● ANJANA ●

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The illustrious daughter of the revered Sage Goutama and Devi Ahalya, the beautiful sister of the mighty Vali and Sugreeva , the righteous wife of the Vanara chief Kesari and the loving mother of Hanuman - She is Anjani. Legends say that Anjani was Puñjikastalā ,a proud nymph in Indira's court who was very beautiful and full of life .She was used to the ease and comfort of life as a heavenly being but soon grew bored of her luxurious existence. Searching for amusement, she came across Sage Durvasa who was in deep meditation under a tree. Looking at his wild form, she started laughing and threw pebbles at him. Another myth is that, Once Rishi Durvasa visited Indra. He was engaged in some serious discussion with Indra and the Devas when Punjikastala kept moving in and out of Indra Sabha. Her to and fro movement caused an unnecessary distraction and the same irritated Rishi Durvasa.


Angered by the callous behaviour of the proud Apsara, Durvasa cursed Punjikasthala to be born as a monkey on Earth. Devastated by hearing Durvasa's curse, Punjiksthali pleaded to spare her from the curse. She regretted her foolishness and careless behaviour . Moved by Punjiksthali's lament, Rishi Durvasa altered his curse and said that she would marry a monkey king on Earth. and be the mother of a very powerful son who would be the most dedicated devotee of Shri Ram. He said that despite her unattractive form, she would be respected by everyone. It is also said that Anjani was born as a Vanara princess, to the great-souled monkey chief Kunjara. Hindu Mythology records an interesting story on the childhood of Devi Anjani. According to it, Ahalya was a beautiful damsel and was Sage Gautama's wife. They had 3 children; Bali, Sugreeva and Anjani. Of those two, Bali and Sugreeva were their step sons. One day, the sage took his family to visit River Tunga Bhadra. He was carrying both his sons on his shoulder and his wife was walking along with their daughter Anjana. It was a sunny day and Anjana's feet were burning because of the heat. She got enraged and angrily told her father that it was not fair that he was taking care of his stepsons and letting his own daughter walk in hot sun. This enraged Gautama and he threw both his sons into the river and prayed that if they were his own sons, the river will return them back, else they would go to the shore as monkeys. The two brothers were washed to the shore and were turned into monkeys. They grew up in the forest as rulers.


This outraged Ahalya and she cursed her daughter that her son would also be turned into a monkey. Gautama cursed his wife Ahalya that she would turn into a stone. Ahalya fell at the feet of the Sage and pleaded guilty. She told him that it was not her mistake and that she was cheated by Sun and Indra. Gautama felt pity on her and told that the curse cannot be taken back but she would gain her human form when Lord Rama's feet would touch her. Later according to her mother's curse, her son, Hanuman was born as a monkey. Anjani was given in marriage to the valorous monkey king, Kesari, king of Sumeru. It is mentioned that Kesari was very much attached to his well known wife who was an excellent damsel. Even after years of marriage, the couple didn't have children and they involved themselves in prayers and offerings to begot a child . There are different versions of Hanuman's birth. According to Eknath's Bhavartha Ramayana, when Anjana Devi was worshipping Lord Shiva for a child, King Dasharatha of Ayodhya was performing a Putrakameshti yagna in order to have children. The prasadam (blessed offering) of this yagna was to be shared by his three wives. When Dasharatha was about to hand over the rice kheer to his third queen Sumithra, a bird came flying and snatched the portion of kheer from his hand and hastily flew away from there. Both Kausalya and Kaikeyi immediately gave a portion of their own rice kheer to queen Sumithra, as a result of which queen Sumithra gave birth to twins.


(Bonus point- The bird was actually an Apsara named Suvarchala, who had been cursed by Lord Brahma to become a bird and live on Earth. Suvarchala had attracted the curse because she had been very restless and impulsive and this had put Lord Brahma into a rage. Suvarchala repented her ways and seeked for Lord Brahma's mercy. Lord Brahma altered his curse for Suvarchala and told her that she would have to go to Earth and stay as a bird and could only be freed from the curse if she touched the rice kheer given by Lord Agni to Dasharatha. Suvarchala had been waiting for the time.)

The moment Suvarchala touched the kheer, she transformed into an Apsara. In the process, the kheer slipped out of her claws and headed downwards . As the kheer was falling on the ground Vayu Deva, the Wind God following the orders of Lord Shiva, blew the kheer towards Anjana and Kesari. Anjana was offering prayers to Vayu Dev , the God of wind to bless her with a son. Suddenly a heavenly voice ordered Anjana to consume the kheer. The Divine voice of Vayu Deva conveyed that the kheer had the power of Vayu. Another tradition says that Kesari and his wife Añjanā prayed to Lord Siva to be born as their son. Shiva, pleased by their devotion and prayers, granted the request and instructed them to worship Vayu . Vayu carried the divine power of Siva to Anjana's womb, and thus Hanuman was born as an incarnation of Lord Shiva with the power of Vayu. Thus Hanuman came to be called as Kesari nandan, Maruthi and Vayuputr but most commonly, Anjaneya.

After Hanuman leaves his parents to serve Rama and Sita, Anjana is not referred in the epic. Kesari is said to have fought in the Rama-Ravana war with Sugriva's army. In one instance , when Ram , Sita and their entourage are returning from Lanka, Hanuman gets emotional when they reach Kishkindha , seeing his grief, Sita asks him to visit his parents and stay with them for a few days and Hanuman happily did so.

Seeing their son after a long time, Anjani and Kesari were overjoyed but they never expressed any kind of disapproval when he returned to Sri Ram. They had always encouraged their son's wish to serve Sri Ram and Devi Sita even when they had the right to ask him to stay with them in their old age. Devi Anjani's death is not known. It is believed that she was freed from her curse once her son was born and hence returned to swargalok in her original form, a nymph.

But at the same time Anjana's presence is seen through out Hanuman's childhood and even after the war when Hanuman visits his parents so it may be concluded that she stayed on earth to take care of her child and husband and went back after she fulfilled her responsibilities , though it's an assumption. In Himachal Pradhesh , Goddess Anjana is worshiped as a family deity. There is a temple dedicated to her at 'Masrer' near Dharmashala. It is believed that Sri Anjana once came and remained there for some time.

One of the locals upon learning, revealed her real identity to the other villagers, going against her wishes. She soon left, but not before turning that villager into stone which remains outside her temple even to this day. Her vehicle is a scorpion, hence believers worship Anjana after being bitten by a scorpion. In Indonesia , Anjana is a well-known figure in the world of Wayang ( Indonesian puppetry) in Javanese culture.


A/N: She supported her son's wishes and always encouraged him to follow his heart , it was her support ,care , love and prayers that was Anjaneya's real strength. Mistakes happen to everyone but how we live after that distinguishes us. Devi Anjana was able to rectify the mistake she did and repented for it honestly, this made her an immortal name.

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August 5th 2021
Thursday

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