When he said this, Hanuman and his men cried in one voice, "Victory to Rama!" At this the creature underwent a transformation: his feathers grew again and his wings became large enough to lift him in the skies, and he developed into a most majestic bird. When he found that
Hanuman and his followers were in despair about finding Sita, he said, "Ravana went this way with Sita. I saw him carrying Sita off to Lanka, which is farther south, and he has imprisoned her there. You will have to cross the sea somehow, and find out her whereabouts. Do not be
disheartened by this expanse of water before you. You will ultimately succeed in your mission. Now I must take leave of you; our tribe is without a leader since Jatayu is dead. I must
take on his duties." Saying this, Sampathi floated up and flew away.
After Sampathi left, they conferred among themselves as to how the sea was to be crossed, which they felt an utterly hopeless task to attempt, until Jambavan spoke once again.
He said to Hanuman, "You are the only one who is fit to cross the sea and carry the message of hope to Sita." He explained, "You are unaware of your own stature. That is a
part of a curse laid on you long ago by your father—that you should be ignorant of both the depths of your learning and your own powers. This delusion will have to be overcome
before you attempt anything further now. Remember that you can grow to any stature you wish and if you so decide, you can cover the entire world in one stride, outdoing even
Vishnu in the days of Mahabali. Make yourself as immense as you need and you can have one foot on this shore and another across the sea, on the other shore—that will be
Lanka. When you have reached Lanka, make yourself inconspicuous and your devotion to Rama will be enough to guide you to where Sita is kept."
Hanuman listened to this with his head bowed in humility.
"Your words give me so much courage that I feel I can vanquish and eradicate the entire race of asuras if they will not yield to me my Goddess Mother. The span of this ocean
seems to me insignificant. The grace you have conferred on me and Rama's command are like two wings which will carry me anywhere." So saying he assumed a gigantic stature; the
mountain called Mahendra, which had till then loomed high up in the clouds, now seemed like a pebble at his feet. He stood there looking southward choosing his own moment to
step across the ocean into Lanka.