Hanuman went back to the garden one last time. There was Sita, safe, under her tree.
“I am so glad you are safe!” said Hanuman. “Rama will come soon, with an army of monkeys and bears, and take you home.”
Hanuman bowed low to Sita. Then he turned to go, because he longed to see Rama again.
He climbed a tall mountain called Arishta, and made himself as big as a hill.
He pushed off so hard that the mountain sank down into the ground. Whoosh! He was flying!
Across the wide blue sea he flew, over the waves and under the clouds, all the way home.
On the other shore, his friends were waiting on Mount Mahendra. Far away, they heard a great ROAR!
Wise old Jambavan smiled. “Listen! Hanuman would only roar like that if he has good news.”
Hanuman landed among them. “I have seen Sita!” he cried.
The monkeys jumped for joy. They cheered and roared, and they waved their tails in the air.
Then Prince Angada and all the monkeys sat round Hanuman, and he told them everything, from the very beginning.
Off they all went, back towards Rama, leaping and laughing all the way.
On the way they came to a beautiful garden called Madhuvana. It was full of sweet honey, and it belonged to King Sugriva.
“May we have some honey? Please?” asked the monkeys. And Angada and Hanuman said yes!
They ate the honey, they sang, they danced, and they tumbled all over the garden.
The keeper of the garden, Dadhimukha, was very cross. He hurried off to tell King Sugriva.
But Sugriva was not cross at all. He smiled at Lakshmana, Rama's brother. “They would only feast like this if they have found Sita!”
“Tell them to come here quickly,” said Sugriva.
The monkeys flew through the sky to the mountain where Rama was waiting, with Lakshmana and King Sugriva.
Hanuman bowed his head towards Lanka, where Sita was. Then he said, “Rama, I have seen Sita. She is safe, and she is waiting for you.”
He opened his hand and gave Rama the shining jewel that Sita had sent.
Rama held the jewel close to his heart, and tears ran down his cheeks.
“When I see this jewel, it is as if I see Sita herself,” said Rama softly. “Tell me, Hanuman: what did she say?”
So Hanuman told him every word. Now Rama knew that Sita was alive, and waiting for him. The search was over. It was time to bring her home.
For grown-ups
Where this story comes from
This is Hanuman's return, from the Sundara Kanda, the fifth book of the Valmiki Ramayana. The story follows sargas 56 to 68, the last sargas of that book. It is a faithful simplification. We shortened and skipped scenes, and we name them below. We did not add events, and we did not change anyone's reasons.
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Three things this telling leaves out, and why
- The scuffle in the honey grove (sarga 62). The garden's guards try to stop the monkeys, and the monkeys, merry with honey, push them about; Angada knocks down Dadhimukha, who is Sugriva's uncle. Left out because it turns a funny, happy scene into a fight. The story keeps Dadhimukha's crossness and his hurry to tell the king.
- Sita's “one month” (sargas 65 and 68). Sita tells Hanuman she can hold on for only one month more, and Hanuman gives Rama this message. Left out because it puts a clock and a fear into a bedtime story. It is why Rama's army leaves so quickly in the next part of the Ramayana; an older child may be told.
- The rest of Sita's message (sargas 67 and 68). Hanuman repeats Sita's words in full, including a story only she and Rama knew: the crow that troubled her at Chitrakuta, which she gave as a second sign alongside the jewel. Left out because it is a story inside a story, and one with a hurt in it. The last page says only that Hanuman “told him every word”.
We also compressed four things. In sargas 59 and 60, Angada wants the monkeys to go straight to Lanka and bring Sita back themselves, and Jambavan says no: they were sent only to find her, and the rescue is Rama's. Hanuman's full account to the monkeys (sarga 58) is long. Sugriva also sends Angada a message of welcome through Dadhimukha, who comes back and apologises (sarga 64). And the mountain Arishta sinks “with its creatures” (sarga 56); the picture shows only the mountain.
The question children ask here
“Why did Rama cry when he got the jewel? Wasn't it good news?” It was the best news Rama had had. Valmiki tells us what the jewel did to him:
- Rama pressed the jewel to his heart and wept, with Lakshmana at his side (sarga 66);
- and he said that seeing the jewel was like seeing Sita herself, and then he begged Hanuman to tell him what she had said (sarga 66).
“Because he missed her so much, and now he knew she was waiting for him. Happy news can make us cry, too.”
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