25 - Up, Up and Away!
Summary
TLDRIn this episode of 'Stories from India', host Narad Monei explores the mythological tale of Hanuman, a central figure in the Ramayana. The story delves into Hanuman's extraordinary powers, his origins, and his adventures, including his first recorded space flight and the consequences of his encounter with the sun god Surya. The episode also touches on Hanuman's wisdom and his similarities to Superman, highlighting his humility despite his superhuman abilities.
Takeaways
- ποΈ The podcast 'Stories from India' narrates myths, legends, and folk tales from India, hosted by Narad Monei, a mythological character with eternal life and knowledge.
- π¦Έ Hanuman, a central figure in the Ramayana, is compared to Superman for his extraordinary powers and intriguing origin story, including the first recorded space flight.
- π Anjana, a fairy (upsera), loses her beauty and is turned into a monkey due to a curse after she ridicules a meditating Rishi disguised as a monkey.
- π Anjana prays to Shiva, who helps her regain her form and gives birth to Hanuman after consuming divine porridge delivered by a bird, influenced by the god of wind, Vayu.
- π Hanuman is endowed with superpowers by various gods as a result of an incident where he was struck by Indra's thunderbolt, attempting to reach what he thought was a mango, but was actually the sun.
- π Hanuman seeks knowledge from Surya, the sun god, who teaches him everything under the sun, demonstrating Hanuman's wisdom and thirst for knowledge.
- π Hanuman's 'tuition fee' for learning from Surya is to help and protect Surya's son, Sugri, which leads to significant events in the Ramayana.
- π The podcast episode coincides with the celebration of Hanuman Janti, emphasizing the cultural and religious importance of the character.
- πΆ Both Hanuman and Superman share similarities such as being abandoned as babies, possessing super strength, the ability to fly, and living among humans without a superior attitude.
- π The story also touches on Mullah Do Paza, a clever figure from Emperor Akbar's court, illustrating the use of flattery to escape an embarrassing situation.
- π΅ The podcast features music from Purple Planet and encourages listeners to engage with the show through comments, reviews, and social media.
Q & A
What is the podcast 'Stories from India' about?
-The podcast 'Stories from India' is about discussing myths, legends, and folk tales from India.
Who is the host of 'Stories from India' podcast?
-The host of the podcast is Narad Mone, a mythological character with the gift of eternal life and knowledge.
What is the significance of Hanuman in the story discussed in the podcast?
-Hanuman is a central figure in the story discussed in the podcast. He is compared to Superman and is known for his extraordinary powers and interesting origin story.
What is the role of an 'upsera' in the story?
-An 'upsera' is a fairy who lives in heaven and is skilled in dancing and has limited magic, including the ability to teleport to Earth and back.
What happens when Anjana, the upsera, throws a fruit at a monkey during her picnic?
-The monkey turns out to be a disguised Rishi who curses Anjana, turning her into a monkey until she bears a child, preventing her from returning to heaven.
How does Anjana regain her upsera form?
-Anjana regains her upsera form after giving birth to Hanuman, who was conceived from divine porridge that was brought to her by a bird with the help of the god of wind, Vayu.
What are some of the superpowers Hanuman is gifted with?
-Hanuman is gifted with superpowers such as the ability to fly, walk on water, change his size at will, shape-shift, immunity to drowning, burning, and nonplatonic love, and eternal happiness and contentment.
Who teaches Hanuman everything he knows?
-Hanuman is taught by the sun god, Surya, who agrees to teach him in exchange for Hanuman's help and protection for Surya's son, Sugri.
What is the significance of Hanuman Janti?
-Hanuman Janti is a celebration that honors Hanuman, and it is mentioned in the podcast as being celebrated on a Wednesday, six days after Rahu's birthday.
What is the connection between Hanuman and Superman as discussed in the podcast?
-Both Hanuman and Superman are abandoned as babies, have super strength, can fly, and live among people without superpowers without assuming a superior attitude.
What is the story of Mula Do Paza mentioned in the podcast?
-Mula Do Paza is a character from the court of Emperor Akbar, known for his cleverness. The podcast mentions an anecdote where he uses flattery to escape an embarrassing situation involving a lost coin with the emperor's face on it.
Outlines
πΆ Introduction to Stories from India Podcast πΆ
The script opens with a lively introduction to the 'Stories from India' podcast, hosted by Narad Monei, a mythological character with eternal life and omniscience. The podcast explores Indian myths, legends, and folk tales. This week's episode delves into the story of Hanuman, a central figure in the Ramayana, who is likened to Superman for his extraordinary powers and intriguing origin story. The episode promises to cover Hanuman's first recorded space flight and the consequences of underestimating a monkey. It begins with the tale of Anjana, an apsara (fairy) who lives in heaven, skilled in dance and possessing limited magic, including teleportation to Earth. Anjana's encounter with a meditating 'monkey' leads to a curse that turns her into a monkey, from which she seeks redemption through Shiva, one of the Holy Trinity.
π Hanuman's Divine Birth and Early Powers π
The narrative continues with the story of King Dasharath of Ayodhya, whose divine porridge, leftover from a divine gift, is carried by a bird to Anjana, who consumes it and gives birth to Hanuman. This act not only restores Anjana to her apsara form but also imbues Hanuman with superhuman abilities. Hanuman's early life is marked by the discovery of his strength and the ability to fly. A significant event is his attempt to reach the sun, mistaking it for a mango, which leads to a confrontation with Rahu, the god of eclipses, and the sun god, Surya. This episode highlights Hanuman's divine origins, the acquisition of his powers, and the initial challenges he faces due to his misunderstanding of his abilities.
β‘ Hanuman's Conflict with the Gods and Acquired Superpowers β‘
The third paragraph describes a pivotal moment in Hanuman's life when Indra, the king of the gods, strikes him with a thunderbolt, causing Hanuman to fall back to Earth. Vayu, the wind god and Hanuman's father, intervenes to soften his fall and expresses his anger at the gods' actions. In response to the threat of Vayu, the gods bestow additional superpowers upon Hanuman, including the ability to walk on water, change size, shape-shift, immunity to fire and drowning, and eternal happiness. This section underscores Hanuman's transformation from a misunderstood child to a being with a formidable array of powers, setting the stage for his future exploits.
π Hanuman's Education and Parallels with Superman π
The final paragraph discusses Hanuman's quest for knowledge, choosing Surya, the sun god, as his mentor. Surya teaches Hanuman everything 'under the sun,' highlighting Hanuman's wisdom and learning capabilities. The episode concludes with a comparison between Hanuman and Superman, noting their similarities in terms of abandonment, superpowers, and humility despite their extraordinary abilities. The script also mentions upcoming celebrations of Hanuman Janti and hints at future episodes that will further explore Hanuman's wisdom. Additionally, it references Mula Do Paza, a clever figure from Emperor Akbar's court, and ends with a teaser for the next episode about twin sisters associated with medicine and resurrection.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Hanuman
π‘Upsera
π‘Dasharath
π‘Vishnu
π‘Rishi
π‘Curse
π‘Shiva
π‘Porridge
π‘Superpowers
π‘Indra
π‘Surya
Highlights
Introduction to the podcast 'Stories from India' and the host Narad Moneii.
The central character of the episode, Hanuman, is likened to Superman with extraordinary powers and an interesting origin story.
Anjana, an apsara, is cursed to bear a child and lose her beauty due to mocking a disguised Rishi.
Anjana's transformation into a monkey and her eventual appeal to Shiva for help.
The role of King Dasharath and the divine porridge that leads to Hanuman's birth.
Hanuman's unique birth involving a bird, Vayu, and the god of wind, demonstrating divine intervention.
Anjana's return to her apsara form after giving birth to Hanuman and the emotional separation from her son.
Hanuman's childhood and the discovery of his superpowers, including the ability to fly.
Hanuman's encounter with the sun and the subsequent conflict with Indra, the king of the gods.
The gods' response to Hanuman's attack and the additional superpowers he receives as a result.
Hanuman's education under the sun god, Surya, and his unique learning method.
The comparison between Hanuman and Superman, highlighting their similarities and differences.
Hanuman's role in the Ramayana and his significance in the story.
The celebration of Hanuman Jayanti and its connection to the story.
Introduction of Mullah Do Paza, a clever figure from Emperor Akbar's court, with a focus on a humorous anecdote.
The upcoming episode's preview about a folktale involving two sisters and their desperate measures to retrieve cotton.
Transcripts
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
hello and welcome to stories from India
a podcast where we talk about myths
Legends and folk tales from
India I am your host narad monei and I'm
a mythological character myself I have
the gift of eternal life and knowledge
of the past the present and the
future by profession I am a traveling
musician and a
Storyteller so the way I'm doing my job
is by
podcast this week we are not exactly in
the ramayan but we are going to meet
someone who's a very central figure in
that
story and that character is
Hanuman Hanuman is the equivalent of
Superman he's got extraordinary powers
with a much more interesting origin
story than his Kryptonian comic book
equivalent amongst other things we'll
see the very first recorded space
flight and why it's a terrible idea to
throw anything at a
monkey the character this week is a
person from the court of emperor akar
and
bebal but who sometimes gets the better
of both of
them our story begins with an
upsera an upsera is a fairy who lives in
heaven upsera are skilled dancers and
typically they have a limited amount of
magic that includes the ability to
teleport to Earth and
back without any of the beam me up
Scotty
stuff
so that's precisely what anjana was
doing it looked like a beautiful summer
Day in India and so anjen and a few
other fellow upser decided to go on a
picnic as they were just generally doing
picnic stuff Anana happened to notice
someone
nearby why it looked like a
monkey but unlike regular monkeys at
picnics this one was very very
different he was sitting and
meditating just like a regular
Rishi and he was wearing regular rishy
clothes that should have been warning
enough but anj couldn't help herself she
had to check if this was a trick someone
was playing on
her so she did the most inhuman thing
possible she threw a piece of fruit at
the
monkey well it was not a monkey it was a
regular Rishi who was praying and for
some reason had taken on the monkey
disguise obviously he was
enraged he cursed
an until she bore a child she could not
return to
heaven and now would she please look in
a mirror
Ana did and discovered to her horror
that she had been turned into a
monkey as was common with upsera she was
proud of her beauty and now she had lost
it all because she had ridiculed someone
else's
appearance some Poetic Justice to go
with the terribly misogynistic
curse she tearfully waved goodbye to her
fellow upsera and resigned to her
fate was there someone she could appeal
to it turns out that there
was Shiva the destroyer of the Holy
Trinity she prayed to Shiva
daily during this time she met another
monkey or wner as I'm going to call
them saying monkey isn't wrong but wner
is certainly more
respectful this wner was
caser and together they were
happy to an
extent anjana longed to go back to
Heaven Shiva finally heard her prayer he
set a plan in
motion at about this time king dasharath
of aoda had received his Togo order of
porridge from
heaven and he was div dividing it up
between his
wives if you haven't heard episode 7 a
kingdom by horse I recommend you check
it
out basically the idea is that most of
the Gods had teamed up to help Vishnu be
born as Sons to King dharat of
aoda one of the sons was Ram after whom
the ramayan is
named so anyway as the porage was
divided up between Dash's wives
a little bit was left over in the
pot it's a good thing dashar didn't
scrape the pot clean otherwise the rest
of the ramine would have turned out very
differently and that's because the
little bit of polish that was remaining
was picked up by a
bird you're probably wondering how a
bird with sharp claws is able to pick up
a semi solid sweet desert and fly for
hundreds of miles with
it well this little bird had a bit of
help from vou the god of the
wind whyou help the bird maintain the
porridge in perfect aerodynamic
equilibrium when the bird near anjana's
Home Vu gently deposited the porridge
right into anj's mouth that happened to
be open just
then now normally if something drops
into your mouth from the sky and all you
see is a bird flying away you should
Panic unless you're a magical upsera who
knows that Shiva has answered her
prayers and it probably helped that the
porridge was
sweet well a few months later anjana
gave birth to a baby
wner
Hanuman the moment she did she was back
into her absera
form no longer of Honor she had to go
back to Heaven she had been aval for too
long and no the baby wasn't allowed to
go with
her I'd like to imagine that it must
have broken her heart to leave behind
her baby
son but she had reasons to be confident
in her son's
welfare the divine porridge together
with shiva's blessings along with her
own limited magical ability had given
the boy a number of superhero
abilities Hanuman had oversight from
three father figures in his
life kri Vu and Shiva
himself in fact Hanuman has at various
points been referred to as the son of Vu
the son of kri and the son of Shiva
as Hanuman grew up with his foster
father casri he started discovering his
own powers sort of like Superman must
have done growing up on the Kent
farm he had inhuman and very unner likee
strength and when he was a toddler he
discovered he could
fly yes he could actually
fly one day the child Hanuman was
feeling more than a little
hungry he checked the pantry for
mangoes but they were fresh out of
mangoes guess I'll just go to the mango
tree and pluck a fresh one for myself
thought
Hanuman on his way to the mango tree
suddenly Hanuman had a
thought hey there's a bright and shiny
mango right there up in the blue
sky it is surprisingly round unlike a
regular mango shaped
mango on the basis of absolutely nothing
at all Hanuman concluded that the mango
in the sky must be at least as sweet as
regular
mangoes he launched himself towards the
sun it took a while to get closer as you
can
imagine the sun is after all 93 million
miles or 150 million kilm away
on the way Hanuman ran into
rahu rahu is the god of asteroids and
was set to cause eclipses
sometimes Hanuman just swatted him away
no questions asked and continued on
towards the
sun the sun god Surya saw this child
making straight for him mouth all
drooling and he panicked
Surya sent a quick SOS to Indra the king
of the Gods in
heaven Indra had to stop the boy before
he gobbled up the
sun Indra fired a thunderbolt at Hanuman
striking him dead on and sending the
child tumbling back to
Earth now Wu hanuman's father saw this
and softened his
fall he was angry how dare the god
strike his little boy he was going to
teach them a
lesson he was going on
strike well when wind or air circulation
completely
stops it can get a bit hard to
breathe and that's what started
happening all the gods panicked and
pleaded with
Wu finally vu
relented but only after they gifted the
child with even more
superpowers Shiva gave him the ability
to walk on
water Surya gave him the power to change
his size at
will Brahma the Creator who also happens
to be my dad gave him the ability to
shapes
shift warun the god of the sky and seas
made him immune to drowning
AGI the fire god made Hanuman immune to
burning yum the god of death made
Hanuman
Immortal and kuir the treasurer of the
Gods blessed him with the greatest
wealth of
all being eternally happy and
content CD the god of nonplatonic love
made him immune to nonplatonic love
his own dad Wu gifted him with even more
speed now you might think that Arnold
schweger in The Terminator movies has
all of these superpowers
too you wouldn't be wrong but let's just
say Hanuman had bigger things in mind
than traveling back in time to rescue
future revolutionaries and accidentally
inspiring
Skynet
as Hanuman grew up he started thinking
about
University he was going to learn a lot
and he had just the professor in
mind that Professor was the son
yes Hanuman had decided that the sun god
observes everything
everywhere so he must be the one to
teach
him Surya tried to make excuses uses of
course I'm too tired all day from going
around the
earth I thought the Earth went around
you said
Hanuman it depends on your frame of
reference replied
Surya I see you have lots to learn
still okay said
Hanuman you can fly around the Earth all
day I'll fly with you I'll match your
speed and I'll fly backwards so I'm
always facing you then you and I are
stationary in each other's frames of
reference and then you can teach me
Hanuman was a fast thinker and a fast
learner
indeed so that's pretty much what
happened Surya taught Hanuman everything
he knew about pretty much everything
under the
sun when it was time for Hanuman to
graduate he asked Surya what his tution
fees were were it was custom back then
for fees to be paid at the end and not
upfront sua replied that his son sugri
needed a friend to help and protect
him Hanuman did do that and that leads
to a very important part of the
ram that's all for now I have a number
of things to note about Hanuman so
buckle
up the reason I Pi Hanuman stories this
week is that we celebrate Hanuman Janti
on
Wednesday yeah it's only 6 days away
from rah's
birthday that should give you a sense of
how long it took the bird to fly from
aoya to anjana's
home all else being
equal the similarities between Hanuman
and Superman are
striking both were abandoned as a baby
though in Superman's case he was shipped
off himself while Hanuman stayed put and
his mom went
away they both had super strength and
could fly
obviously but what I find most
remarkable is that both lived amongst
people who had no
superpowers and yet neither assumes a
superior attitude towards the rest of
humanity I mean apart from the name
Superman but even that was a name that
was given to Clark Kent by others it's
not something that he chose for
himself Hanuman is incredibly wise
something that we'll demonstrate in
future
episodes one minor bit of
contradistinction Hanuman learns in a
very hot
environment since he learns from the Sun
Superman at his Fortress of Solitude is
exactly the
opposite it's incredibly cold
there both caser and Ma and P Kent
pretty much drop out of the plot once
the child has grown
up though I'm sure both Hanuman and
Superman were very grateful to their
respective foster
parents the attack on Hanuman by the
other gods and the idea of the child's
parent threatening to destroy the world
is very similar to ganes
story see episode 6.5 All in the
Family we've encountered sugri before
when discussing his brother
w w was the character of the week during
episode 21 final
Destiny the character this week is a
person from the same court as Emperor
Akbar and
bebul but who sometimes got the better
of both of
them Mula do paza was another clever
person in King akbar's
Court most people think he was
completely
fictional some people believe that given
the Muslim majority in akar's court
mullah was created as a reply to beable
stories that were floating
around given mullah was fic
there isn't much to say about his life
but I'll mention an anecdote that's
often attributed to
him once having wasted all his money and
being down to his last copper coin Mula
was devastated to learn that he had
dropped it somewhere in
court frantically he began hunting for
it all over
Court a rival took this opportunity to
point out to akar that mullah was being
stingy looking for a single copper
coin wasn't he receiving a salary and
all kinds of gifts regularly from the
emperor mullah didn't want to admit to
the whole court that he had wasted all
his money your majesty he addressed the
emperor I don't care about the monetary
value of the
coin this is a coin that has your face
printed on it I worry that someone might
step on
it flattery can get you out of an
embarrassing
situation that's all for this
week if you have comments or suggestions
please leave a comment or a review on
the site sfip podcast.com or tweet at
SFI podcast you can also find me on
Instagram and
Facebook be sure to subscribe to the
show to get notified automatically of
new episodes
episodes thank you to all your listeners
for your continued
support the music is from purple
planet.com that's
purple-planet.com
next week we'll do a folktale from
Eastern
India it's about two sisters who go to
Great Lengths to retrieve a little
cotton when it gets Blown Away by the
wind and by that I I mean seriously
Desperate Measures including running for
miles and flying into the
sky the character next week is actually
two characters not one because they're
twins these brothers are associated with
medicine and not just for getting better
when sick they can also bring people
back from the
dead something even the genie in Aladin
could and
do I'll see you next
[Music]
week
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)