।सीता कै सुधि प्रभुहि सुनावउँ ॥२ । तब तव बदन पइठिहौं आई। सत्य कहउँ मोहि जान दे माई । कवनेहुँ जतन देइ नहिं जाना । ग्रससि न मोहि कहेउ हनुमाना ॥३ । जोजन भरि तेहि बदन पसारा ।कपि तनु कीन्ह दुगुन विस्तारा । सोरह जोजन मुख तेहि ठयऊ । तुरत पवन-सुत बत्तिस भयऊ ॥४ । जस जस सुरसा बदन बढ़ावा । तासु दून कपि रूप देखावा । सत जोजन तेहि आनन कीन्हा । अति लघु रूप पवन-सुत लीन्हा॥५ । बदन पइठि पुनि बाहेर आवा । माँगा बिदा ताहि सिर नावा । मोहि सुरन्ह जेहि लागि पठावा । बुधि-बल-मरम तोर मैं पावा ॥६ । रामकाज सब करिहहु, तुम्ह बल-बुद्धि-निधान । आसिष देइ गई सो, हरषि चलेउ हनुमान ॥२

Meaning · English

Surasa, mother of serpents, says the gods have sent her a meal. Hanuman asks to finish Rama's work and tell Sita's news first; she refuses. He grows, she widens; he shrinks, enters, leaves, bows. She blesses him: a storehouse of strength and wisdom, he will do all Rama's work.

The words to know are ahara, bala-buddhi and marama. Ahara is food, a meal. Surasa says the gods have given Hanuman to her as her ahara. Bala-buddhi is strength and wisdom together. Marama is the hidden core, the true measure of someone. Tulsidas shows Surasa, called mother of serpents, stopping Hanuman in the sky. Hanuman does not fight. He says he will finish Rama's work, tell Prabhu Rama about Sita, and then come back to be eaten. He swears this is true and asks her to let him go, calling her mother. She says no one passes without being eaten. Then he stretches his body, and she stretches her mouth. Her mouth reaches sixteen yojanas, his body thirty-two. She widens to a hundred yojanas, and he becomes tiny, slips in, comes out and asks leave with a bow. He says he has found the measure of her wisdom and strength, which is why the gods sent her. She answers with a blessing and calls him a storehouse of strength and wisdom who will do all of Rama's work. The story shows that Hanuman meets a test with courtesy, then with wit, and only then with size. The reciter takes it as a gentle trial, since she ends by blessing him. It asks the listener only to notice how he answers.

A man at a narrow gate meets a guard who will not move. He neither pushes nor argues. He keeps his promise, steps lightly through the smallest gap, and thanks the guard. Surasa is the guard, the gap is Hanuman's small form, and his courtesy is what wins her blessing.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Hanuman Departs for Lanka · Sundarkand 1
• Next: Shadow Demon and Golden Lanka · Sundarkand 3
• All of Sundarkand · Ask Krishna about it

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