Once baby Hanuman was lying in his cradle under the tree. He saw the sun and thought that it was a delicious red and ripe fruit. He wanted to taste the fruit. He made a giant leap to catch the sun. The Sun-god suddenly saw a monkey coming towards him. Seeing that, he got scared and called for help. Indra heard him and went to the Sun-god. He was amused by the child’s innocence, so he advised him to return to earth. But naughty Hanuman ignored his commands. Indra became angry and struck Hanuman with his thunderbolt ‘Vajra’. The thunderbolt hit the child, wounding his chin and causing him to fall down to earth. Vayu, the Wind-god, was terribly angry at this. He took Hanuman and went below the grounds of the earth. As Vayu left the earth, there was no air in the world. People, animals and trees struggled to breathe and started to die. All the gods went to Vayu and begged him to return to earth. Lord Brahma cured Hanuman’s wounds and gave him a boon that he would become immortal. Thus, Vayu returned to earth and everyone became happy.
THE RIPE RED FRUIT
