Encyclopedia for Epics of Ancient India

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Surasa

SURASA. [Source: Dowson's Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology] A Rakshasi, mother of the Nagas. When Hanuman was on his flight to Lanka against Ravana, she tried to save her relative by swallowing Hanuman bodily. To avoid this Hanuman distended his body and continued to do so, while she stretched her mouth till it was a hundred leagues wide. Then he suddenly shrank up to the size of a thumb, darted through her, and came out at her right ear.

Modern Languages MLLL-4993. Indian Epics. Laura Gibbs, Ph.D. The textual material made available at this website is licensed under a Creative Commons License. You must give the original author credit. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a license identical to this one. No claims are made regarding the status of images used at this website; if you own the copyright privileges to any of these images and believe your copyright privileges have been violated, please contact the webmaster. Page last updated: October 16, 2007 12:22 PM