A Matchless Devotee: Hanuman

Hanuman was a rare creation of rich imagination with a philosophical profoundness of sage Valmiki in the epic Ramayana. Hanuman was a matchless devotee of Sri Rama and an evolved being. He had the ability to assume any form. He was well versed in all the Shastras. He was also a skilled communicator and a sterling Brahmashchari.

Hanuman’s childhood was very interesting. Even as a child he was extraordinarily powerful and equally naughty. He once saw the rising red coloured sun. He mistook it for a fruit.   Since he was hungry, he leapt up to eat it and it proved to be fatal. He was burnt to ashes and fell on to the earth and the ocean. His ashes were gathered by various gods. His grandfather prayed the sun god to restore life to the child.  However his fragmented jaw couldn’t be rectified.

 Vali was the king of   Kishkindha and his brother Sugriva was crowned as the prince. Hanuman was a friend of ugreeva. I n one instance, when the two brothers went for hunting, Vali mistook that  Sugreeva was dead, and forcibly made Sugreeva’s wife to accept him. When Sugreeva came back, he became angry with this development and wanted to take revenge against vali and thereafter he lived with Hanuman near the ashram of the sage Matanga.

Hanuman was seated on a mountain top and was in deep meditation. An aura of holiness appeared around him. When he opened his eyes he saw the Ayodhya princes approaching the hill top. Hanuman who was in human form rushed towards Sri Rama and Lakshmana and touched their feet and introduced himself to the princes.  He  took the two princes by placing them on his two shoulders to the place where he lived.

The princes told Hanuman of their plight and the reason for searching the place where his wife was abducted by Ravana. Hanuman thought that the plight of Sugriva was the same. He asked Sri Rama to help defeat Vali and restore the kingdom of Kishkindha and his wife to Sugriva again. He also promised the princes that he would help locate the place where Ravana lived. Sri Rama killed Vali and restored Kishkindha and the wife to Sugriva.

Sampati, in the form of vulture, the elder brother of Jatayu, who resisted Ravana while he was carrying off SeethaDevi and who had given a tough fight to Ravana gave a clue about Seetha mathe. Hanuman was sent to Lnka, the kingdom of Ravana as an ambassador to release Seetha.

Sundarakanda, the most appealing part of Ramayana, describes the level of devotion and might of Hanuman.

Hanuman arrived in Lanka and met SeethaDevi and gave her the ring which Rama had given him and assured her that Rama would come and rescue her. Then when he was prowling in the city he was taken by the soldiers to Ravana. Ravana was enraged by the entry of hanuman to his kingdom. He ordered his soldiers to put a fire in Hanuman’s tail thinking that the Vanara would die because of it. But Hanuman with his tail burning went around the city and destroyed the major portion of the city and flew away to Rama to report his progress.

The preparation for the invasion of Lanka  began. The vast ocean of the Vanara army started marching towards the south. They constructed a bridge across the sea. The Vanaras carried huge rocks as if they were pebbles. The Vanara army led by Hanuman and Rama and Lakshmana entered Lanka. After a bitter war Ravana was killed and Seetha was rescued.

As long as hills and rivers exist in the world Hanuman will remain here and continue chanting Sri Rama’s name.  He proves to be the most appropriate example of  the might of faith,  which gives enormous strength  in overcoming any difficulties.