Long ago, in the times recounted in the great epic the Mahabharata, King Pandu had five sons, the Pandavas. Each son had special qualities, and among them Bhima was known for his tremendous physical strength. He was so strong that no one dared to oppose him, and as a consequence he became more and more arrogant.

Lord Krishna saw the arrogance of Bhima, and knew that it was doing him harm, and so he enlisted the help of Lord Hanuman, the divine monks-king, to bring Bhima back to his senses.

Therefore one day, when Bhima was walking through a forest, carrying his mighty battle mace, his foot stumbled upon something on the path. Looking more closely, he discovered it seemed to be a tail, and when he followed the tail into the bushes, he found it belonged to an old monkey sitting curled up under a tree.

‘O monkey,’ said Bhima, ‘move your tail. I wish to pass here.’

But the monkey replied, ‘I am an old monkey, and I am not well. I have not the strength to move my tail. But you seem strong. You can move my tail.’

Bhima became angry, and said, ‘I will not touch your filthy tail! You must move it – at once!’

But the monkey again said, ‘I am far too old and ill to move my tail. Move it with your mace, if you will not touch it with your hand.’

‘And what if my mace breaks your tail?’ Bhima demanded.

The monkey laughed. ‘And what if my tail breaks your mace?’

Now Bhima became furious and wielding his mace – which no ordinary man could even lift – he made a powerful sweep at the tail, a swing that could have moved an ox, but to his astonishment the tail remained where it was. He tried again – with no result. The tail did not move. Then Bhima dug the mace under the tail and tried to lever it out of the way, but after sweating and straining mightily, all he accomplished was to wedge the mace tightly under the tail, and it took all his strength just to pull it free again.

“O monkey,’ said Bhima, panting from the exertion, ‘you are not what you seem to be. Pray introduce yourself.’

And then the monkey suddenly grew, and grew again, until he revealed himself as the enormous, powerful monkey king. ‘I am Hanuman, the devotee of Lord Ram. Do you dare now to move my tail, O Bhima?’

‘Forgive me, O mighty Hanuman,’ said Bhima. ‘I see I have have fallen into arrogance, but by your grace I shall mend my ways.’

And thereafter, although he retained his strength, Brim’s character became much more humble.