Bathed in a shower of fragrant, multicolored blossoms, Hanuman, the mighty monkey, shone brilliantly as he soared upward, resembling a great cloud adorned with garlands of lightning. The water below him, churned by his forceful leap, was strewn with countless flowers, sparkling like stars or like lamps lighting up the sky. His powerful arms, stretched wide as he flew, looked like two five-mouthed serpents emerging from the peak of a mountain. Hanuman himself glowed as if he were drinking in the vast ocean with all its rolling waves, and seemed to thirst for the very sky. His eyes, bright as lightning and following the path of the wind, blazed like fires set atop a mountain. The large, round eyes of this tawny-eyed leader gleamed, steady and radiant, like the moon and the sun shining together. His face, with its reddish nose, glowed with the hue of the sun’s disk touched by the colors of twilight. His tail, raised high behind him as he leapt, shone in the sky like the banner of Indra, king of the gods. Hanuman, son of the wind, with his tail forming a circle and his shining white fangs, appeared as resplendent as the sun surrounded by its luminous halo. The red of his hip region made him shine like a mountain split open and stained with red ochre. As this lion among monkeys leapt across the ocean, the wind rushing between his sides roared like thunderclouds. To onlookers, he appeared as a meteor streaking across the northern sky, its fiery trail blazing. Stretched out and radiant like a flying firebrand, Hanuman resembled a massive elephant, broad and powerful, as if bound by a rope around his sides. With his body and its deep shadow cast above, he seemed like a wind-driven boat gliding over the ocean’s surface. Wherever Hanuman reached over the waters, the ocean itself appeared agitated, as if maddened by the force of his limbs. With tremendous speed, he vaulted over the crests of waves as high as mountains, his powerful leap shaking the ocean, which roared terribly as the winds from Hanuman and the clouds mingled together. He seemed to drag great nets of waves through the salty water, scattering the heavens and the earth as he sped onward, the very tiger among monkeys. With great swiftness, he crossed the vast ocean’s waves, which rose like Mount Meru and Mount Mandara, as if he were counting each one. The water, resounding with his force and filled with clouds, shone in the sky like bright autumn clouds spread wide. As he passed, sharks, crocodiles, fish, and turtles could be seen exposed, as if their bodies were being stripped of their watery coverings. Seeing him advance, the serpents dwelling in the ocean mistook this tiger among monkeys for Garuda, the mighty bird soaring through the sky. The shadow of the lion-like monkey, swift and powerful, stretched beautifully across the ocean—ten yojanas wide and thirty yojanas long. His shadow, always following him, shone upon the salty waters like a line of dense, white clouds. Hanuman, immense and radiant, sped along the path of the wind, unsupported, like a winged mountain in flight. The mighty monkey, swift as an elephant, sped forward, and the ocean beneath him seemed to be hollowed out into a trough by his passage. As he descended through flocks of birds, Hanuman, like the king of birds himself, swept away masses of clouds as the wind would scatter them. Great clouds—white, red, blue, and madder-colored—shone as they were drawn along in his wake. Again and again, he entered and emerged from masses of clouds, appearing now hidden, now revealed, like the moon itself. Witnessing this swift leap, the gods, gandharvas, and charanas showered flowers from the heavens. The sun did not scorch the lord of monkeys as he leapt, and the wind served him faithfully, aiding him for the fulfillment of Rama’s purpose. The sages praised Hanuman as he flew through the sky, and the gods and gandharvas sang songs in his honor, extolling the forest-dweller’s valor. Nagas, yakshas, and various rakshasas too praised this best of monkeys, marveling at how he remained free from all fatigue. As Hanuman, the tiger among monkeys, leapt across the sea, the ocean itself began to reflect, wishing to honor the great Ikshvaku dynasty. “If I do not assist Hanuman, the lord of monkeys,” the ocean thought, “then I will be subject to reproach from all who speak. I was increased by Sagara, lord of the Ikshvakus, and this one is a counselor of the Ikshvakus; therefore, he does not deserve to be hindered by me.” Resolving wisely, the ocean decided, “I must act so that the monkey may rest, and having rested upon me, he will happily cross the remainder.” With this thought, she addressed Mainaka, the best of mountains, hidden beneath the ocean’s waters, whose navel was of gold. “O Mainaka,” she said, “by the command of the great-souled king of the gods, you have been stationed here as a barrier for the hosts of Asuras dwelling in the netherworld. Your strength is renowned among them, and you stand blocking the entrance to the immeasurable netherworld, lest those beings rise again.