Hanumanasana is named for Hanuman, a divine character in Hindu philosophy and the true hero in the Ramayana. Hanuman was a monkey who was born with divine powers. He had great wisdom and great strength and as with all youngsters with advanced intelligence and talent he had a propensity towards mischief. He would play tricks on his teachers, and constantly bothered the sages by moving their deities, and rearranging their alters. He would jump from tree to tree and startle his family. Among his favorite pranks, was sneaking up upon the sages while they were meditating and juggling them to get their attention. Eventually, the sages grew tired of Hanuman and his pranks and made a decision to mildly curse him until he was old enough to understand his powers. His curse would be that he no longer would have control of his powers; he would only be able to use them in a time of great need.
Fast forward to Hanuman as an adult monkey, where he becomes a key player in the Ramayana. Hanuman becomes close friends with king Rama whose beautiful wife Sita is kidnapped by the evil king and taken to an island (what is now Sri Lanka). All of the Rama's animal freinds are trying to figure out how they can save Sita. Many of the monkeys can swing from the trees and jump very far but none could clear the distance from the beach to the island where Sita is being held captive. An old gorilla-bear who grew up with Hanuman says "Hanuman, you can do it. Remember?".
Hanuman is confused he knows he is only a monkey like the others. He can not make the jump, there is no use in trying. The old bear looks to Hanuman again and says "Remember who you are". Hanuman remembers and leaps across the ocean to Sita's rescue.
Thus, Hanumanasana is born. A split, resembling the great leap Hanuman took after remembering who he was.
And, therein in lies the wisdom of this story, something so simple and yet so jarring: Remember who you are..
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