Birth Story of Lord Hanuman: Pavana putra Hanuman, the son of Kesari and Anjana, had an incomparable devotion to Lord Rama. Through his selfless service and devotion, Hanuman won the love of Lord Rama and his family. The day on which Hanuman is born is celebrated as Hanuman Jayanti. This year, Hanuman Jayanti is being celebrated on the April 12. On this occasion, We would like to present to you the story of Hanuman's birth.
The story of the birth of Hanuman, a devotee of Rama:
Once upon a time, there was a great sage named Gautama in the Meru Mountains. A monkey couple named Kesari and Anjana lived near the ashram. Anjana was once a heavenly maiden who was cursed to be transformed into a monkey woman. She would only be freed from this curse if she gave birth to an incarnation of Shiva.
The reason for Anjana's curse:
Once, while she was wandering on earth, she saw a monkey meditating deeply in the forest. In a moment, she saw the monkey behaving like a holy sage. Seeing that, she couldn't control her laughter. She made fun of the monkey. But the monkey ignored her foolish behavior. She did not continue her laughter but threw some stones at the monkey and continued to do so until the holy monkey lost his patience. Then he opened his eyes, which flashed with anger. He was a truly powerful holy sage who transformed himself into a monkey to do his spiritual meditation. He cursed her to become a monkey and she would be freed from the curse only if she gave birth to a son, an incarnation of Shiva.
Birth of Hanuman as the son of Anjana:
Anjana, who was born in the form of a monkey, and Kesari, the monkey king, fall in love with each other and marry. But they cannot have children for a long time. To get rid of this problem, they meet sage Matanga. Matanga suggests a solution and advises them to worship Lord Shiva for twelve years. Anjana begins to worship and meditate on Lord Shiva.
Anjana's dedicated prayers and meditation on Shiva without any food or water soon paid off. Shiva, impressed by her prayers, blessed her with an immortal son. On the other hand, in a distant kingdom, King Dasharatha of Ayodhya was performing the ritual Ashvamedha sacrifice to obtain children blessed with divine sweetness from fire. That sweetness was to be shared among his three wives. But on the instructions of Vayu and Shiva, he gave a portion of the sweet to Anjana and blessed her. Anjana soon ate the divine sweet and immediately she received Shiva's blessings. Vayu said, "You will be the mother of a son who will have intelligence, courage, immense strength, speed, and the power of flight." Soon Anjana gave birth to a monkey-faced child and named him Anjaneya (which means 'Son of Anjana'). Soon Anjana was freed from her curse and wished to return to heaven. Hanuman's father took care of Anjaneya. He grew up to be a strong but mischievous little boy.
