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Once the mighty Arjun went on a pilgrimage. He was accompanied by his guide, a learned Brahmin. On reaching Rameshwaram, his guide showed him the spot where Lord Rama and his monkey brigade had built a bridge of arrows leading up to Sri Lanka. Arjun asked his guide why Lord Rama needed the help of monkeys for such a simple task. On hearing this, a small monkey sitting on a tree started laughing. He explained to Arjun that without the help of the monkeys, a strong bridge could never have been constructed. Arjun argued that anyone could easily build a strong bridge. So why couldn’t Lord Rama do it. At this, the monkey challenged Arjun to build a bridge, which he would break easily. The monkey said that if he was unable to break the bridge, he would become Arjun’s slave for the rest of his life. Arjun was very proud of himself. He readily accepted the challenge and said that if the bridge collapsed under the monkey’s weight, he would immolate himself.
    He stepped to the shore and began shooting powerful arrows from his quiver gifted to him by Agnidev. In no time, the bridge was ready. He then challenged the monkey to break it. As soon as the small monkey set foot on the mighty bridge, it immediately collapsed under his weight. Arjun could not believe his eyes. He reconstructed the bridge. But surprisingly, it again collapsed under the tiny monkey’s weight. When this happened again and again, Arjun accepted defeat. Just as he was about to immolate himself, a young boy appeared. He asked Arjun why he was committing self-immolation. Arjun explained to him that he had lost a bet with the monkey. So he had to end his life. The boy said that since there was no witness, it was improper to decide the outcome of the bet. He said that it would be better to repeat the exercise in his presence, so that the winner could be fairly decided.
Once again, Arjun constructed a bridge of arrows. The monkey again stepped on it. But surprisingly, this time nothing happened to the bridge. The monkey was amazed. He jumped on the bridge with all his might. But the bridge did not break. The monkey was furious. He decided to assume his true form. He started growing bigger and bigger. Soon, he was as big as a huge mountain. He then jumped on the bridge with all his strength. But again, nothing happened. The monkey was puzzled. He kept on jumping furiously till he was totally tired. But the bridge did not break.
Both, Arjun and the monkey, who was actually Hanuman himself, were puzzled by the turn of events. They realised that the young boy was no ordinary person. They fell at his feet and asked him to reveal his true identity. The boy reverted to his true form. He was none other than Lord Vishnu. He chastised both of them for being too proud. As atonement, he said that Hanuman would have to be on Arjun’s flagstaff all the time.
This is how Arjun got to have the mighty Hanuman on his flagstaff.

Written and posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

Author and Columnist