by Vanamali
Now Krishna asked Hanuman, “O son of Vayu! I hope you will keep your oath and help Arjuna in the war that is soon to come. You should sit on his pennon and help him in all possible ways without actively participating in the war.” Hanuman promised to abide by his promise. Arjuna thanked him and went off to complete his tapasya to Shiva, and Hanuman returned to his own cave to perform his evening worship.
The Pandavas finished their exile successfully, but the Kauravas still refused to give them their rightful portion of the kingdom. Yudhistira did his best to avert war, but Duryodana refused to part with even the smallest bit of land. Krishna went as ambassador to the court of the Kurus and tried to prevail upon the elders to reason with Duryodana and make him see reason, but it was all to no avail. At last the two factions met on the field of Kurukshetra, prepared for battle. Krishna went as Arjuna’s charioteer and Hanuman, as promised, sat on his pennon and made terrible grimaces and contortions that sent chills down the spines of those who faced him.
Some accounts say that Krishna asked Arjuna to repeat the Hanuman mantra a hundred thousand times in order to ensure victory. Thus, Arjuna was the first person to worship Hanuman as a god. Krishna then told Hanuman to accept such worship in the ensuing yuga known as Kali.
At the very commencement of the war, Arjuna told Krishna in his role as charioteer to place the chariot in the middle of the two armies so that he could survey the enemy formation. However, when he saw that the opposing army was filled with his teachers and grandsire and cousins, his heart failed him and his bow fell from his nerveless grasp. He refused to fight. The following great advice given by Lord Krishna to Arjuna is known as the Srimad Bhagavad Gita. It is a scripture that gives a practical approach to spirituality and tells us how to deal with any situation, however horrific it might be.
“This is not a war for a kingdom but a war of righteousness in which you should fight without hatred, for the enemy is within yourself. Only the person who conquers his own base nature can be called a hero. Be equal in success and failure, happiness and sorrow, honor and dishonor, and you will incur no sin. Therefore, O Arjuna, arise and fight as a divine instrument.”
This advice of Krishna to Arjuna was meant for all posterity and it holds as good today as it did five thousand years ago on the battlefield of the Kurus.
From his perch on Arjuna’s flag, Hanuman enjoyed the unique privilege of being the first to hear the complete discourse between Krishna and Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra that is known as the Sreemad Bhagavad Gita. He was also the sole witness of Krishna’s revelation of his cosmic form. Krishna also told Arjuna that the only reason his chariot did not burn with Karna’s arrows was because Hanuman was sitting in it. In fact, at the end of the war, when Hanuman descended from his perch, the chariot burst into flames.
One who reads this Hanuman Chalisa,
Gains success—Gouri’s Lord is witness.
HANUMAN CHALISA BY TULSIDAS
Aum Sri Hanumathe Namaha!
Aum Shubakaraaya Namaha!
35
Shubham
Kali Yuga
So sab tava pratapa Raghurai!
Natha na kachu mori prabhutai.
Everything is due to your might, O Lord!
No credit is due to me for the same.
RAMACHARITAMANAS BY TULSIDAS
The Dwapara gave place to the Iron Age of Kali, and Hanuman continued his contemplation of his Lord in the Himalayas.
At this time Shani, son of the sun god and ruler of the planet Saturn, approached him. Hanuman recognized him as he had once released him from Ravana’s dungeon. Shani was black, ill-figured, and he had a crooked neck that kept his head bent downward. If ever his glance fell on anyone, he was bound to be doomed. Shani informed him that the age of Dwapara was over and that Lord Krishna had left the earth along with the other celestials that had incarnated with him. Shani had been granted enhanced powers to torment earthly being in the dismal age of Kali. He did this by invading their zodiacal sign for a ruinous seven and a half year cycle. He specially loved to prey on the elderly by afflicting them with lingering and painful bodily afflictions. Exulting in his new powers, Shani announced to Hanuman that now that he was old and his strength greatly reduced, he was going to afflict his body straightaway.
Hanuman did not fear Shani any more than he feared his death-dealing brother Yama. “There is no room in my body for anyone but Rama,” he said, “so I advise you to go somewhere else.”
Shani laughed and said, “We’ll see about that!” Then he outlined his normal plan. He would start with two and a half years on the head to weaken the mind and an equal period in the stomach to destroy the digestion and overall health and finally another two and a half years of crippling the knees and legs, by which time the victim was usually ready to welcome his elder brother Yama!
“Well, better get started,” said Hanuman, pointing to his head. “We can see about the stomach and legs later.” Shani gleefully clambered on top of Hanuman’s head and very soon his scalp began to itch. Hanuman was annoyed, and breaking off a large boulder, he clapped it on his head.
“Hey! What are you doing?” Shani shouted.
“This is how I generally deal with itches and headaches,” said Hanuman.
When the itching persisted, he selected a second and larger boulder and slapped it on top of the first. Shani writhed in agony and managed to gasp. “Perhaps we could negotiate. Maybe I’ll make an exemption in your case and make it seven and a half weeks or perhaps even days!”
“Oh, that’s all right,” said Hanuman. “You should get on with your work while I get on with mine!” So saying, he picked up a third and even heavier boulder and piled it on top of the other two.
Shani shrieked and started to vomit blood. “Let me go! Please let me go, and I’ll never bother you again,” he pleaded.
“I know you!” said Hanuman. “You’ll just go and bother someone else!” So saying, he delicately placed another boulder on top of the last.
Shani screamed for mercy and said, “Save me, O Son of Vayu! Release me, O Messenger of Rama! I promise henceforth never to afflict anyone who remembers you!”
Hanuman was pleased especially by the invocation to his Lord and removed the boulders. Shani descended and swore to keep his word.
There is another version to this story, which is worth mentioning here.
One evening Hanuman was meditating at the seaside in one of his favorite haunts, which happened to be the bridge made by the monkeys to Lanka so many eons ago. The inauspicious Shani came ambling along and noticed him. He was feeling particularly good since his powers had become stronger and people everywhere went in terror of him. He was well aware of Hanuman’s reputation and thought that if he could get the better of him, his own reputation would go up by leaps and bounds. So he went up to Maruti and shouted, “O Monkey! I am Shani, most powerful of all the planets. Stand up and fight with me instead of pretending to be a great yogi !”
Hanuman greeted Shani respectfully and suggested that he go elsewhere to find a more worthy opponent, since he had become very old and was not interested in anything but the remembrance of Rama. Shani replied that once he had selected a victim, he would never let him go until his full cycle of devastation was complete. He stepped closer and seized Hanuman’s paw. Hanuman stood up and enlarged his tail, winding it around Shani and binding him from head to toe. Shani did his best to free himself but could hardly get his breath to talk.
Hanuman ignored him and looked at the sinking sun, saying, “I have to do my daily circumambulation of the Lord’s bridge!”
So saying, he sprang on to the rough causeway and set out at a brisk trot—two hundred leagues to Lanka and back. Periodically he punctuated his strides by slapping his tail down hard on the jagged rocks. The tail was like adamant and did not suffer from this treatment, but the same could not be said of its unwilling passenger. By the time the journey was complete, Shani was beaten to a pulp and was babbling for mercy. Hanuman str
etched himself out leisurely on the sand and said, “If you promise to stay out of the horoscopes of my worshippers, I will let you off.”
Shani could hardly talk, but he nodded his head weakly and was freed. He hobbled away and begged for some til oil to rub on his wounds. To this day his worshippers offer him this oil on Saturdays, which happen to be Shani’s day.
During the time of Rama, in the Treta Yuga, a woman called Vaishnavi wanted to marry Rama, but he turned her down because he was already married. However, he promised to marry her in Kali Yuga so Vaishnavi decided to do tapasya in the Himalayas until the advent of Kali.
One day a sorcerer called Bhairo visited her ashrama. As was customary, Vaishnavi offered him food. However, Bhairo was not interested in vegetarian fare and asked for wine, meat, and sex so that he could perform an occult rite.
Vaishnavi, who had sworn herself to Rama, refused to comply with his request and when he tried to use force, she ran away. Of course, he ran after her. Vaishnavi ran over hills and dales for days until she was totally exhausted and thirsty. She begged Rama to help her. At that moment Hanuman appeared before her. He kicked a rock and out sprang a stream of water. He also punched a cave into the hillside. She drank the water and rested in the cave for nine months, performing severe austerities, while Hanuman fought with Bhairo. At the end of this period she shed her human form and emerged as Adi Shakti, the divine Mother, armed with all the eighteen weapons. She raised her trident and beheaded Bhairo.
She thanked Hanuman for his timely assistance and accepted him as the attendant guardian of her shrine. The shrine of Vaishno Devi in the Himalayas has an idol of Hanuman at the gateway.
The great yogi known as Matsyendranath once wished to enter the shrine of the goddess and learn occult secrets from her. Hanuman stopped him at the gate and fought with him. He found the yogi to be a worthy opponent and let him in. Matsyendranath was so pleased with him that he offered to do whatever he wished. Hanuman decided to test the worth of this yogi, so he told him to go to the land peopled only by women (stree rajya), and offer them the pleasure of his company! The gods had decreed that any man who entered stree rajya would die an instant death.
Matsyendranath was surprised to hear this strange request, so Hanuman told him the story of this place and why he had undertaken to help the women. The event had taken place long ago when he was serving Rama in Ayodhya. Hanuman would take care of Rama’s every need, much to Sita’s annoyance. To keep him away for a while, she told him, “It’s my wish that you father a child. Leave Ayodhya and return only after you have done so.” Naturally, her request horrified Hanuman as he had taken a vow of celibacy. Thus, he feared he would never be able to father a child and be able to return to Ayodhya! In despair he wandered over the whole earth singing of Rama’s glories.
The women of stree rajya heard him sing and such was the potency of his voice that it made them all pregnant. In due course they produced children whom they presented to Hanuman, who returned them to their mothers since he said he was not a grihastashrami (householder).
They said, “Now you can return to Ayodhya since you have produced children without breaking your vow of celibacy!”
Hanuman was so pleased with them that he offered them a boon. They promptly asked him to send a man to their land so that they could enjoy the pleasure of male company. Hanuman had promised to do so and Matsyedranath was the chosen man since Hanuman knew that he was the only one who had the power to overcome the curse of the gods! Such was the yogic power of this great sage that he was able to go into this strange land and stay in the company of the women for some years and thus keep Hanuman’s word to them. The curse of the gods had no power over the sage!
The Tulsidas Ramayana, known as the Ramacharitamanas, is the best known Ramayana after that of Valmiki’s. In fact, the popular theory is that Valmiki himself was born as Tulsidas since he felt that he hadn’t done enough justice to Hanuman in his own Ramayana. The story of how he saw Hanuman’s Ramayana inscribed on rocks has been narrated earlier.
During the time of the Moguls, when Akbar the Great was emperor, he had a very good Hindu minister called Atmarama. His son was called Tulsiram and he was extremely fond of the child. When the boy came of age, he had him married to a very pious girl called Mamta Devi. He then left his wife in the care of his son and taking the emperor’s permission, he went to Kashi (Varanasi), in order to mediate on God. Due to his love for Atmarama, Akbar appointed Tulsiram in his father’s post. Unfortunately, the young man got into some wild company and his whole character changed. He was always seen drinking and gambling and moving with women of low morals. Hearing this, Atmarama came back and tried his best to advise his son, who turned a deaf ear to his father’s exhortations. Atmarama then shifted his whole family from the Mogul capital at Delhi to a small village on the banks of the river Yamuna near the town of Mathura.
Tulsiram now turned his passion toward his own wife and spent his whole time in her company, totally neglecting his work as well as his spiritual duties. His wife kept advising him to return to a normal state of affairs, but the man was so bemused by her beauty that he could think of nothing else but consorting with her. Akbar now sent word asking him to return to the capital as he had some work for him. Tulsiram refused to see the officers who had come to get him. At Mamta’s insistence, he decided to go. When he reached Delhi, he was in a fever of impatience to get back since he was craving for his wife. At last, he asked the emperor to give him leave since he had not bid farewell to his mother and wife when he left. He promised to return very soon.
As soon as he got permission, he took a one-horse buggy and started off with all speed to his village even though it was already evening. Very soon the sky darkened and it started to rain. The driver begged him to stop somewhere for the night, but Tulsiram refused to listen to reason and urged him to whip the horse and make it go faster. The storm did not abate and the poor horse carried on in the face of the bitter wind and rain. At last it just could not go any more and collapsed at the outskirts of the village. Tulsiram cursed the driver and the horse and jumped out of the carriage and ran all the way to his house. His mother was astounded to see him standing at the door all wet and bedraggled at two in the morning.
“What’s the matter”? she asked. “Why have you come at this time of the night?”
Tulsiram did not even bother to reply to his mother. “Where is my wife?” he demanded. “I must see her immediately.”
“She has gone to her own house across the river,” said his mother.
Without wasting a moment, Tulsiram ran to the river, which was swollen and rough due to the storm. There was not a boat or boatman in sight. He was afire with the desire to see his wife and without even thinking of how he was risking his life, he jumped into the swirling waters of the Yamuna and started swimming against the strong current. He found that he was not progressing very well. At that moment, as if in answer to a prayer, he saw a log floating down. He caught hold of it thankfully and was taken across the river. He jumped onto the banks and when he turned around to look at the river, there was a sudden burst of lightning and he saw to his horror that the thing that he had thought was a log was actually a corpse!
Without wasting time on unnecessary speculations he dashed to his wife’s house and found the gate locked. The walls were quite high and it was impossible for him to get a foothold to jump over it. He shouted and shouted to her to come and open the gate, but the noise of the thunder and the storm drowned his voice. By this time he was crazed with lust and totally devoid of reason. He went round and round the walls like a crazy man and suddenly spied a thick rope hanging down the wall. He grabbed it and somehow or other managed to scrabble to the top of the wall and jump into the compound. He then went and pounded at the door until he woke the whole household. They were all aghast to see his wild condition and wondered how he had managed to cross the river and climb over the wall. He told them that he had hung onto a log and found a rope on the wall. When they went to in
spect the rope they found that it was actually a python!
As soon as they reached their bedroom he could contain his lust no longer and grabbed his wife in his arms. She pushed him off in all fury and burst into a tirade of rage and sorrow.
“How can you behave like this? Have you lost all sense of decency and decorum? This body for whose sake you have dared to cross this raging river and climb a wall with the help of a snake is only made of flesh and blood and bones and will decay and become old in no time. If you have half the love for God as you have for me, you would have become a realized saint! If you longed for the vision of Rama as much as you craved for my vision, you would have seen him by now. Actually, it is not love that you have for me but lust for this flesh! You are born in a noble family and you have the possibility to become enlightened in this life. Don’t waste this precious life in sexual pleasures. Repeat the name of Rama and attain liberation!”
Tulsiram was stunned when he heard this. Her words made a deep impression on him. It was as if she had given him a blow on his head and something had burst inside. As the dawn appeared in the sky, a light flamed in his head. Without another word, he left the house and went to the city of Kashi to start intense austerities. As much as he had yearned for the sight of his wife, now he yearned to have a sight of his beloved deity Rama. He could not eat or sleep. He went around as one possessed, inquiring for Rama. At last he met someone who told him that the only one who could fulfill his desire was Hanuman.
