Suman K Sharma
Sometimes a ray of hope lightens our gloomiest hour. Ram was going through the distress of a man who had lost his wife. His brother Lakshman was with him. But Lakshman could do little to assuage his elder brother’s feelings. Looking for Sita, the two brothers had wandered barefoot from the Dandkaranya forest in what today is Chhattisgarh, to Mount Rishyamook of the present-day Karnataka – a distance of some nine hundred kilometres. They had braved the difficulties of an arduous trek and the risks of teeming wild beasts there. Yet, there was no hope in sight for them.
It was then that Hanuman appeared before them in the guise of a brahmin scholar. He had taken that form to allay any feelings of mistrust in the minds of the august strangers which his original shape of ‘the monkey with a prominent jaw’ (that is what the compound Sanskrit word ‘Hanu-man’ means) might have aroused. His name was a reminder of his playful past. Born to an apsara, Anjana, and Pawan, the god of wind, he in his infancy had tried to fly up to the Sun, mistaking it for a ripe piece of fruit. An angry Lord Indra had struck him down with a thunderbolt that disfigured his jaw. Hanuman’s child-like frolics had also invited a curse on him that until reminded of who he was, he would remain oblivious of his unlimited potential.
One to be relied upon
Hanuman was now a trusted minister in the court of Sugriv of Kishkindha, in whose territory the Rishyamook hill forest fell. The monkey chieftain, Sugriv, had become paranoid because of the fear of his elder brother, Raja Bali, whom he had deposed unwittingly. The two strangers who had entered the territory had aroused Sugriv’s suspicion. They had the aura of royals and the demeanour of ascetics. What was their motive to have descended on his domain? Had Bali sent them to destroy him and everything that he possessed? In his minister Hanuman, Sugriv discerned the best emissary he could have to assess the visitors. Hanuman was not only a gifted talker; he was highly intelligent too. By dint of his tapas he had acquired all of the eight siddhis – supernatural capabilities. At will, he could reduce his body to the size of a mite or assume a gigantic shape, grow heavier or lighter, materialise anything, fulfil any desire, lord over Creation and assume control over the temporal world.
It did not take Hanuman long to gauge the true identity of the Raghu brothers. From that moment he became Ram-bhakta, devoting his mind, soul and body to the Vishnu-incarnate. And for Ram as well, constrained as he was by the limitations of a mortal, Hanuman proved a divine appendage – what he as the earthly Raja Dashrath’s son could not possibly do, Hanuman achieved with ease with his unlimited godly powers.
But, first, he used his considerable diplomatic acumen to establish a bond of friendship between his chief, Sugriv, and the exiled Ayodhya prince, Ram. It was a win-win position for both the allies. Ram gave his whole-hearted support to Sugriv’s cause. He not only killed his mortal enemy, Bali, but also installed him as the undisputed king of Kishkindha. Sugriv, on his part, avowed to put at Ram’s disposal his entire army to locate Sita and do whatever was necessary to bring her back. Even though the kingly pleasures of the Kishkindha palace had initially swayed the monkey-king from honouring his pledge; yet thanks to Hanuman’s wise counsel and Lakshman’s show of temper, Sugriv was as good as his word. Ram’s conquest of Lanka and Sita’s reunion with him were now assured. But perhaps we are moving with the story rather too fast.
Ram’s unfailing emissary
Sugriv commended Hanuman before Ram as the only creature on the whole planet who could find a way to locate Sita. Ram was not lagging in reposing his trust in Hanuman. Handing him a signet ring bearing his name for being taken to Sita, Ram said:
“Best of monkeys, through this symbol the Princess of Raja Janak, Sita, will have confidence that you have been sent by me. She will be able to cast a look at you without any apprehension.”
Balmiki Ramayan, Kishkindha Kand, Canto 44 (xiii)
Hanuman had to go a long way to achieve this mission. Sugriv’s strict command to his generals was either to trace Sita, or face death. The harsh royal edict had brought the army on the shores of the Indian Ocean. Here, the aged vulture, Sampati, gave them a clue that it was Ravan, the king of Lanka, who had abducted her. But who could cross the expanse of the ocean to reach the island and contact the princess? Sampati expressed his inability to fly because of his age. Jambvan too cited the frailty of age for not being able to take the long jump across the ocean to Lanka. Young Prince Angad affirmed that he could perform the feat, but he was not quite sure whether he would have the energy left to take the leap back to the Indian shore. The wise old Jambvan, however, opined that there was no need for him to take the risk because as the chief commander of the army, his personal security was also of the prime concern.
Mighty in body, sharp in wits
Hanuman was quietly watching the goings on. It was then that Jambvan reminded him of his true self, inflaming him with the zeal to perform the task –
Kaheyi Reechhpati sunu Hanumana/Ka chup saadhi rahehu balwana//
Pavan tanay bal Pavan samana/Budhi bibek bigyan nidhana//
The Chief of Bears (that is, Jambvan) said to Hanuman – O Hanuman! O Mighty One! Listen, why are you keeping silent? You are the son of Pavan, the Lord of Wind, and in strength you are equal to the wind itself. You are a quarry of wisdom, prudence and acquired knowledge of the world.
Ramcharitmanas, Kishkindha Kand, 29(ii)
At that, Hanuman became as big in his body as a mountain, roaring that he could playfully cross the salty sea; he was only to be told what was expected of him. Jambvan replied that he was merely to go across the ocean, locate Sita and return. Balmiki renders a graphic description of how Hanuman took off for the hundred ‘yojen’ air dash to Lanka.
Hanuman, says Balmiki, climbed to the top of the Mount Mahendra, threw his round hairy tail skywards, planted his colossal arms upon the mountain, contracted the upper parts of his body to such as an extent that they came close to his waist, drew up his feet as well, lifted his eyes up to scan the sky, held his breath and jumped into the air at great speed, pledging that he would see Sita across the ocean or else go straight to the heaven at the same speed. (See Balmiki Ramayan, Sunder Kand, Canto 1(xxxiv-xxxviii).
As he was flying energetically towards his destination, the Mainak Mountain, that stood amid the ocean, invited him to take a momentary rest on it. Hanuman declined the offer. He was on a mission for Ram that brooked no delay, he said. Gods in the heavens got jittery. Would Hanuman’s adamantine will suffice for acquitting the job? They roped in Sursa, arche-mother of the Nagas, to test his capability. Sursa appeared before Hanuman. She told him of the boon that she would have him in her mouth. Hanuman said she could eat him up after he had returned from his mission. Sursa insisted that she must eat him instantly and opened her mouth wide apart to swallow his immense proportions (Balmiki Ramayan says that she had eventually to stretch her mouth a hundred yojens). Hanuman, quick-witted as ever, reduced his body to the size of a thumb, entered Sursa’s immensely wide-open mouth, and was out of it instantly to resume his flight.
He had passed the test, but his travail was not yet over. Singhika, a particularly voracious rakashi, caught him by his shadow and won’t let him proceed. To escape, Hanuman applied the same trick with her as he had done with Sursa. But this time he was not as forgiving. Going into Singhika’s mouth with his miniaturised body, he hurt her insides badly enough to kill her, and was on his path once again. Approaching Lanka, Hanuman prudently contracted himself to normal size to avoid alerting the Lankan rakshasas of his arrival.
His exploits in Lanka are too well known. He delivered Ram’s signet ring to Sita, assuring her that Ram was on the way to rescue her. He went on a reconnaissance of the enemy territory and brought back to Ram a detailed report for devising an effective war strategy. Arrested by Ravan’s son Indrajit (who was also known as ‘Meghnad’) and presented before the assembled court of Ravan, he introduced himself as Ram’s emissary. There he tried to persuade the rakshas king to surrender to Ram before it was too late. Ravan in his arrogance made a move to slay him, but his brother Vibhishan cautioned him of the impropriety of killing a messenger. Ravan then ordered that the tail of ‘the monkey’ be set on fire. Hanuman, on his part, kept hopping playfully from one mansion to another with his enormous burning tail, till the ‘golden Lanka’ was burnt to cinders. When, in a battle with Meghnath, Lakshman got seriously injured, he flew as for as the Himalayas to bring back a whole hillock of medicinal herbs for treatment of the warrior.
Abiding by Raja Ram’s last command
When the Ram-Ravan war was over, it was Hanuman who brought to Bharat the happy news of Ram’s triumphant return. After Ram’s assumption of the Ayodhya throne, his allies, such as Sugriv, Vibhishan, Nishadraj and Angad, who had flown with Ram to Ayodhya in the Pushpak Viman, reluctantly took their leave. Among them, only Hanuman, with Sugriv’s permission, remained with Ram to serve him for all the time to come.
And when Ram was himself leaving the mortal world for his eternal abode, he said to Hanuman –
“O Lord of Monkeys, until such time as my stories are current in this world, till then, abiding by my command, you may roam around (the earth) happily.”
Balmiki Ramayan, Uttar Kand, 108(xxxii/i)
Indeed, Hanuman still remains with us. As a child, I was afraid of the dark. My devout mother gave me a mantra in His name to ward off any kind of fear –
Om! Hanumant bajar ka kotha/Jis men pind hamara baitha
Ishwar kunji, Brahma tala/Jis ka Hanumant rakhwala
Om! Phur ho mantar/Shri Hanuman ji ki vacha phure
A mantra is a mantra. Its puissance is lost in translation. But you have my word: mumbling those words those days, I could venture into the deepest dark.
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