Forever sitting at his masters’ feet…he is always to be seen tearing his bare chest with his hands to prove his loyalty. Infact there is no similar character in Indian mythology that is so modest yet so loved and respected.
By Neeraj Mahajan
Infact it would
not be totally wrong to say that the most popular character of Ramayana is Hanuman…not Ram. Even though Ram is by all means the Hero of Ramayana and Hanuman is
just his side-kick—Hanuman steals the show by super-natural feats like flying
with the Himalayan peak on his palms, carrying both Ram and Laxman on his
shoulders and setting Lanka on fire with burning tail. Not only children but
also people across all age groups love him for that.
Even today
Hanuman’s shrines far outnumber those of Ram. He is said to be the foremost
deity of the Kali Yuga. He seems to be present everywhere from the in
street-corner temples to colorful posters on the walls of dhabbas and from
dashboards of motor vehicles to comic books, advertisements, TV serials and
Films. If all these are not signs of his popularity that what is…. If the
growing corpus of books, posters, films and at least two published
autobiographies are an indication, then Hanuman is indeed an upwardly mobile
deity with an evergreen fan following not only in India but also abroad.
Hanu mean-- one
having an odd-shaped jaw – Hanuman probably got this name because of his
childhood pranks. Legend has it that one day while playing baby Hanuman
swallowed the rising sun, mistaking it to be a ripe berry. The celestial gods
though of punishing him so they shattered his jaw and hurled him back to earth.
Then in order to pacify Hanuman’s father Vayu Deva, the same gods gave him the
boon – that made him more powerful, more versatile then any of them.
To Quote from Hanuman Chalisa: “vidyavan guni ati chatur, rama kaja karive ko atur, prabhu charitra
sunive ko rasiya, rama lakshmana sita mana basiya. Meaning: You
have the greatest wealth of divine knowledge. You are virtuous and intelligent,
always ready to serve Lord Rama, and your greatest pleasure is listening to His
glories. Rama, Laksmana and Sita always reside in your heart.
Hanuman epitomizes
knowledge, virtue, strength, courage and everlasting love for God. The essence
of Hanuman’s being or existence is his undivided Bhakti for Lord Rama.
He symbolizes the pinnacle of bhakti. A vanara who
aided Lord Rama (an avatar of Vishnu) in rescuing his wife Sita, from king
Ravana, Hanuman is considered to be the eleventh Rudra avatar of Lord Shiva. He
is better known as the spiritual Son of Vayu deva, the God the wind.
Bestowed with many
names like Pawan Putra, Bajrangbali, Maruti, Kesrinandan, Sankat-mochan, Panchmukhi, Balaji --Hanuman was born in Treta Yuga as the son of an apsara
called Punjikasthala, who born as Anjana, a female vanara because of a curse
which got washed with the birth of Hanuman – an avtaar of Lord Shiva. The story
goes that Anjana had performed intense prayers to beget Lord Shiva as her
Child. Pleased with their devotion, Shiva granted her that boon. Meanwhile, on
the advise of sage Vashistha Dasaratha, the king of Ayodhaya, was performing
yagna to beget sons. Pleased with his prayers, Agni Dev- the God of Fire
appeared and some sacred fruits, to be shared by Dashratha’s wives, Hence Rama,
Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna were born. But the story does not end here,
it is believed that a kite flying in the sky picked up a part of the fruit and
dropped it in the outstretched hands of Anjana who was engaged in worship.
Anjana consumed it and hence Hanuman was born.
As a child Hanuman
was blessed with super-natural powers but he was also quite naughty and used to
tease meditating saints by playfully hiding their belongings. The matters came
to a pass where the sages gave him a curse that he would forget all about his
god-gifted power. Hanuman asked them to forgive him. At this the sages toned down their own curse
and said he would remember about his lost powers when someone reminded him and when
he needed them most
This, is one of
the most crucial aspects that makes Hanuman relevant in today times because
even today you hear people telling others –“You are like Hanuman…. who has
forgotten his hidden potential”. People who are familiar with the story of
Ramayana know what difference this realization made in Hanuman’s life. Till the
moment he is made to realize his own powers by Jambhavant, Hanuman is depicted
as just an ordinary monkey, yet from that moment onwards he starts doing
super-natural deeds. Sundarkand, the fifth book in the Ramayana epic, focuses
mainly on the adventures of Hanuman.
This
transformation from the ordinary to extra-ordinary is not to be taken lightly.
Some of Hanuman’s super-natural feats: -- flying across to Lanka as Lord Rama’s
messenger, fighting the demons and destroying the Ashok Vatika, burning down
nearly half of Lanka with his blazing tail, getting the Dronagiri parbat on his
palm when asked to get sanjivini herb. Do you think any ordinary mortal can
conceive of doing all these – that is why Hanuman remains an idol for today’s
generation?
It is not that these super-natural deeds are unparalleled in Indian mythology. If Hanuman lifted Dronagiri parbat--- Krishna lifted the Goverdhan Parbat, with his index finger. Hanuman increased his size to engulf the Sun or teach Shani a lesson so lid Lord Krishna show his “virat roop” on the Kurukshetra battlefied in Mahabharata. If Hanuman killed demon Ahiravan, the King of Patala, as Panchmuki Hanuman, Lord Vishnu adopted the form of Narshimha to kill Hiranyakashap and install Prahlad as his successor. In short there are any number of Gods and Goddesses like Lord Rama, Shiva, Ganesha, Goddess Durga and Kali who have displayed extra-ordinary powers and performed super-natural deeds. In terms of knowledge, wisdom or strength they are no less than Hanuman—Yet Hanuman’s greatness stems from the fact that while all the other Devis and Devtas – were God or his Avtaar in one form or the other. Hanuman never claimed to be God.
(To Be Continued)
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