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Hanuman

In Hinduism, Hanuman is a vanara who aided Rama (an avatar of Vishnu) in rescuing his wife, Sita, from the Rakshasa king Ravana. He symbolizes the pinnacle of bhakti, and is seen by some to have also been an avatar of Shiva. He is more well-known as the son of deva, or the wind god. He is more popular in the north of the Indian subcontinent than in the south. He is believed by some scholars to be a source for the Chinese mythological character Sun Wukong.

Hanuman epitomizes virtue, strength, humility, siddhi and courage. Casual observers have found it amazing to notice the worship of a monkey as God in Hinduism and some have used this to denigrate the Hindu faith.

He is symbolized in Hinduism for his unwavering dedication to righteousness, unstinting performance of entrusted duties, and unfailing talents in serving his master Rama. He is given the role of a guru in several South Indian traditions, for his uniting Rama with Sita is likened to that of a teacher helping an individual soul realize the divine.

Birth

Hanuman is the son of an apsara (a celestial), named Punjisthala, who by a curse becomes Anjana, a female vanara. Hence Hanuman is also called Änjanèya (the son of Anjana). She is the wife of Kesari, a mighty monkey who once killed a mighty elephant that was troubling sages and hermits. He therefore got the name of Kesari, meaning a lion, and is also called kunjara südana, the elephant killer.

One day when Anjana was on a mountain peak, , the wind god, came by, and generated a forceful blow of air, and her clothes slipped off her body. was incited by her charm and possessed her, with her consent. She thus gave birth to Hanuman. Hence Hanuman is also known as Maruti (son of the wind). Hanuman's birthday is celebrated as Hanumad Jayanti.

Childhood

Hanuman grew up and inherited his father's activities of quick flying, forceful travel, and mighty strength. Soon after his birth he saw the sun, thought it to be a ripe fruit and took flight to catch hold of the sun to eat.

Indra, the king of gods and the administrator of universal laws, observed this. He hurled his weapon, the Vajra (thunderbolt), which struck Hanuman on his cheeks. Hanuman fell back down to earth and became unconscious. , the wind god, Hanuman's father, was upset by this and went into seclusion. As living beings began to get asphyxiated, to pacify Deva, Indra withdrew the effect of his thunderbolt, which had cut Hanuman's two cheeks. Thus he is called Hanuman, for hanuhH in Sanskrit is the word for cheek.

On ascertaining that Surya is an all-knowing teacher, Hanuman raised his body into an orbit around the sun and requested that Surya accept him as a student. But Surya declined to accept him claiming that he always had to be on the move in his chariot. But Hanuman, undeterred by Surya's travel, enlarged his body. He placed one leg on the eastern ranges and the other on the western ranges, and with his face turned toward the travelling sun, made his request again. Pleased by his pertinence, Surya taught all of his knowledge to Hanuman. Hanuman's choice of Surya as is teacher is said to signify Surya as a karma saakshi, an eternal witness of all deeds.

Hanuman was mischievous in his childhood, and sometimes teased the meditating sages by snatching their personal belongings and by disturbing their well-arranged articles of worship. Finding his antics intolerable, but realizing that Hanuman was a simple monkey yet invincible by the blessings of various celestials, the sages gave him a minor curse. By this curse Hanuman lost the ability to remember his own might, and only recollected it when others reminded him about it. It is hypothesized that without this curse, the entire course of the Ramayana war might have been different, for he demonstrated phenomenal abilities during the war, despite the curse.

Hanuman in the Ramayana War

Sundara Kanda, the fifth book in the Ramayana epic, focusses mainly on the adventures of Hanuman.

While in exile, Rama enlisted the help of the vanaras in his search for Sita Devi. A group of vanaras sent on a search mission reached the southern seashore. Upon encountering the vast ocean, every vanara began to plead his inablity to jump across the water. Hanuman too was saddened at the possible failure of his mission, until the other vanaras began to extoll his virtues. Hanuman then recollected his own prowess, enlarged his body and jumped across the ocean. Hanuman then entered Lanka and found Sita. Hanuman's conveying the message of Rama to Sita, is likened to that of a divine teacher, teaching a pupil about the Supreme God.

As a punishment to Hanuman, Ravana ordered his tail to be lit. As the attendants attempted to wrap cloth around his tail, Hanuman began to lengthen his tail. After frustrating Ravana's attendants for a while, Hanuman allowed his tail to be lit, but escaped from his captors while his tail was on fire. He then burnt down much of Lanka before heading back to Rama.

During the war, when Lakshmana, the brother of Rama, is severely wounded, Hanuman was sent to fetch the Sanjivani herb to revive him. Unable to find the specific herb before nightfall, Hanuman again displayed his prowess by lifting the entire mount Meru and bringing it to the battle field, thus helping others find the herb to revive Lakshmana.

In another incident during the war, Rama and Lakshmana are captured by Mahiravana, and are held captive in his palace in Patala (the nether world). In search of them, Hanuman entered Patala and discovered that he had to extinguish five lamps at once to kill Mahiravana. Hanuman took the Panchamukha (Pancha - five, mukha - face, thus the five-faced) form with faces of Varaha, Narasimha, Garuda, Hayagriva, and his own, and blew out the lamps. Thus killing Mahiravana, Hanuman rescued Rama and Lakshmana.

After the Ramayana War

After the war, and after reigning for several years, the time arrived for Rama to depart to his heavenly abode. Many of Rama's entourage, decided to depart with him including vanaras like Sugriva. However, shunning the heavens, Hanuman requested to remain on earth for as long as Rama's name is venerated by people. Sita accorded Hanuman that wish, and granted that his image will be installed at various public places, so he could listen to people chanting Rama's name. He is thus one of the chiranjeevis (immortals) in Hinduism.

Thus Hanuman is also considered an old monkey, alive since the ancient times. This is also reflected in the Mahabharata, when Bhima, who believed he was the strongest, encounters an old monkey whose tail he attempts to lift in vain. This incident is considered an effort by Hanuman to control the ego of Bhima, who is a brother to him, being also sired by .

Eager to be of service to another avatar of Vishnu, Hanuman attached himself to the flag of Arjuna's chariot, whose cahrioteer in the Mahabharatha war was Krishna. He thus had the fortune of hearing the Gita as recited by Sri Krishna himself, the only other people having the opportunity being Arjuna, Sanjaya and Dhritrashtra.

Presence of Hanuman

There have been numerous saints who have seen Hanuman in modern times, notably Tulsidas(16th century), Sri Ramdas Swami (17th century), and Raghavendra Swami(17th century).

Others have also testified to his presence wherever the Ramayana is read: (in Sanskrit, not transliterated)

Yatra Yatra Raghunath Kirtanam Tatra Tatra Krishna Mastaka anjalim Bashpawari Pari purna lochanam Marutim nammascha rakshas antakam

Which means

That wherever the deeds of Sri Rama are sung, At all such places does Hanuman cry tears of devotion and joy, At all such places does his presence remove the fear of demons.

Hanumad Ramayana

It is considered that Hanuman originally scripted a version of the Ramayana on clay tablets, recording every detail of Rama's deeds, and brought them to Rama for his blessings of that narrative. Rama out of modesty is said to have declined the recording, considering instead his own deeds, simply his righteous duties. Dejected by this, Hanuman is said to have brought these clay tablets to seashore, recited each verse, broken each tablet on his knee and thrown it into the sea. This version is called the Hanumad Ramayana and is unavailable since then.

But one tablet is said to have floated ashorecame ashore, during the period of Mahakavi Kalidasa, and hung at a public place to be deciphered by scholars. Kalidasa is said to have deciphered it and recognized that it was from the Hanumad Ramayana recorded by Hanuman in an extinct script, and considered himself fortunate enough to see at least one foot of the stanza.

Temples for Hanuman

There are numerous temples for Hanuman, and his images are usually installed at all temples where images of avataras of Vishnu are installed.

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