Lord Rama and the Little Squirrel – Stories from India #1

What my name is or from where I belong to, that’s really not important. Some People call me Hanuman because of the shape of my jaw. But that’s another story and this is not the right time to discuss that. Right now, I have just returned from Lanka, where, that cruel Raavan rules, who has abducted our queen and motherly figure for us all – Maa Seeta.

With the various boons provided by many gods and saints, I have the capability to fly and cross the mountains and the sea. I have discovered all that also quite recently. But the question arises here that how Lord Rama’s army, our army, will be able to cross this ever-expanding sea. We are thousands Of Vanaras, the soldiers of the monkey tribe. It is completely impossible for our whole army to swim across the sea. Then one of us gave an idea that the only possible way to cross the sea is to make a bridge by rocks and stones so that the whole army can cross the sea easily. Easily said, than done. One of the soldiers threw a large rock in the sea, and as expected, it sunk somewhere deep.

Lord Rama is not an ordinary Mortal and no one knows why he has incarnated in this world. But he is my Lord and I have a deep faith in his name. Reciting his name, again and again, give me a sense of peace, no matter how turbulent the situation is. So, I closed my eyes, took his name, and wrote his name on a large piece of rock with a little stone. I threw that rock in the sea with all the faith I have. The Rock starts floating near the shore. Everyone clapped and reciting my Lord’s name.  Jai Shree Rama (All hail to Lord Rama).

So that was it, In no time everyone started writing Lord’s name on the rocks and the process of building the bridge had begun. But the thing which was worrying me was, that all the Rocks were scattered and it was hard to march on that bridge and taking the whole army to the other side.

I sat for a while on the ground near the shore. I was lost in thought when I saw some little squirrels writing Lord’s name on little pebbles and throwing them in the sea. I was smiling, watching their dedication towards Lord’s work. But some of my co-soldiers were laughing and teasing them. They were calling their work worthless. Honestly, I feel bad about the whole situation, but I chose to sit quietly.

I was lost in thoughts when I saw Lord Rama coming towards us with his brother Lakshman. He analyzed the whole situation and bend down towards those little squirrels and started patting them lovingly. One little squirrel closed its eyes like it was in some kind of meditative state. After a couple of minutes, I saw some kind of impression on its back.  It looked like that all the impressions of his five fingers were imprinted on that little creature’s back.

“Hanuman” Lord looked lovingly at me and said “ No effort is worthless when we are into this war against the evil. The Little pebbles these great beings are throwing in the sea will bring all the large rocks together and will form a concrete structure.”

My eyes were welling up with tears as I saw all the Large rocks coming up together as those little squirrels were throwing more and more pebbles. Those little pebbles were filling up the spaces between those large rocks, giving our bridge a concrete structure.

When we won the war against the mighty demon, King Raavan, we were celebrating Lord’s Victory, Our Victory, when I saw some little squirrels were jumping around us. I was happy to see that. But what astonished me was the grey finger imprints on each of the Squirrel’s back.

That was nothing but the symbol of compassion Lord has imprinted permanently on the whole clan of those little squirrels for their unforgettable service towards the war against the evil.

But that was a different Yuga.

In Kali Yuga, Whenever I see Squirrels around me, I still see those imprints on their back, which reminds me of that day.

And me, don’t worry, I will not going to leave this world till there will be no one to remember my Lord’s name. I'm still a servant of Lord Rama and always will be.

Jai Shree Rama

Om Shanti