Hanuman wanted to lose no time in getting to Lanka, and meeting Sita. Hanuman’s determination is worthy of emulation, said Goda Venkateswara Sastrigal, in a discourse. But his journey to Lanka was not without hurdles.
Crossing the ocean was not a problem for Hanuman at all. Nor was the ocean desirous of hindering him. The ocean, in fact, wanted to help. The ocean had its own reason for wanting to help Hanuman. There used to be a king called Sagara, who was one of the ancestors of Rama. Sagara’s sons were the ones who dug up the ocean. In fact the word ‘Sagara’ for the ocean itself derives from King Sagara, because the ocean owes its existence to this king. So when the ocean found Hanuman on his way to Lanka, it wanted to do its bit to help, for after all, Hanuman was going to Lanka, in the service of Rama, descendant of King Sagara. So the ocean instructed a mountain called Mynaka, which rested inside the ocean, to help Hanuman, by rising from the ocean bed and affording Hanuman a resting place. Now Mynaka too had a reason to want to help Hanuman. There was a time when mountains had wings, and they had been flying around in their arrogance. To put them in their place, Indra had lopped off their wings. Mynaka had sought the help of Vayu, the wind God, and Vayu had, with his power, cast Mynaka into the ocean and saved it. So Mynaka owed a lot to Vayu, and Hanuman was the son of Vayu. So Mynaka was willing to do as the ocean bid. It rose from the bed of the ocean, and offered Hanuman a place to rest. Hanuman would have been perfectly justified in taking some rest. But to Hanuman, the goal he had set himself, namely, meeting Sita, was the only thing that mattered. So even though a place to rest was offered to him, he refused it.
