Book Of Hanuman , livre ebook

H anuman is an outstanding scholar, a fearless warrior and the ideal lieutenant: intelligent, totally committed to his master, selfless and humble. Born into the Vanar tribe, a clan of the upa-devatas (demi-deities), he represents the four best-known divine attributes—akhand brahmacharya (lifelong celibacy), immense physical prowess, a command of the scriptures and unquestioning dasya bhakti (worship by serving the Lord). While Hanuman is a positive force in the life of Ram, stepping in when his fortunes are at their lowest, Ram, with his enormous powers, helps his loyal follower realize his true potential. Ram thus becomes the goal, and Hanuman, the path to attaining the goal.
 
The Book of Hanuman recounts the story of Hanuman as the greatest devotee—the most obedient servant of Ram. The book is divided into two sections. The first section traces the story of Hanuman from his meeting with Ram at Lake Pampa till the time when Ram returns of his divine form, and the second details the attributes of Hanuman, his varied representations in Hindu iconography, and rituals and prayers associated with his worship. Drawing upon stories from Valmiki’s Ramayana, Parvez Dewan weaves an engrossing narrative that captures the significance of Hanuman, perhaps the most accessible deity in the Hindu pantheon.
Pravez Dewan is an officer of the Indian Administrative Service. His previous books include The Hanuman Chalisa of Goswami Tulasi Das, The Names of Allah and Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh: Travel, Trekking, Art, Culture and Society.
‘ You are the guardian of Shri Ram’s gate No one can enter without Your mandate.
 
Ghosts and goblins fly away in fear When Mahabir [Hanuman], the name, they hear’.
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Book of Hanuman
Books in this series
 
The Book of Buddha
The Book of Devi
The Book of Durga
The Book of Ganesha
The Book of Hanuman
The Book of Kali
The Book of Krishna
The Book of Muhammad
The Book of Muinuddin Chishti
The Book of Nanak
The Book of Ram
The Book of Shiva
The Book of Vishnu
The Book of
Hanuman
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

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First published in Viking by Penguin Books India 2004
Published in Penguin Books 2009
 
www.penguinbooksindia.com
 
Text copyright © The Parvez Dewan Foundation 2004
Illustrations copyright © Penguin Books India 2004
Illustrations by K.G. Narendra Babu
 
All rights reserved
 
ISBN: 978-01-4306-759-7
 
This digital edition published in 2011.
e-ISBN: 978-81-8475-149-9
 
This e-book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser and without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means\ (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above-mentioned publisher of this e-book.
 
 
 
 
 
 
For
The Dewans of Khurd Chatala
Dewan Wasti and Kaushalya Devi
Contents
 
Copyright
Introduction
 
THE STORY
Hanuman Meets Ram
Sugriv in Kishkindha
The Search for Sita
The Journey across the Sea
Lanka, at Last
Hanuman Meets Sita
Provoking the Rakshases
The Burning of Lanka
Hanuman Completes His Mission
Preparing for the War
War Begins
The Reunion
Back to Ayodhya
Epilogue
 
THE DEITY
 
Notes
Bibliography
Introduction
 
W hen demons overran the world, tyrannizing mankind, Lord Vishnu came down to Earth in the form of Ram, a human. Ram was destined to live the life of an ordinary mortal, with all the attendant suffering and pain. It was when Ram’s fortunes were at their lowest that Hanuman came into his life. Swami Chinmayananda writes, ‘From the moment Anjaneya [Hanuman] meets with Rama, [the] Ramayana distinctly reveals a mysterious [unfolding] of great powers, an explosion of inconceivable merits and beauties.’ In other words, the epic takes a new turn and becomes a saga of success and hope after Hanuman steps in.
Hanuman was born into the Vanar tribe, a clan of semi-deities, the males of which wore monkey-like tails ‘as an ornament’. There are many and varied accounts given of Hanuman’s birth in different sacred texts of Hinduism, but they all agree that he was endowed, even at birth, with extraordinary valour, wisdom and steadfastness. However, it was only when Ram found him, years later, that he could realize his true potential. Till he met Ram, Hanuman had been one of the highest-ranking advisors of the Vanar-king Sugriv. But Sugriv had never been able to tap Hanuman’s enormous potential. Only Ram had it in him to bring out Hanuman’s divine powers. In turn, Hanuman helped Ram fulfil his mission on earth; he was the ideal lieutenant: brave, intelligent, totally committed to his master, selfless and humble.
After the battle of Lanka had been won, and Ram and Sita had returned to Ayodhya, Ram’s brothers, Lakshman, Bharat and Shatrughn said to Hanuman, ‘Clearly you are not a monkey. You wear the sacred thread. Your clothes and jewellery, your religious rituals and mansions in Kishkindha, they are identical to those of men. You are an expert in all the scriptures. You know all the natural sciences. Monkeys don’t do all this. Then what kind of a people are you Vanars?’ ‘I am an upadevata (demi-deity),’ Hanuman replied. ‘I rank below the devatas (deities) but not above humans. How can I rank higher than the human form that Ram is in?’
Worshippers through centuries have not made such subtle distinctions. To them, Hanuman is both an all-powerful god and the greatest devotee and there is no contradiction in this. Even those who maintain that Lord Ram is the goal and Hanuman the path to that goal, believe that the worship of Ram is incomplete till prayers are offered to Hanuman as well. On the other hand, when Hanuman is worshipped independently and alone, as he often is, devotees celebrate all the acts that he performed for Ram. (There are also several Shaivites who do not give Lord Ram quite the same importance as they do to Lord Shiva. They worship Hanuman as the eleventh Rudr, or aspect, of Shiva.)
To his worshippers, Hanuman epitomizes piety, duty, discipline, strength, chastity, modesty, altruism, scholarship and simplicity. He is in many ways the most reliable, the most accessible and the least controversial of all the deities of Hinduism. Above all, he is the keeper of Ram’s gates. Not only does he guard the Lord’s temples and home, he also controls access to Him. This book is a humble attempt to take the reader closer to Hanuman—and thus to the goal to which he is the path.
 

 
This book consists of two parts. The first part is the story of Hanuman. It is followed by a brief look at the Hanuman phenomenon.
The story of Hanuman as told in the first part of the book is a faithful condensation of the account contained in the Ramayana of Valmiki, except where stated otherwise. The spellings of proper names, on the other hand, have sometimes been changed to the more popularly accepted usage found in the Ram-charit Manas of Tulasi Das. For instance, we have employed the spelling Bali instead of Valin. Similarly, we have used the names Sita instead of Janaki and Meghnad instead of Indr-jit. The book concentrates only on such passages in the Ramayana as feature Hanuman, or are needed to link one part of the story with another. No important incident that concerns Hanuman has been left out.
The second section, about the Hanuman cult, tries to answer three questions: i)Why do people worship Hanuman and how? ii)What does this deity represent? iii)How is Hanuman depicted in sculpture and painting? This section tries to seek answers from Valmiki’s Ramayana, from later texts like the various regional versions of the Ramayana, Vedanta literature and Vaishnav commentaries, and from actual religious and artistic practices.
Hopefully the two sections together will give the reader the essence of the story as well as significance of Hanuman.
I THE STORY
Hanuman Meets Ram
 
 
R am, the eldest son of king Dashrath, was the crown prince of Ayodhya. His stepmother, Kaikeyi, however, wanted her son Bharat to be king. So she had Ram banished to the woods for fourteen years. Ram’s wife Sita and his brother Lakshman insisted on accompanying him in his exile, so that they could serve him.
In the forest, Ram, Sita and Lakshman built a hermitage for themselves and were content with their simple life, till Ravan, the demon king of Lanka, decided to abduct Sita. He got a magical deer created and sent it racing around the royal trio’s house in the woods. Ram and Lakshman went out to capture it. When they returned, they foun