Why Hanuman Ji Forgot His Strength: Legend of a Minor Curse

Young Lord Hanuman was very, very naughty. And very, very strong also. He used to simply lift up elephants and hold them high above his head. The elephants became scared, but our Lord was only playing. He would not harm them. He was only trying to do some exercise, weight lifting. But elephants were too light for him. So he used to uproot big, big trees. When he used to jump from branch to branch of trees, they used to break and fall down. Whenever the Lord would see a lion or a tiger chasing another animal, he would simply catch it by its tail and lift it up. Every beast in the forest was scared of him. They knew that they had to be silent and peaceful when he was around. They knew that they couldn’t harm another innocent animal when he was around.

He used to jump from the peak of one mountain to the next, and when he landed, the rocks crushed under his feet. The Lord had great respect for rishis and munis. Whenever he found a rishi or muni meditating, he would jump into his lap. He found great comfort there; for him, they were fatherly figures. But he didn’t realize that he was hurting them with his weight. He would playfully snatch their kamandalu and run away, and end up breaking them. He would pick up their valkalas – valkala is the skin of trees – and try to wear them, and end up tearing them in the process. When he saw rishis doing yajna, he also wanted to do it. So he picked up yajna vessels and started. When the rishis came running, he threw them away and climbed up a tree. They went and complained to Anjana Devi. They complained to Kesari and Vayu deva. It didn’t help much. Even they became worried. He is offending sages. He is troubling sages. Finally, the helpless rishis gave him a small curse:

'ततो महर्षयः क्रुद्धा भृग्वङ्गिरसवंशजाः | शेपुरेनं रघुश्रेष्ठ नातिक्रुद्धातिमन्यवः || ३२|| बाधसे यत्समाश्रित्य बलमस्मान्प्लवङ्गम | तद्दीर्घकालं वेत्तासि नास्माकं शापमोहितः'

They were very powerful, belonging to the vamshas of Bhrigu and Angira. They were very peaceful, but they had no other way. They cursed the naughty, mischievous young Lord Hanuman that you will forget your strength for a long time. The Lord became very quiet and he stopped troubling and scaring others. Later, only when Jambavan reminded him at the right time, did he remember his immense strength.

Anjaneyaya Namaha.