Long ago, Ravana, the ten-headed king of Lanka, carried Sita far away across the sea. Her husband, Prince Rama, sent his bravest friend to find her.
That friend was Hanuman, and he had just leapt all the way across the ocean.
Lanka shone with so much gold that it looked like a city floating in the sky.
There were guards everywhere. So Hanuman made himself as small as a cat and slipped in when the moon came up.
All night he looked in every house and every hall, as quiet as a shadow.
In the king's palace he saw a queen asleep on a golden bed. For one moment his heart jumped: was this Sita?
Then he shook his head. Sita would never sleep so peacefully, dressed in jewels, so far away from Rama.
Hanuman had looked everywhere. He felt tired and sad, but he did not give up.
There was one place left: a quiet garden full of ashoka trees with red flowers.
Hanuman climbed a tall shimshapa tree and hid among its leaves to watch.
Under the trees sat a woman in an old, worn cloth. She was thin and tired, but she sat very straight.
Hanuman knew at once: this was Sita.
But how could he speak to her without scaring her? If he spoke like a learned priest, she might think he was one of Ravana's tricks.
So Hanuman spoke softly, in plain and simple words, and told Rama's story from the very beginning.
Sita looked up into the branches in wonder. Who knew Rama's story so well?
Hanuman climbed down, folded his hands and bowed. “I am Hanuman, Rama's messenger,” he said.
Sita had been tricked before, so she was careful. How could she be sure?
Hanuman held out a ring. It was Rama's own ring, with Rama's name on it.
Sita held the ring, and she was so happy it was as if Rama himself had come.
“Climb on my back,” said Hanuman, “and I will carry you home to Rama tonight!”
“But you are so small!” said Sita. So Hanuman grew and grew, as big as a mountain.
Sita smiled, but she shook her head. “It is too dangerous, and Rama must come himself and set this right, so everyone can see what is right. Bring him here, dear Hanuman.”
Sita untied a shining jewel from the end of her cloth and gave it to Hanuman. “Rama will know this is mine.”
Hanuman held the jewel close. He had found Sita, and now he had a message of hope to carry back across the sea.
For grown-ups
Where this story comes from
This is the Ashoka-grove episode of the Sundara Kanda, the fifth book of the Valmiki Ramayana. The story follows sargas 2 to 38, mainly 14–15 and 30–38. 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.
Read the full episode
Three things this telling leaves out, and why
- Ravana's visit to the grove (sargas 18–22). Before Hanuman speaks, Ravana comes to the grove, asks Sita to marry him, and threatens her life if she will not agree before a deadline. Sita answers him with a blade of grass laid between them: she will not even speak to him directly. Left out because a threat to her life is too frightening at bedtime for this age. The blade of grass is a good thing to tell an older child.
- How low Sita fell before help came. After the threats she grieved so deeply that she thought of ending her life, just before Hanuman began to speak. Left out for this age. The story keeps what is true without it: she was tired and sad, and she did not give in.
- What Hanuman did next (sarga 41 onward). He breaks the grove's trees, fights Ravana's soldiers, is captured, and later sets Lanka on fire with his burning tail. Left out because it is the next story, and this one ends on hope.
We also compressed two things. The queen Hanuman sees asleep is Mandodari, Ravana's chief queen (sargas 10–11). The long, careful conversation in which Sita tests Hanuman (sargas 32–35) is shortened to three pages.
The question children ask here
“Why didn't Hanuman just carry Sita home?” In sarga 37 Sita gives her reasons herself:
- she might slip from his back and fall into the sea while he leapt;
- Ravana's warriors would chase them, and Hanuman would have to fight while carrying her;
- she would not willingly touch any man but her husband;
- and it was Rama's task, and his honour, to come himself, defeat Ravana and take her home. A secret rescue would leave the wrong done to her un-righted in the open.
“Because it was too dangerous, and because Sita wanted the wrong put right in front of everyone, by Rama himself.”
How this story was made
The words were written by the Sanatani team from Valmiki's text. The pictures were drawn by Sanatani's AI illustrator from one fixed set of character designs, and every page is checked before it is published.
