It's going to work out perfectly that I have these Week 14 and Week 15 Story Lab options to do the research for the two stories I still want to add to my Storybook project (and I wish I could encourage students to do more mix-and-match like this with the assignments; some are doing that, which is great, and I would like to make everybody feel totally free to mix-and-match). Anyway, for this time I want to do research into the story of Maiyarap and the underworld where Hanuman meets his son with Suvannamaccha, and for the final story I am thinking I want to do the story where Rama tricks Sita into thinking he is dead and sends Hanuman to fly her back to Ayodhya. That's not exactly a story about Hanuman, but I think I could really develop the dialogue between Hanuman and Sita at that moment as a way to look back on all the events of the Ramayana. Anyway, we'll see... for now: MAIYARAP! The main resources I have are Olsson's Ramakien, plus the new book I got by Cadet, the great story and commentary in Lutgendorf's book, and also the ACK comic book! The comic book is actually where I first encountered the story of Mahiravana:
Mahiravana: A Magician Outwitted. I've already taken
detailed notes on the comic book at that blog. Some details worth remembering: Hanuman tries to protect Rama and Lakshmana by making his tail into a fortress, and he also use the Sudarshana Chakra to protect them from above. Mahiravana tries to enter disguised as Dasharatha, then as Bharata, and he succeeds when disguised as Vibhishana. There is a prophecy that the arrival of men and monkeys will bring Mahiravana's doom. Hanuman enters Durga's temple disguised as a fly. Durga herself tells Hanuman how to defeat Mahiravana. The brothers claim they don't know how to bow, and ask Mahiravana to show them; that's when Hanuman made his move. It's also the origin of the Panchamukha form of Hanuman: to blow out the five lamps that held Mahiravana's life, Hanuman needed to have five mouths to blow with, so he took on four additional faces: Hayagriva, Narasimha, Garuda and Varaha. There are other "pancha" legends about Hanuman here:
Panchamukha.
Notice that in the ACK comic book, there is no mention of Hanuman's son, which is the key feature for me. That shows up in both Indian and in the Thai narratives. Here are the notes from Lutgendorf, where this is "Tale 21: The Slaying of Ahiravana" in his collection of 40 tales of Hanuman:
The Slaying of Ahiravana (my summary of Lutegendorf's account)
Ahirvana (Snake-Ravana) was born to Mandodari and Ravana, but he was so repulsive they threw him into the ocean; Simhika raised him. He practices austerities to win great powers, including the boon that his father will some day need his help. After Indrajit dies, Ravana summons his son who promises to kidnap Rama and Lakshmana. Hanuman makes his tail into a fortress and stands guard; visitors arrive -- Dasharatha, Bharata, Kaushalya, Vashishtha -- and Hanuman rejects them, but when Vibhishana arrives, he admits him, and so Ahiravana gets in, puts everyone to sleep, and flies off with the two brothers. Hanuman enters Patala through crack in floor of ocean. He sees various wonders (palace of Vasuki, Kapila's ashram, underwater Ganga), and then he overhears two vultures talking about the feast they will have at Mahakali's sacrifice. Monkey who looks like Hanuman challenges him at the gate; it's Makharadhwaja! He says he is Hanuman's son, to Hanuman's amazement (born of a fish impregnated by drop of Hanuman's sweat during burning of Lanka). Fish was caught, sliced open in Ahiravana's kitchen, and he emerged. He cannot help Hanuman out of loyalty to Ahiravana. They fight, and Hanuman wins. He then flies to palace and, as a fly, hides in a garland. He then presses the goddess's statue into the ground and takes her place. Hanuman opens his mouth for the priests to feed him and devours heaps of food. Hanuman burps and Ahiravana accepts "her" blessing. Now he will sacrifice Rama and Lakshmana! Rama uses riddling words to show he knows where Hanuman is, and then Hanuman emerges and cuts off Ahiravana's head which rolls into the sacrificial fire. Hanuman carries Rama and Lakshmana away; as they leave, Rama appoints Makharadhwaja to be the new ruler of Patala, using Ahirvana's blood from Hanuman's body for the ritual.
Mahiravana and Ahiravana. Lutgendorf also reports a version about Mahiravana and Ahiravana as twins (the Ashwins under a curse of rebirth!). The goddess this time is Kamaksha Devi. The son is Matsyaraja, born from spit that Hanuman coughed up in the Lanka smoke. Matsyaraja defeats Hanuman in the fight, but them admits him to the city. Here Hanuman uses a trick get the priests to feed him through a window ("anyone who looks directly at the goddess will go blind"), and he demands the princes as sacrifice, so priests shove them in too. The three then fight the twin demons, but they keep reviving. Hanuman finds a naga princess who will reveal the secret if Rama will break her bed with his weight; there are seven bees that make the immortality nectar, so Hanuman kills six of them and sends the last one to hollow out the bedstead legs. Rama just has to sit on the bed and it breaks (but he promises her he'll be her husband in a next lifetime). Again he makes Matsyaraja king of Patala.
Mahiravana. In this version, Mahiravana (earth-Ravana) carries the brothers away in a box to sacrifice them to Chandi. Hanuman disguises himself as kingfisher and hears prophecy that monkey will be Mahiravana's doom. As fly, he goes to the goddess, threatens her, and she recognizes him as form of Shiva and cooperates. This version is like the ACK comic book: Rama says he has never bowed and doesn't know how, at which point Hanuman cuts off Mahiravana's head. Mahiravana's queen comes to the temple enraged and throws the goddess's murti into a pond; Hanuman kills her, then Mahiravana emerges from goddess's stomach, and Hanuman defeats him again. They bring this Chandi to Bengal where she is worshiped today.
So, those are the three main versions that Lutgendorf reports, along with some other variants, and he has a TON of notes. The story is at least 1000 years old he says, and is alluded to in the Shiva Purana. There is a Mahiravana Nataka in Sansrkit, a Patala Ramayana in Malayalam, and a Mayiliravana katai in Tamil (peacock-Ravana), plus lots of art, and even an early film from 1918! There are temples today associated with details of the legend. Various goddesses, but all associated with tantric shakta rituals, often with some disgust on the part of the narrators themselves, and Hanuman abusing the goddess, but at the same time we see Hanuman's shakti powers, and sometimes he is allied with the goddess. Ahiravana trying different disguises goes back at least to Krittibasa. Ananda Ramayana has the version with the twins as Ashwin incarnations and the naga princess. This underworld adventure parallels the Sundarakanda in that all the adventures belong to Hanuman, with Rama just in background (he compares it to Arjuna's and Bhima's individual hero quests in the Mahabharata). Lutgendorf has lots of notes on the various naga/serpent themes and motifs. I think this quote sums up why I like this whole Patala adventure so much:
the Ahiravana story has little to say about dharma, family values, kingship, or the importance of keeping one’s word—themes that figure prominently in the classical Rama story. Instead it has everything to do with deception, resourcefulness, and power. [...] Hanuman’s triumph in this story cycle confirms him once again as intermediary par excellence, capable of traversing all realms of being because he is not above displaying some of the qualities of each.
Telling the whole story of the Ramayana from Hanuman's perspective would be so cool, kind of like Nagra's multicultural Ramayana, but with a Hanuman focus and all the extra Hanuman material blended in too. :-)
Ramakien. Lutgendorf does not get into the Ramakien account of this episode in his book (although elsewhere he has a lot of say about Macchanu as one of the manifestations of Hanuman's son). Clearly, the Thai account resonates with the Indian legends, but it also has some distinctive features of its own, so I'll quickly list those here:
Olsson. It starts on p. 181 with
Maiyarap Kidnaps Pra Ram, then
Hanuman Breaks into the Underworld on p. 185, and then
Hanuman Frees Pra Ram and Kills Maiyarap on p. 188 through p. 192.
Maiyarap Kidnaps Pra Ram. Totsakan summons his cousin Maiyarap, who rules Underworld in Badan. His mother Djantaraprapa urges him not to go. They quarrel violently, and Maiyarap will not listen to her. The kidnapping plan is Totsakan's idea. There is an amazing and weird ritual that Maiyarap performs to get the magic sleeping powder. There is also a prophecy that Waijawik, the son of his sister Pirakuan, will become king of Badan; he has them locked up. Pra Ram had a dream which Pipek interpreted as a warning about Maiyarap's plans: everyone would need to stay awake all night. Hanuman made himself enormous so Ram, Lak, and Pipek went into his mouth, and his tail was a fortress around the camp; Sukreep stood guard. Maiyarap tricked them with the great Komint diamond, hanging it in the sky so it glowed like dawn. The monkeys went to sleep, and then Maiyarap blew his powder on them for an even deeper sleep. Disguised as a monkey, he entered Hanuman's mouth, used the powder again, and kidnapped Ram. He put Ram in a cage, planning to cook him the next day.
Hanuman Breaks into the Underworld. Hanuman goes to the rescue. He descends into the Underworld using a hollow lotus stalk, making himself tiny and squeezing through. He kills a thousand demon guards, slays an elephant, and bursts through the fire wall, Then he squashes the giant mosquitoes as big as chickens. Matchanu the shining monkey with a fish tail guards a lotus pond. They fight; it's a draw. Hanuman is surprised by his strength, and doesn't understand why a monkey lives with demons. "Who are you, and how did you get that fish tail?" The monkey says he is Macchanu, son of Suvannamaccha and Hanuman, while Maiyarap is his foster father. Hanuman realizes the gods kept them from killing each other in their fight. Macchanu says he is lying; "My father can breathe out stars!" So Hanuman breathes out moons and stars. Macchanu does not want to betray his foster father so he answers with a riddle: "Go the way you came." Hanuman realizes that the way in is through the lotus pond and dives in.
Hanuman Frees Pra Ram and Kills Maiyarap. Hanuman meets Pirakuran drawing water and learns that Ram and Waiyawik will be made into soup in the magic kettle. Hanuman offers to kill Maiyarap and help make Waiyawik king. She smuggled him in the form of a lotus fiber in her cloth to get into the palace. But when they weighed her, that fiber still had Hanuman's weight, and the scales broke! The guards told Pirakuan she would die, but Pirakuan, instructed by Hanuman, accused the scales of being old and busted. But, she added, "I would as gladly die now as later!" The guards are impressed and let her pass. Ten million soldiers surrounded Ram sleeping in the cage. Hanuman used magic to burst open the cage and then took the sleeping Ram to Mount Surakan where Angels guarded him. Then he went back to kill Maiyarap. Hanuman came and broke Maiyarap's sword, then his spear, so Maiyarap proposed they make clubs out of palm trees and fight. Hanuman knows it's a trick but thinks it will be fun; Maiyarap's three blows just pound him into the ground. He springs back up: Hanuman smashes his body to bits, but the bits fly together again. Pirakuran reveals that there is a bee in a palm tree on Mount Treekoot that holds his soul. Hanuman enlarged himself, reached out to Treekoot, and grabbed the bee, squeezing it between two fingers and taunting Maiyarap. He then squashed it and cut off Maiyarap's head. He gave kingdom to Waiyawik, with Matchanu as vice-king. He went to fetch Ram, and also carried Maiyarap's head, and flew back to camp. Ram awoke with no memory of what had happened. Then he saw Maiyarap's head and learned what he owed to Hanuman. He decides to offer Hanuman a kingdom and give him a special nine-stoned ring.
In Cadet's book, this story starts on p. 170 and goes on through p. 186; I've listed the sections below, noting only new items I didn't note above.
103. Totsagan's nephews ride to the underworld.
104. Miayarap, Lord of the Underworld, receives Totsagan's nephews.
105. Maiyarap smashes his chariot. When his mother tells him not to go, Maiyarap is enraged and destroys his own chariot and all the lions that pull it. This calms him down, and now goes to Longka. There are some illustrations of his smashing his chariot, which is why I include it here (the scene is also in Olsson).
106. Maiyarap conducts magic rites. He is frustrated by Totsagan's insistence that he use magic instead of open warfare, but agrees. The gods themselves disrupt Maiyarap's magic ceremony. They manifest as two tempting women, as two battling elephants, and then two savage lions, but Maiyarap attacks the lions and throws their hearts into the cauldron to give it added power (is this him thwarting the gods? or is this all part of their plan? I wonder!)
107. Maiyarap enters the sleeping Hanuman's mouth. The magic diamond is spelled Gomin here. Even Hanuman falls into a light sleep when he thinks they have passed the night safely.
108. Maiyarap flies to the underworld with Phra Ram. The water Pirakuan is drawing is the water that will be used to boil Ram and Waiyawik!
109. Hanuman fights with Matchanu. The fire wall is a range of flaming volcano mountains, but Hanuman just stomps them out. At first, Hanuman just wants to kill Matchanu, but he sees how handsome he is, so he relents; "Well spoken, small fry! Now be a good lad and show me the way on from here." Matchanu strikes the first blow with a lotus in his hand. They fight; it's a draw. More conversation. "You are at least half a monkey, yet you are working for the demons, our deadly enemies." Matchanu tells the whole story of his birth, not blaming Suvannamaccha for abandoning him given Totsagan's temper, and he adds, about Maiyarap, "I must say I'm grateful to the old boy because it's more than my real father, Hanuman, ever did for me." Hanuman is so proud! "My boy, prepare yourself for a surprise. You are now looking at your true father, Hanuman the Brave, no less." Matchanu insists on the proof his mother told him about: breathing out the sun and moon from his mouth. Hanuman then breathed sun, moon and stars into the sky. Matchanu falls on his knees, and Hanuman explains his mission. Matchanu cannot betray his foster father so he answers with a riddle:
Not in the air, nor on the ground,
But through the water you must go --
Completely dry. For it is so
That what is lost may yet be found.
He again went through a lotus stalk and entered the heart of the kingdom.
110. Pirakuran's weight breaks the scales. She moans aloud about drawing water to boil her son and Phra Ram. There's a great picture of her in the scales! Hanuman wants to kill the ten million guards, but he tells himself, "Later, valiant monkey," and just puts them to sleep.
111. Hanuman returns to fight Maiyarap. Hanuman returns to sleeping Maiyarap and makes a bold speech, but he's still sleeping. Hanuman kicks him awake. This version does not say Hanuman smashes his body into separate pieces; just that he "brings him to his knees" (I like the body parts flying in Olsson's version!). Cadet's version says Matchanu will be "adviser to the crown."
112. Hanum returns with Phra Ram and the had of Maiyarap. He carries the head of Maiyarap in his foot while he has Phra Ram in his arms. Hanuman tells the whole story to Ram -- embellished, says Cadet! Ha! I would love to read the whole thing. Here Ram promises they will rule Ayutaya jointly.
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