He served Sri Rama as His messenger (dootha), servant (daasa), and disciple (sishya).
He symbolises physical power, will power, devotion, intelligence,
knowledge, and He delights in listening to the glories of Sri Rama.
According to Sage Yagnavalkya, Sri Narayana, Sri
Mahadeva, and Sri Hanuman are one and the same. Sri Narayana Paramatma
is the same as the Rudravatara Hanuman. Vayu Puranam and Sri Agastya Samhita also state that Sri Hanuman is the incarnation of Sri Parameshwara. As per Narada Puranam,
Sri Hanuman is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient capable of
creation, maintenance of order, and destruction and is none other than
Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheswara.
He is the only character that appears in two great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha, which are set apart by several milleniums.
His Birth
According to Sri Agastya Samhita, Sri Anjaneya
was born on a Tuesday in Karthika month (November-December), Mesha
Lagna, on Krishna Chaturdasi and in Swathi constellation. However, the
common belief is that Sri Hanuman was born in Makara month
(January-February) in Moola constellation. Abhishekam is therefore
performed on days ruled by ether Swathi or Moola constellation.
Features of Sri Hanuman
According to Saint Tulsidas, Sri Hanuman is bestowed
with golden colour, beautiful curly hair, wears a sacred thread made of
sacred grass, and shining earrings. He is very learned, adept in all
scriptures including astrology and the Vedas, extremely intelligent,
virtuous, and a great lover of music. Since He has a body as strong as
the thunderbolt, He is also called Bajrangbali. Bajrang means
thunderbolt.
According to Hanumath Prakaranam in Sri Vidyarnavatantram, Anjaneya has
five faces (Pancha Mukha) and ten weapons. The five faces are that of
Lord Hanuman, Lord Narasimha, Lord Adivaraha, Lord Hayagriva, and Lord
Garuda. There is a belief that one of the faces is that of Sri Vinayaka.
The idol of Adyanta Maha Prabhu depicts a figure of half Anjaneya and
half Vinayaka.
He is a great yogi (mystic) having transcended the five senses (Pancha Indriyas).
In Kamba Ramayanam (in Tamil), the
significance of number five is beautifully narrated as follows: The son
of one of the five (son of wind – that is Pavana Thanaya), crossed one
of the five (water – the ocean), through one of the five (sky), met
daughter of one of the five (daughter of the earth – Sita Devi), burnt
down Lanka by one of the five (fire). Here five means the five elements.
Sundara Kandam, which highlights the heroic exploits of Lord Hanuman at Lanka is the fifth canto in the Ramayana.
Therefore, it is considered auspicious to go around His idol 5 times,
14 times, 23 times, 32 times or with such numbers the digits of which
add to five.
His Prowess and Greatness
He was blessed by Sita Devi with the ashta maha sidhis, the eight supernatural powers, and the nine wealth. The eight supernatural powers are:
Anima : the power to reduce the body to the size of an atom
Mahima : the power to expand one’s body to infinitely large size
Garima : the power to become infinitely heavy
Laghima : the power to become infinitely light
Prapti : the power of unrestricted access to any place
Prakamya : the power to realise any desire
Isitva : the power of absolute lordship
Vasitva : the power of subjugating all
The nine wealth are the nine types of devotion
namely, daasya bhakthi, sravana bhakthi, vandana bhakthi, smarana
bhakthi, paada sevana bhakthi, sakhya bhakthi, keertana bhakthi, aatma
nivedana bhakthi, and archana bhakthi. Scholars, however, exemplify
Anjaneya for His daasya bhakthi.
Sri Hanuman is the embodiment of the four yogas. His
will, emotions, intellect and actions were perfectly refined and rooted
in spirituality. The character of Sri Hanuman is relevant to our
contemporary world. He has taught us how to be a perfect servant, a
perfect messenger and a perfect devotee.
In Rama Rahasya Upanishad, Anjaneya says, "Take
refuge in the auspicious Raam naam to free oneself from the ills of the
materialistic world. By His grace you can fulfil your desires. Whenever
the infliction becomes unbearable, think of me, the eternal servitor of
Sri Rama."
His manasa mantra is:
Rama aeva param brahma
Rama aeva param tapah
Rama aeva param tatvam
Sri Ramo brahma tarakam.
Rama aeva param tapah
Rama aeva param tatvam
Sri Ramo brahma tarakam.
That is, Sri Rama is the Absolute Brahman and the Absolute Reality.
The greatness of Sri Hanuman lies in His boundless
love for His Lord Sri Rama and His dedication to Sri Rama. He derived
all strength by His devotion to Sri Rama. He is always in meditation
chanting the holy name of Sri Rama. While He was blessed with an
incredible physical prowess, it was His spiritual prowess and total
identification with His Lord Sri Rama that made Him real invincible and
great. There is none equal to Him in valour, zeal, intelligence,
dignity, character, charm, fair-mindedness, glory, tact, and audacity.
His physical prowess, total identification with Sri Rama, absolute faith
in Sri Rama, obeisance to Sri Rama, intellectual humility, dedication
to work, desire to help those in trouble, and the power to fulfill the
genuine wish of the devotees make Him not only a God to be worshiped but
also a model to be cherished and followed by individuals in their life.
Weapons of Sri Hanuman
According to Hanumath Prakaranam in Sri Vidyarnavatantram,
the weapons of Sri Hanuman are mace, sword, rope, ankusam (goad),
trisul (trident), stambham, tree, khadvankam, mountain, and fist. As per
Naradapurana, He uses nail (nakhayudha) and teeth (danddhayudha) as weapons. However, the mace is considered His principal weapon.
He used His fist against Ravana and Kumbakarna. He
used a tree to destroy the chariot and the eight horses of Akshakumara.
He killed Dhrumraksha, a demon, with a mountain. He killed another demon
Akambanan with a tree. On many occasions Anjaneya used His tail as a
powerful weapon. He could use virtually anything as weapon.
Roar of Sri Hanuman
In Vanaparva in the Mahabharatha, it is mentioned that when Bheema met Sri Hanuman in the Kadalivana
in Gandhamadana Mountain (believed to be in Orissa), he solicited His
help in the impending Mahabharatha War. Sri Hanuman replied that
positioning Himself on the flag on the chariot of Arjun, He would roar
hearing which the enemies would faint or flee and that the Pandavas
could easily annihilate a scared enemy. Tulsidas describes that hearing
His roar, many enemy soldiers fainted and died. Such was His roar that
Bhishma, the great grand father of the Pandavas and Kauravas, remarked
that only Sri Hanuman could roar like an angry ocean. For the demons,
the roar of Anjaneya portended danger and disaster.
The Anegondi village on the banks of the Tungabhadra River is considered to be the Kishkindha mentioned in the Ramayana.
There is a cave near the place where it is believed that Sri Rama and
Lakshmana took rest after killing Bali. Behind the cave there is a
mountain peak known as Hanuman Mountain. According to local legend,
Anjaneya visits the mountain peak on Chitra Pournami and special days and many people have reportedly heard the roar of Anjaneya from this peak.
Carrier of Sri Hanuman
Scholars opine that Anjaneya is His own carrier as none can bear His weight.
His Heroic Exploits
When a baby, He leapt
16,000 miles towards the rising Sun mistaking it for a sweet fruit. He
crossed the ocean in just one leap, and landed in Lanka. He assumed an
awesome form and scared and destroyed many demons of Lanka. He assumed a
subtle form and appeared before Sita Devi in the Ashoka Van and
consoled Her. He made extensive damage to Lanka single handedly. He
leapt from the battle field in Lanka to the Himalayas and brought on His
palm a mount full of Sanjivini herb, the medicinal-herb that saved the
life of Lakshmana.
Some Interesting Anecdotes
Anjaneya’s Tail
It is said that when Lord
Siva decided to take birth as Anjaneya His cohort Goddess Parvati
expressed Her wish to accompany Him. Lord Siva conceded and asked Her to
accompany Him as His tail when He took birth as Sri Anjaneya. Devotees
worship Anjaneya by smearing sindoor on the tail of Anjaneya’s idol
because the tail of Anjaneya is regarded as Goddess Parvati. The extra
ordinary power of Anjaneya’s tail is attributed to the presence of
Goddess Parvati.
Anjaneya – An Exemplification of Devotion
It may seem paradox to
some that what was the need for Sri Rama to seek the services of Sri
Anjaneya, Sugriva, and others when He himself could have single handedly
annihilated Ravana. But for Anjaneya the essence of devotion and its
importance could not have been portrayed. It may be noted that the
events that take place in our life have deeper significance than what is
understood by us. When a man named Lazarus was reported to be sick,
Jesus said, "The final result of this sickness will not be the death
of Lazarus; this has happened to bring glory to God, and will be the
means by which the Son of God will receive glory."
Anjaneya Gets Angry with Lord Rama
After the war, Sri Rama returned to Rameswaram and
wanted to worship Lord Siva. He asked Anjaneya to bring a sivling from
Kailas. The auspicious time fixed for the consecration of the sivling
was getting over and Sri Rama made a sivling out of sand and consecrated
it. When Anjaneya returned from Kailas He was angry that Sri Rama did
not wait for Him. However, Sri Rama asked Him to remove the sivling and
install the sivling from Kailas in its place. Anjaneya tried to remove
the sivling with the help of His tail. Not only that He failed to do so
but also His tail got wounded in the process. Then He realised that the
power He enjoyed was due to the blessings of Sri Rama and prostrated
before Sri Rama.
Rendezvous of Anjaneya and Bheema
Once Bheema set out in search of Sougandhikam, a rare flower
desired by his wife Droupadi. On the way he found an old monkey lying
across the road blocking the path. Bheema ordered the monkey to make way
for him. The monkey replied that it was too old and tired to move and
that he could lift his tail and make way for himself. Bheema, credited
with the strength of thousand elephants, could not even lift the tail of
the monkey. When he realised that it was no ordinary monkey, Bheema
prostrated and requested it to display its real form. Anjaneya obliged
by assuming his real form and blessed his brother. Vayu, the deity of
wind, sired Bheema whereas Vayu is considered the stepfather of
Anjaneya.
Anjaneya Protects Arjuna’s Chariot
Arjuna requested Anjaneya to seat Himself on the flag
of his chariot. It was due to the presence of Anjaneya and Lord Krishna
on the chariot of Arjuna, the prince devotee of Sri Krishna, that the
Mahabharatha War ended in favour of the Pandavas. After the war,
Anjaneya left the chariot and Sri Krishna asked Arjuna to alight from
it. It was customary for the charioteer to alight first. But Arjuna
obeyed Sri Krishna. When Sri Krishna also alighted from the chariot, it
broke into pieces. It was the presence of Sri Krishna and Anjaneya that
protected the chariot from the deadly weapons used against them by the
Kauravas.
Sri Krishna Gives Darshan as Sri Rama
In Treta Yuga, after the Rama Ravana War, Sri Rama
had promised Anjaneya that He would grant Him darshan in the Dwapara
Yuga. His elder brother Balram took pride in that he was elder to Sri
Krishna and that he was an expert in handling weapons, particularly mace
and plough. Satyabhama, wife of Sri Krishna, thought high of her beauty
and believed that it was her beauty that lured Sri Krishna. Sri Krishna
had wanted to put an end to the pride of both Balram and Satyabhama.
He sent Sage Narada and Balram to invite Anjaneya to
His abode. When Balram introduced him as Balram (which means a strong
Ram), Anjaneya became angry because no Ram was greater than His Lord Sri
Ram. Balram was beaten by Anjaneya very badly. Balram ran away from
Anjaneya but returned with an army only to be beaten up again by
Anjaneya. He again ran away from Anjaneya. This time Sri Krishna asked
Balram to go to Anjaneya and inform Him that Sri Rama wanted to meet
Him. Hearing the name of Sri Rama, Anjaneya hugged Balram and asked for
pardon for all the trouble given to him. He took Balram on His shoulders
and proceeded to Dwaraka.
At Dwaraka, Sri Krishna asked Satyabhama to dress up
as Sita Devi and be ready to meet Anjaneya. She dressed up adoring all
kinds of ornaments but Sri Krishna, not satisfied, sent her back. He
then asked Rukmini to give darshan to Anjaneya as Sita Devi. Hearing the
name of Anjaneya, Rukmini became very happy. In her enthusiasm to meet
Anjaneya, she did not wear any ornaments except for a kumkum tilak on
her forehead. Anjaneya entered the room and found Sri Rama and Sita Devi
in place of Sri Krishna and Rukmini.
The moral is that divinity occupies the heart of those who are simple, devout, and non-egoistic.
Sani and Anjaneya
As per Indian astrology, the seven and half year period (refereerd to as the ezhara sani, ezharattu sani or sade sathi) during which Saturn moves through the 12th, 1st, and 2nd from the natal moon as well as the period when it moves through the 4th, 7th, and 10th
from the natal moon are bound to be very bad for the individual. The
period when Saturn becomes retrograde is also considered inauspicious.
Astrologers suggest, among other remedial measures, praying to Anjaneya
during such periods. It is said that even gods have to undergo its evil
spell at the prescribed periods.
According to a legend, when Sani approached Anjaneya
to bring Him under his spell, Anjaneya caught him by the hair, dangled
him in the air, and blew air on him. Anjaneya let him go only after a
promise from him that he would never harm Him or those who pray to Him.
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