Once, Sita gave Hanuman a string of pearls. He kept biting the pearls as if they were nuts. The residents of Ayodhya laughed at this, exclaiming that a monkey could not know the worth of pearls. When asked to explain his behaviour, Hanuman said, ‘I was biting to see if Ram resides in these pearls. He doesn’t, so they are useless to me.’ The people found this to be an absurd idea, for Ram sat on a throne and could not be seated inside pearls. But Hanuman was surprised at their assertion and confidence. He just tore open his chest and there within his heart was Ram with Sita by his side.
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