The story of how Lord Hanuman got his name
One day, little Pavanputra was playing when he suddenly became very hungry.
He looked up at the sky and saw the rising Sun—bright, golden and glowing. To the young child, it looked just like a delicious, ripe mango.
Excited, he leapt high into the sky to reach it.
But when Indra, the king of the devas, saw the child flying towards the Sun, he feared that the world might be plunged into darkness. To stop him, Indra threw his thunderbolt, the Vajra, at the little boy.
The thunderbolt struck the child on his jaw. He fell back to Earth, injured and unconscious.
Seeing his son hurt, Vayu—the god of wind and Pavanputra’s divine father—was overcome with anger and grief. He withdrew the wind from the world. Without air, all living beings began to suffer.
The gods soon realized that this was no ordinary child. He was divine, powerful and destined for a greater purpose.
To make amends, they revived him and blessed him with extraordinary boons, immense strength and protection from many forms of harm.
The injury to his jaw also gave him the name by which the world would come to know and love him:
Hanuman.
The name is traditionally connected with the Sanskrit word hanu, meaning jaw or chin.
A bead of thought to take from the story
Sometimes, what appears to be mischief may simply be innocence combined with extraordinary courage.
Little Hanuman did not look at the Sun and think, That is impossible to reach. He simply saw something beautiful and leapt towards it. Perhaps that is one of the earliest glimpses of the Hanuman we later come to know as fearless, wholehearted and unaware of the limits that hold others back.
Children do not see fear and limits quite the way adults do. Perhaps that is something to cherish -not to silence, but to guide gently and give room to grow.
If you enjoyed this, you can also view it as a reel or share it - https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXb5p39iNrH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
© 2026 Brahmachakra1111. All images on this page were created exclusively for Brahmachakra1111 and may not be copied, reproduced or reused without prior written permission.