Wishesh magazine january 2018 Wishesh magazine january 2018 | Page 49

you what will be my future?
How can I feed myself? How
will I live?” he asked. made any mortal presence
impossible near the sun, had
no effect on the creature
“Don’t worry, Anjaneya,” said
Anjana. “Your father is the
brave Kesari. Your guardian
spirit is the life-giving Vayu.
They’ll always protect you.
When you feel hungry, fruits
as red and ripe as a rising sun
would be your nourishment.” Seeing that, Suryadeva got
scared and started calling out
for help. “Indra! Indra! Help
me!” he shouted.
Saying so, Anjana kissed her
son and left her alone. She
went back to her heavenly
abode.
“Fruits as red and ripe as the
sun?” thought Anjaneya. “Is
sun such a ripe fruit? Let’s
see!”
As the divine pudding went
inside her throat, Anjana
immediately felt the blessings
of Lord Shiva. In due course,
she gave birth to a little
monkey-faced boy. Kesari was
very happy to see his son. The
child was called as Anjaneya
or the son of Anjana.
Having given birth to Lord
Shiva’s incarnation, Anjana
was released from the curse
of the sage. She began to
express her wish to return to
Heaven.
When Anjaneya came to know
about her mother’s wish, he
became sad. “Mother, without
Thinking that the sun was
actually some delicious fruit,
the baby Anjaneya wanted to
taste the sun. Now, Anjaneya
was a divine child. His mother
was an apsara and his father
was a Monkey-King, so it was
natural that little Anjaneya
should inherit some magical
powers. He was, after all, an
incarnation of Lord Shiva. So
reaching for the sun was not a
tough task for him. He made a
giant leap to catch the glowing
ball on the sky.
Suryadeva, the Sun-God
was glowing peacefully in the
sky when he suddenly saw a
monkey coming towards him.
The monkey grew bigger and
bigger as he neared the sun.
But the terribly hot rays which
Indra, king of the gods in
heaven, was resting nearby in
his heavenly abode. He was
surprised to hear the Sun-God
pleading for his help.
“Why is Suryadeva yelling for
my help?” Indra wondered.
“Is he not powerful enough to
burn everything that comes
near him? Or is it something
beyond his control? I have to
see what’s happening!”
Indradeva promptly climbed on
Airavatha the white elephant,
his mount, and left his abode to
find the cause of Suryadeva’s
fear. Soon he found that a
flying monster was trying to
catch hold of the sun. “Little
wonder then that Suryadeva
was so scared!” thought Indra,
who had never seen such a
creature.
Nearing the sun, Indra was
surprised to see that the
monster was actually a giant
monkey.
“Stop!” he ordered. “Who are
you? Why are you trying to
catch the sun?”
“I’m Anjaneya, son of Kesari
and Anjana.” replied the giant
JANUARY 2018 | WWW.WISHESH.COM