by Vanamali
Aum Dhumraketave Namaha! Prostrations to the one who is fierce like a comet
Aum Kapishwaraaya Namaha! Prostrations to the king of monkeys
Aum Kesari Suthaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the son of Kesari
Aum Lakshmanaprana-dataaya Namaha! Prostrations to the savior of Lakshmana
Aum Mahakayaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the one with a huge body
Aum Mahatejase Namaha! Prostrations to the effulgent one
Aum Mahatmane Namah! Prostrations to the noble soul
Aum Mahaviraaya Namaha! Prostrations to the great hero
Aum Mangalaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the auspicious one
Aum Manojavaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the one who is as swift as the mind
Aum Marutaatmajaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the son of wind
Aum Pingalakshaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the tawny-eyed one
Aum Ramabhaktaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the devotee of Rama
Aum Ramadhutaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the messenger of Rama
Aum Ramayana-priyaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the one who loves the Ramayana
Aum Raudraaya Namaha! Prostrations to the fierce one
Aum Ravana-maradanaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the scourge of Ravana
Aum Sahasravadanaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the one with a thousand faces
Aum Samsara-bhayanashakaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the one who releases us from fear of rebirth
Aum Sathyavachaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the one who is ever truthful
Aum Satyasandaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the one who keeps to the path of truth
Aum Shashwathaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the eternal one
Aum Sita Shokavinaashakaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the dispeller of Sita’s sorrow
Aum Shooraaya Namaha! Prostrations to the courageous one
Aum Shubakaraaya Namaha! Prostrations to the one who does noble deeds
Aum Shubhangaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the one with auspicious features
Aum Sri Ganeshaaya Namaha! Prostrations to Lord Ganesha
Aum Sri Hanumathe Namaha! Prostrations to Sri Hanuman
Aum Sri Ramaaya Namaha! Prostrations to Sri Rama
Aum Sri Ramachandraaya Namaha! Prostrations to Ramachandra
Aum Tatwajnanapradaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the one who gives knowledge of Reality
Aum Uttamaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the noblest one
Aum Vajrakayaaya Namaha! Prostrations to the one with a body like a thunderbolt
Aum Vayuputraaya Namaha! Prostrations to the son of Vayu
Aum Veeraaya Namaha! Prostrations to the Hero
Glossary of Sanskrit Terms
abhijit: A favorable star
abhishekam: Ceremonial bath for gods and kings
adharma: Unrighteousness
adi kavi: The first poet (Valmiki)
ahamkara: Ego
amavasya: Night of the new moon
amsa: A part or portion
anga: Limb; individual soul
apana: The outgoing breath
apsara: Heavenly nymph
artha: Wealth
arya: Noble
ashoka: A tree; without sorrow
ashrama: Spiritual sanctuary
ashramite: One who lives in an ashrama
ashwamedha yaga: Horse sacrifice conducted by kings to establish supremacy
astra: Weapon
asura: Demon
atma(n): The divine spirit embodied in the human being; the soul
Aum Namashivaaya: Mantra for Shiva
avatara: Incarnation
Ayurveda: Vedic science of healing
bandar: Monkey
Bhagavad Gita: Song of God
bhajan: Religious song of adoration
bhakta: Devotee
bhakti: Devotion
bhakti yoga: The yoga of devotion
brahmachari: A celibate
brahmacharya: Celibacy
brahmajnana: Integral knowledge of the Supreme Brahman
brahmarishi: A sage who has brahmajnana
brahmastra: The weapon of Brahma
chakora: Bird that is said to drink moonbeams
champaka: Tree with sweet-smelling flowers
chandala: An outcaste
chiranjeevi: Long-lived person
chourie: Yak tail fan
chudamani: A crest jewel for the hair
daitya: Demon
dakshinayana: The six months of the year from July to December
dalit: A low caste
darshan: Auspicious sight of god or a noble being
darshanas: The different schools of Hindu philosophy (six in number)
dasa bhava: Attitude of a servant (male)
dasya bhava: Attitude of a servant (female)
deva, devi: God, goddess; shining one
dharma: Righteousness
dhoti: Cloth worn around the waist by men
dhruva: Type of grass
dwarapalas: Guardians of the gate, especially in temples and palaces
gada: Mace
gandharva: Celestial singer
gayatri mantra: Famous hymn to the sun god
ghat: Bathing place on the river
griha: House; planet
grihastashrami: One who leads a householder’s life
gunas: The three strands of nature—sattva (harmony), rajas (passion), and tamas (inertia)
guru: Spiritual preceptor
guru-dakshina: Fee given to the guru
han: To destroy
hanan: To annihilate
hanu: Jaw
hatha yoga: Special branch of yoga in which bodily postures, breathing techniques, and principles of meditation are taught
hatha yogi: One who practices this type of yoga
japa: Repetition of the names of god
jivatma: The embodied spirit; individual spirit
jnana: Wisdom
kaala: Time
kadamba: A type of flower
kalas: The sixty-four art forms, or the classical curriculum of sacred studies
kama: Love
kanda: One portion of a book
kapha: Phlegm
karma: Action
karma sakshi: The witness of all action (god)
karma yogi: One who practices the yoga of action
Kimpurushas: Mystic beings that are half-human and half-animal
kirtan: Spiritual song of praise
kshetrapalas: Guardians of the temple
kund: A lake or pool
kunjara südana: Killer of elephants
kusa: Type of grass used in rituals
lakh: One hundred thousand
langur: Black-faced monkey
laya yogi: One who practices the yoga of immolation, dissolving into the Supreme
lila: Play; game of God
lingam: A stone symbol of Shiva
loka: An astral world
madari: Trainer of monkeys
Mahabharata: The great classical epic poem of Vyasa
man: Mind
manduka: Frog
mantra: Mystic sound
Maryada Purusha: The perfect human being; Rama
maya: Illusion
mohastra: Weapon to banish illusion
moksha: Liberation from mortality
mritasanjivani: Herb that brings the dead to life
munja: Type of coarse grass
murti: Idol
naga: Snake
naga pasha: Rope made of snakes
navagrahas: Nine planets of Hindu cosmology
navami: Ninth day of the lunar calendar
navaratri: Nine days of worship of the goddess
panchamukha: Five-faced
Paramatma: The Supreme spirit
pitta: Bile
Prakriti:Cosmic matter
prana: Life current
pranava mantra: Aum
pranayama: Science of breath control
pratyaksha devata: The god that can be seen by our physical eyes; the sun god
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puja: Ritual worship of god
Puranas: An important collection of post-Vedic classical literary texts written in Sanskrit; from “purana” (of ancient times)
puranic: Pertaining to the Puranas
Purusha: Spirit that dwells in the body; person
putrakamesti yaga: Fire sacrifice for getting a son
rajas: One of the three strands of nature; passion
rajasic: Pertaining to rajas; passionate
rakshasa: Malevolent, cannibalistic spirit
rakshasi: Female rakshasa
rakshasic: Having the nature of a rakshasa
Ramacharitamanas: Hindi Ramayan by Tulsidas
Ramayana: Great epic that recounts Rama’s journey to save his wife
Rig Veda: Oldest of the Vedas, this is a collection of ancient Sanskrit hymns; from “rig,” or praise and “veda,” or knowledge
Rigvedic: Pertaining to the Rig Veda
rishi: Great sage
sadhaka: One who does spiritual practices
sadhana: Spiritual practice
sal: Type of ironwood tree
saligrama: Stone symbol of Vishnu
samadhi: Super-conscious state
samana: Equilibrium
samkhya yoga: Yoga of wisdom
sandal: Sandalwood tree
sandhani: Herb capable of joining fractured bones
sandhya: Twilight devotions
sankalpa: Intention
sannyasi(n): One who has renounced the world
sapta rishis: The seven original sages
sari: A five-meter piece of cloth worn by Indian women
sattva: One of the three stands of nature, standing for balance and harmony
sattvika: Harmonious; peaceful
Shaivite: Follower of Shiva
shakti: Power
Shakti: The divine feminine force
Shani: The malefic planet Saturn
shastras: Scriptures
siddhis: Supernormal powers
sindoor: Red powder used to put a dot on forehead of married women
sita: Furrow
soma: Medicinal plant used in Vedic sacrifices
sthitha prajna: One of steady intellect (enlightened one)
stree rajya: Land of women
surya namaskara: A yogic exercise in praise of the sun god
suvarnakarani: Herb that restores the color of a dying person
swarupa: Actual form
swayambhu murti: Self-formed idol
tamas: One of the three strands of Nature, standing for inertia, dullness
Tantras: Scriptures giving rules for esoteric rites
Tantric: Pertaining to the Tantras
tapas; tapasya: Askesis; austerity
til: Sesame
tulsi: Holy basil
tyaga: Renunciation
udana: One of the five breaths
uttarayanam: The six months of the year from January to June
vaal: Tail
vadas: Savory doughnuts
Vaishnavite: Follower of Vishnu
vajra: Thunderbolt
vanara: Monkey
vata: Wind
vayu: Air
Vedas: Oldest sacred texts of Hinduism; from the root “vid,” to know
Vedic: Pertaining to the Vedas
vina: Stringed instrument like a lute
vira bhava: Hero’s pose
vishalyakarani: Magic herb
Vishnu Sahasranama: Thousand names of Vishnu
vyakarana: Text that explains the meaning of the Vedas
vyana: One of the five vital breaths
yaga; yajna: Fire sacrifice
yajna kund: Hollow in the ground in which fire is kindled for the sacrifice
yajnashala: The place where the (yajna) or sacrifice is conducted
yaksha: Celestial being; guardian of wealth
yantra: Mystic geometric diagram that is meant to convey a concentrated aspect of the divine
yoga: Controlled physical or mental exercises that lead to union with the divine
yogasanas: Physical postures that purify the body and mind
yogi: One who practices yoga; one who is in union with the divine
yojanas: A distance measurement that spans several thousand miles
yogini: A female yogi
yuga: Epoch
Bibliography
Growse, F. S., trans. Eternal Ramayana: The Ramayana of Tulsi Das. New Delhi: Interprint, 1983.
Karyalaya, Govind Bhavan, trans. Translation of the Valmiki Ramayana. Gorakhpur, India: Gita Press, 1992.
Lutgendorf, Philip. Hanuman’s Tale: The Messages of a Divine Monkey. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
About the Author
Mataji Devi Vanamali has written six books on the gods of the Hindu pantheon, including Hanuman, The Play of God, The Song of Rama, and Shakti, as well as translating the Bhagavad Gita. She is the founder and president of Vanamali Gita Yogashram, dedicated to sharing the wisdom of Sanatana Dharma and charitable service to children. She lives at the Vanamali ashram at Rishikesh in northern India.
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Copyright © 2010 by Vanamali Gita Yogashram
Originally published in India in 2010 by Aryan Books International under the title Sri Hanuman Lila
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Vanamali, 1935–
[Sri Hanuman lila]
Hanuman : the devotion and power of the monkey god / Vanamali.
p. cm.
Includes passages in Sanskrit (romanized).
Originally published in India in 2010 by Aryan Books International under the title Sri Hanuman lila.
Includes bibliographical references.
eISBN-13: 978-1-59477-914-5
1. Hanuman (Hindu deity)—Legends. I. Title.
BL1225.H3V36 2010
294.5’113—dc22
2009053206
To send correspondence to the author of this book, mail a first-class letter to the author c/o Inner Traditions • Bear & Company, One Park Street, Rochester, VT 05767, and we will forward the communication or contact the author at www.vanamaliashram.org
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