Bhagavad Gita · Mahabharata Codex

Hanuman

हनुमान् · hanumān

The monkey hero of the Ramayana; the emblem on Arjuna's banner

The hero of an older epic rides into this one on a flag.

Hanuman, son of the wind god, is the devoted helper of Rama in the Ramayana. In the forest years Bhima, also a son of the wind, found an old monkey lying across his path and could not lift even its tail. It was his elder brother Hanuman, who promised to sit on Arjuna's banner in the coming war and add his roar to their battle cry. The Gita calls Arjuna 'the one whose banner bears the monkey'.