‘Who are you, heroes, one dark, the other fair of hue, who roam the woods disguised as Kshatriyas? Treading the hard ground with your soft feet, why are you wandering in the forest, my masters?

Though possessed of delicate, charming and beautiful limbs, how is it that you have exposed yourself to the intolerable sun and stormy wind of these wild regions? Are you some two of the three gods (viz., Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) or are you Nara and Narayana,

-or are you the first causes of the world and lords of all the spheres, manifested in human form to bear souls across the ocean of mundane existence and relieve the earth of its burdens?

We are the sons of Dasharath, lord of Kosala,’ said Rama, ‘and have come to the forest in obedience to our father’s command. Our names are Rama and Lakshmana and we are brothers, and with me was my bride, young and beautiful.

-but some demon here has stolen Janaki away, it is in quest of her, O holy Brahman, that we wander. We have told you our affairs; now, Brahman, tell us your own.

Now Hanuman recognized the Lord and falling to the ground, clasped his feet. That joy, Uma, no tongue could tell. A thrill ran through his body and all words failed his tongue as he gazed on the form of their ravishing disguise.

Then collecting himself, he hymned his praises and was glad at heart to have found his Lord. ‘Master’ said Hanuman, ‘for me it was fitting to inquire, but why should you ask, as though you were a mere man?