Suffered in silence ~~ Legend of Sumitranandans

Samudralanghanam

Thank YOU, @Ramayana_lover for this title! You saved at least 20 minutes of my time XD

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Hanuman, in his enormous, looming form, travelled over the ocean for a miraculously long time, considering the fact that he had taken absolutely no rest. And this worried Varuna, who had been watching all the drama with popcorn and all, and so he decided to put Hanuman through a test

As Hanuman flew and flew, Varuna ordered a mountain to grow. Nope, not like 'Grow and make progress, dear mountain, this is my blessing' Type. He actually ordered a mountain to grow, or rather, shoot up in a matter of seconds. 

No, sensible people might say that it isn't possible, but what was impossible, really, when the god who controls all the water in the world randomly decides to test you, even when all you are trying to do is to mind your own business, which was what Hanuman was doing

But then, What Hanuman was minding wasn't exactly just his business, was it? It was the whole world's business. Ravana wasn't just Rama's enemy, he was the enemy of righteousness. And so, the gods collectively decided to check if the messenger of Righteousness was worthy of this huge responsibility or not, in the first place.

What they knew, and yet decided to ignore, was that Hanuman was Rudra amsha. A part of Hara himself. And hence, when a huge mountain came and stood in his path out of literally nowhere, Hanuman was quick, very quick, to crush it and move ahead, as if it were some pebble or something.

And that is how, people, Hanuman passed the first test set by the divinities.

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The next test was set by the King of gods, Shakra himself. And this one was to test Hanuman's intellect, unlike the one of Varuna which was to test his determination.

So, it was simple. Well, not really, but you know what I mean. Indra, the eldest of the sons of Aditi, asked the mother of nagas, Surasa, to assume the form of a demon and stand in front of Hanuman. Surasa obliged

So, she stood there, with her mouth wide open, staring at Hanuman, who innocently blinked his eyes like a child who was scolded for no fault of his. Surasa almost melted, until she remembered her purpose of being there at all.

"I am here to gobble you up, Vanara! You ought to enter my mouth today!" She said, opening her mouth wide

Hanuman narrowed his eyes, looking at her curiously. He could fight her off, perhaps, but he knew, deep down, that it wasn't the exact solution to the problem. It was his presence of mind, his street smarts that he needed to use. And Anjaneya did just that. He smiled at her playfully.

"As you command, lady!"

And he grew small. And small. Smaller. Smaller than an insect. He stopped growing small only when he was assured that even a fruit fly would be huger compared to him. Then, he entered Surasa's mouth. But before she could even process anything at all, he took a quick tour of her mouth and flew right out. He grew back to his normal form and smiled at her sheepishly.

"Er, I entered your mouth as you had asked me to. Can I go now?" He asked, still smiling

And So, Hanuman passed this test too!

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Now, Indra wasn't just randomly sending people to test Hanuman for fun. He had an intention, and that was to prepare their chosen champion for the actual troubles. And the first trouble came in the form of Simhika, an actual demoness.

Simhika, like many others of her clan, had a very unfair advantage over her opponent. She could, apparently, catch shadows! Creepy? Definitely. But then, we are talking about actual demons here.