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Hanuman could easily fight an
elephant for example, since he could become much bigger than
the elephant at will.
At the time of the Ramayana, Hanuman was
send as an advance spy to Lanka. To reach the island he had
to fly over the sea but there was blocked by Sursa, who
wanted to test him. She had a boon that everybody who comes
before her must pass through her mouth. However, when she
wanted to swallow Hanuman, he became bigger and bigger so
she also had to become bigger and bigger. Then Hanuman
suddenly became very small and went in through her ear,
coming out of her mouth, thus fulfilling the boon.
In the Ashokvatika
or forest of Ashoka trees on Lanka, Hanuman spies on Ravana, who is
trying in vain to press Sita into becoming his wife. Later he contacted
Sita in the gardens of Ravana's palace, told her of the plans being made
for her deliverance and gave her Rama's signet ring as a token.
Pleased with his succes,
Hanuman fought the demon Meghnaath, son of Ravana, in the gardens of the palace of Lanka. He won
over Meghnaath, but was finally captured by Ravana's demons.
Brought before the
demon king, Ravana ordered that while as a messenger of Rama he
could not be killed, his tail could be set afire with cloth and oil.
But Hanuman used his powers to enlarge his tail indefinitely, untill
the demons had no cloth left to cover it. While they still tried to
put fire to his tail, Hanuman became suddenly very small and escaped
from his ropes.
Trailing his burning tail behind him, Hanuman
then set fire to all of Lanka and flew back to the mainland. He
rejoined Rama and gave him valuable information on Ravana's forces.
The army crossed a bridge to Lanka that was made by another monkey
leader and master architect called Nala.
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