Hanuman's Leap
Libretto
1. The Story So Far
Rama, perfect man, son of Dasaratha,
Rama, mighty archer, loving husband, Avatara, happy
Rama, open heart, shining jewel of great Ayodhya, gentle
Rama, prince of patience, hope of nations, but his star has fallen
Banished, second mother taken over by a demon
Banished, would instead that Rama's brother come to rule the kingdom
Banished, asked a boon,
king could not refuse,
though it broke his heart,
tore his family apart,
and burned his ears,
though the king would never sleep
again, and died within a week
of crushing fears,
though it filled the city streets
with sounds of grief
and boulevards with tears,
the king decreed his favorite son be
banished to the jungle one and
thirteen years.
Sita, perfect woman, loving daughter of Janaka,
Sita married Rama when he broke the bow of Shiva,
Sita, deathless love, for a thousand lifetimes cherished, loving
Sita would with Rama to the forest, or in parting perish
Ravana, king of demons, had surpassed the gods in power
Ravana, king of Lanka, had a woman every hour, seeing
Sita, cruel Ravana lost all will for any other and he
kidnapped her but she would never yield and be his lover
Rama and his brother
good and brave Lakshmana
hunted for Ravana
through the dark Dandaka Vana
and along the Ganges.
Soon they won the fealty
of a great vanara army,
a race of magic monkeys,
strong as titans, wise as rishis,
and they journeyed far from home
turning over every branch and every stone
until they reached the southern sea.
Across the water: Lanka,
Kingdom of Ravana,
but how to cross, they did not know,
too great the span to build a bridge
or take a boat,
too many apes to keep afloat
Mighty Rama, for a moment giving in to his frustration
fired arrow after arrow from the beach into the ocean
and they watched him weep
fired arrow after arrow at the ocean
from the beach
until a quiet monkey, his name Hanuman, as much in sympathy for fish
as courage, volunteered to try to leap.
2. Hanuman Up the Mountain
Hanuman steps
mountain shudders
hundred brothers
watching from down on the beach
feeling each step of his feet
rippling out in the sea, and
shaking like thunder;
and as he climbs, never he rests, and never he stumbles
higher & higher, up to the crest, and out from the jungle pour
all of the terrified animals
sounding out every alarm
serpents and leopards and deer giving
throat to their fear, carrying
nests, and leading their children from harm
darkening sky
birds taking flight by the thousands
deafening cries
echo from mountain to mountain
as Hanuman fearlessly climbs.
Hanuman grows
taller than elephants reach
Hanuman grows
legs and arms like trees
Hanuman grows
scraping the bellies of clouds
Hanuman grows
Sita needs a hero now
he reaches the top
frozen and empty
not even birds have attempted this spot
he looks for a rock
something more sturdy
somewhere to plant his feet firmly
somewhere to start his impossible journey
and, finding it, finally stopped.
Hanuman looks out across the ocean,
shining like a thousand jewels below him,
but even from this peak cannot
discern the distant land's location
He folded his mighty legs and prayed:
3. Hanuman's Prayer
Blessed are you Lord Indra, king of Devas,
Blessed be Varuna, endless ocean, over whom I must pass
Blessed be Mahendra, forgive my feet, and hold this mighty mountain fast
Blessed be Vayu, the wind, my dad;
father, hold me close, father
father hold me close
4. Hanuman's Leap
the multitudes of beasts and birds that fled
escaping from the giant monkey's path
had gathered with the army on the shore:
elephants and tigers side by side,
wolves and mountain sheep, and spotted boar
and cormorants and cranes, and wild Khur,
and all were silent, watching what would come.
Rama's steady hand did hold his brother's,
and silently they synchronized their prayers.
And all at once, an avalanche of sound
came crashing down Mahendra; with a roar,
the mighty Hanuman crouched low, and pulled
himself against the firmament, like an arrow in a bow,
and loosed himself against the empty sky.
As he rose, a thousand trees rose with him;
A plume of leaves and blossoms showered heaven,
the mountain cracked and shifted, canyons opened
and Hanuman began the leap for which he had been destined.
5. Baby Hanuman
The day that mighty Hanuman was born
he saw the sun and thought it was a fruit.
He leapt so high, he terrified the night
who ran to Indra then and cried: "I have
your word, O King of Devas, that I may
my daily hunger feed upon the sun.
This you promised me, and yet today
some mighty god or demon, I know not,
has leapt up all the way from earth
to steal it from my mouth." Come, said Indra,
I will help you set it right.
Baby
Hanuman, still racing for the sun
saw at first the carpet of the night
and thought that it, too, was a fruit
and grabbed it tight with hungry palms
and hairy, happy thumbs. Then Indra
roared at him, and four-tusked Airavata
stamped ferocious feet, but Hanuman
had never seen an elephant before,
and thought with much delight: "This fruit"
(he meant the brilliant chariot of white)
"must be the most delicious fruit of all!"
But when the laughing monkey grabbed his trunk
the Lord of Devaloka, furious,
cried out and loosed a blazing thunderbolt
that flashing struck him squarely in the chest,
and killed him instantly. Still for days
his lifeless body climbed before it reached
the apogee of his prodigious arc,
and for a moment hung, a point so still
that to this day the perfect rishis fix
their meditating hearts upon it; then
Hanuman began to fall.
His jaw struck first, a crack that shook
the stones of temples loose and sent the waves
back out to sea. Vayu, god of wind,
Hanuman's father, blew to his child's side.
In tears he raged against Indra, and withdrew
with Hanuman's body deep inside a cave
to mourn his son.
Without the wind, the creatures of the earth
and heaven, men and beasts, Devas and Asuras
all began to gasp, and choke, turning
blue for want of air and scratch their necks
in panic, crying out to Brahma, "Where
has gone the wind? Why does Vayu choke us?
What promise broken? What sin committed?"
A crowd of desperate gods set out to search
the corners of the world, and finding him
at last inside the cave, pleaded loud
that he come out and save the dying world.
At last, majestic Vayu answered them:
"My heart is broken, my cup of rage is full,
for unjust Indra of the thousand eyes
has slain my only son. Bring him back
to life. Only then will I return
to you." Then did Brahma speak a word,
and Hanuman awoke; and once again
the god of air returned to mortal lungs;
and the four worlds did not perish that day.
Hanuman remembered nothing of
this strange adventure. He had been too young
and even if he had been old enough
he still would not: for much as perfect Rama
often had occasion to suspect
his godly nature (for example when
he effortlessly strung the bow of Shiva)
these deeds had always taken place inside
a kind of cloud, obscuring them from daily
life. So too was Hanuman's heart
so good, so humble, that ignorance divides
his mind from his own greatness.
6. A New Mountain
So it was that all the gods above
remembered what those hairy legs could do
and gathered at the edge of heaven's door
to watch the leap of destiny begin;
while he himself still trembled in his heart
to see a blank horizon with no speck
of island, and the endless water.
When Hanuman looked down he saw an endless
danger, an absolute and unforgiving
endgame to his labor, but the sea,
looking up at this courageous ape,
so humble in his heart, felt a loving
glow. "Look at Hanuman trembling"
thought Varuna, "surely he will fall;
the island Lanka lies too far away
for any leap. He must have rest. I'll raise
a mountain from the deep to meet his feet
and he can catch his breath before he leaps
again." And swift as thought, a mountain lifted
from the ocean bottom, routing shark
and octopus, schools of tuna split
and corals cracked; collecting giant webs
of ocean weeds that veiled the savage crest
that broke the waves and stretched to touch the sky.
Hanuman saw the mountain rise; at first
he thought that sly Ravana sent its heft
to block his flight, but as it neared he heard
the voice of great Varuna and his rishi's
heart could see into its loving purpose.
But Hanuman did not alight upon
its proffered perch, nor rest a second there.
He folded hairy hands and bowed his head
and cried aloud, "My lord Varuna, vast
is your embrace, and generous; but if
I do not stop to rest, I hope you know
that little Hanuman could never look
upon your gifts with carelessness.
But I have no time to spare,
my mistress Sita waits for me
to bring her hope;
I must travel on.
But I have no time to spare,
my master Rama waits upon the beach
for news his love is safe across the waves;
I must travel on.
But I have no time to spare,
a mist of darkness falls across the earth,
and I must strike it at its heart with all my might.
I must travel on."
And on and on
and on and on
and on and on
flew Hanuman
7. The Island
At last! A speck of land
coming up on the horizon
only the size of a grain of sand
but growing, now a glowing diamond
now like an emerald shining
green as a pine
bright as a lion
Hanuman's angle declining
falling as fast as he's flying
heart is a riot of sirens
everything leading him down to the island