Hanuman Hymns
Selected extracts
from my newly published book
All
literature is fiction and all fiction is based on reality. Imagination itself
is a corollary of perception and experience of reality. Even all scriptural
literature in the world is born of perception, experience and cognition. On the
time scale of infinity, all literature scriptural or temporal is antipodal. It
follows then that the eternal quality of scriptural literature inheres in its
fictional character which through a mix of highest imagination and the
transformational element of timelessness
turns the reality of life into myths and frees it from the bonds of historical
time, giving it a symbolical paradigm that characterises its antipodality. All
scriptural literature existing in a timeless frame thus transforms itself into
its mythicality where even the literary devices acquire a complex signification
dissolving the canons of plausibility. It becomes a kind of fiction that
transcends all the barriers of temporal reality and acquires a level of
spirituality that can only be imbibed wholly through unquestioning faith.
Creativity knows no boundaries. In a sense, all creativity in the past, present and future is an unbroken continuity, what Eliot so presciently observed in his famous essay ‘Tradition and Individual Talent’ where he speaks of a “conception of poetry as a living whole of all the poetry that has ever been written”. This inevitable continuity also implies translation which often gains the status of transcreation. Tulsidas’s Manas can also be seen thus as a successful example of such transcreation in popular contemporary language with suitable redaction of Valmiki’s Ramayan where the ‘individual talent’recreates the same artistic material in a new form with a new synergy in a new historical context, in a contemporary language closer to people and with a greater mass appeal. Indeed, there is a genre of literary creation – in practically all forms of literature: poetry, fiction and drama - defined by the urges and convictions of a people, as was clearly the case with Tulsi’s Manas, which lent it a popular reach and expanse rivalled by few other literary works. And one of the significant traits of such works is that they can seldom be recreated wih comparable equivalence or excellence. As a background to the translated hymns of Hanuman, I have attempted to write in a separate chapter a prose version of the latter part of the Hanuman story as written by Tulsidas in mixed Awadhi and Hindi verse in the Manas. There are a number of anecdotal references to Hanuman in several of the Sanskrit scriptures, but the most consistent and widely popular is the story of Hanuman as presented in Tulsidas’s Ramcharit Manas.
Of all the literature available on Hanamana, mostly in Sanskrit1, the most popular are some of those written by Tulsidas, especially three - Hanumana Chalisa, Bajrang Bana and Hanumanashtak. The fourth, Hanuman Bahuk, like the preceding three, is composed in Brajbhasha and all four are part of daily prayers by Hindu devotees in India as well as by the Hindu diaspora the world over. I have chosen not to translate the more popularly chanted hymns like Chalisa or Bajrang Bana, or the Sanskrit hymn in Ramcharit Manas,like ‘Atulit bal dhamam’. But I have translated in prose some of the episodes involving Hanuman in Kishkindha, Lanka and Uttar Kand (with Sugreev, Ravan, Bibhishan, Seeta,etc) from Tulsidas’ Manas as background material for references in the translated pieces in Hanuman Bahuk, Vinay Patrika and the Sanskrit Maruti Shatakam in this compilation.
Hanuman is the most popularly worshipped and ubiquitous animal god in Hinduism. Next to Him in popular worship is Ganesh, the elephant god. Surprisingly, both are named, in scriptural contexts, as ‘Mangalmoortti’ – god of general well-being (a name associated with no other Hindu god). We have generally more temples dedicated to Hanuman even in the remotest, small villages, all over India as compared to those of either Ganesh or Ram-Seeta (where again the image of a sitting, praying, Hanuman is omnipresent).
Each anthromorphic image of a god deity has its own religious symbolism and rituals, which is very distinctive in the case of Hanuman, with a red flag fluttering over every Hanuman temple, with its own special ‘prasad’ (sweet offering) - ‘laddoo’ or ‘churma’. Both these Hindu animal gods – Hanuman and Ganesh are always found – the former invariably in a standing posture (or siting on knees in a Ram-Seeta sanctum) and the latter invariably in a sitting or reclining posture as a human, with only their faces displaying the animal features, the rest of the physique being truthfully human. The most distinctive animal features in Hanuman are his face and the tail, and, in th case of Ganesh, his elephant trunk and fan-like ears. Other distinctive features in Hanuman are a sculpted mascular bare body holding a heavy mace in one hand, and, in the case of Ganesh, a bare-bodied paunch, generally with a crown on head, and ‘laddoos’ held in one palm. In their general appearance, there is a mystical symbolism in the pleasant combination of their animal and human features. One thing, however, is patently clear that only the facial animal identity is associated with divinity; the other bodily features suggest unambiguous correlation to mundane humanity, which in its simple suggestivity points to the divine attributes of the upper torso (and especially the tail in the case of Hanuman)2. The curious amalgam of animal and human features may have multitudinous connotations of atavism, primordial features, intuitive attributes, civilizational evolution, and so forth, as mystical equivalents of divinity.
The two basic attributes of Hanuman are absolute fealty or devotion to the highest values of spirituality reflected in Ram’s divinity, and the most virile inimicality to evil, emphasised in a subtle way by the mace and the tail. The mace broke the bones of the demons in Lanka (representing evil) and the tail (ironically mocked at by Ravan’s courtiers, wrapped in clothes worn by demonesses, oiled liberally, and set aflame) had completely burnt and ravaged Lanka, Ravan’s kingdom island of evil. Tulsi depicts it thus:
रहा न नगर बसन घृत तेला | बाढ़ी पूंछ कीन्ह कपि खेला ||3
Even
the petty-looking tail became an instrument of massive devastation of Lanka, as
a premonition of the total annihilation of evil. Indeed, Hanuman, in His divine
form, represents the infinite power of good in contrast with evil. Hanuman’s
tail only epitomises that boundless power of good over evil.
Among all the important characters in the Ramayan, both in Valmiki and Tulsi (the two most widely revered literary epics), Hanuman’s role in the story (though only in the latter part of it) is exceptionally more vital as far as the fight against evil is concerned (which is the core part of the epics’ theme). The fight does begin early in the story with the young princes Ram and Lakshaman killing demons and monsters in sage Vishwamitra’s ashram, but the major battle is heralded by Hanuman’s flight across the sea to Lanka and its near-total destruction by an all-out burning spree. Indeed, the role of Hanuman in the Ramayan which begins half-way in the story in Kishkindha Kand, becomes more integral to the core theme of the war against evil in the rest of the story till its very end when, after His victory over Lanka, Ram returns to Ayodhya for the celebration of ‘Ram Rajya’ – the ideal order of human life. In Uttar Kand, Ram bids farewell to all his animal chieftains – Sugreev, Angad, Jamvant, et al but keeps Hanuman with Him – ‘संग परम प्रिय पवनकुमारा’, ‘सहित पवनसुत सुख अधिकाई’4. This we find picturised in all ‘Ram Darbar’ illustrations or idols in temples – Ram and Seeta seated on a throne with the three brothers – Bharat, Lakshaman and Shatrughn standing behind, and Hanuman sitting on His knees near Ram’s feet.
There is a mystical devotional interrelationship between Ram, Shiva and Hanuman in the epical story of Ramayan. Ram and Shiva are both mutually devoted to each other, as if being two sides of the same idol, with the additional indivisibility of Shiva’s reincarnation as Hanuman5, as a permanent devotee of Ram.
This brings us to the curious and fascinating story of Hanuman’s birth. Hanuman is ‘Anjaniputra’, son of Anjani, the queen of the monkey king Kesari. In the Sanskrit scriptures there are many stories of levirate births, where some divine force other than the husband invisibly fathers a child. As the story goes, the monkey queen Anjana one day was relaxing on a hillside when the Wind god ‘Pawandev’ blowing there inseminated Anjana with His seed resulting in the birth of Hanuman (known by the various names – ‘Pavantanay’, Pawansuta’, ‘Pawanputra’, etc), prefiguring his supreme deed of crossing the ocean to Lanka.
This is in stark contrast to the story of the birth of Ram and his three brothers after Darshrath fed his three queens – Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra – with divided portions of ‘kheer’ (rice porridge) obtained from the fire-god (Agnidev) after the performance of an elaborate‘yajna’ ( with an obvious suggestion of seminal impregnation). Ram, thus, was born in the normal form of a human being, subsequently seen as a divine incarnation in mythology, whereas Hanuman was born by a seemingly ‘divine conception’ turning into human form with partial animal attributes subsequently when in His association with Ram, He is raised to divinity. Shiva, on the other hand, is both the chief narrator of the story of Ram, as well as a fused represntation of the characters of both Ram and Hanuman in the story.
In fact, the Hanuman saga is a complexly woven pattern of mythical episodes involving the three main characters – Ram, Shiva and Hanuman across a large vista of Sanskrit scriptural texts including Valmiki’s Ramayan, Adhyatma Ramayan, Padma Puran, Shiva Puran, Brahmand Puran, etc. and, of course, later in a number of variations of the Ramayan story in Tulsi’s Ramcharit Manas and several other later literary texts in the various Indian languages6.
Another thing to emphasize is that Hanuman, in his part-monkey fom, for the common man, can be more naturlly associated with a god in an animal form symbolizing the primal, atavistic power of the animate world and possessing an instinctual wisdom who, when fully awakened, transforms into an infinite reservoir of vigour and energy. He is as humble and benevolent for the good as He is mighty and devastating for the evil. He is a god unique and perfect like no other in the Hindu pantheon. Even in the remotest corners of rural India the monkey Hanuman can be seen, with His mace on shoulder, as capable of dispelling all evil in the world. Even the most illiterate farmer and labourer in remote villages chants the Hanuman Chalisa for deliverance from adversity and misery. Hanuman, indeed, is the common man’s god most easily invoked. In Tulsi sings in Hanuman Chalisa : “तुम्हरे भजन राम को पावै | जनम जनम के दुःख बिसरावै ||” Hanuman has mysterious powers as Tulsidas depicts Him in the ‘Sundarkand’ of Ramcharit Manas. He has to be invoked and remembered to become fully manifest. Just before His flight across the ocean to Lanka, Jamvant reminds him of his power:
कवन सो काज कठिन जग मांहीं | जो नहिं होइ तात तुम्ह पाहीं ||
राम काज लगि तव अवतारा | सुनतहिं भयउ पर्वताकारा || [4/29.3]
Indeed, Hanuman represents the hidden potentials in a human being that need to be reawakened. He is everyman’s god in their moment of need.
The stories and hymns collected here in this compilation in an English translation bring out only a semblance of the power and reach of Hanuman. His might and glory is infinite beyond the power of words and imagination. All these stories and hymns give only a faint reflection of his might and majesty. He is godly, infinite and inscrutable. He is divine and yet earthly, closer to us in our everyday life more than any other god. He is always by our side, always within us, as a potential reservoir of goodness and capability.
The idea in this compilation is to achieve a ‘book unity’ in the presentation of the hymns (including the Manas prose summary) forming a totality. The book is intended to be a composite whole as a single prayer to the divinity of Hanuman. It includes three of the best hymns written on Hanuman - Hanuman Bahuk, some hymns in the Vinay Patrika and the Maruti Shatakam – along with a prose rendition of the episodes related to Hanuman in Ramcharit Manas (not available here in this blog-post).
Notes: 1. See Literature on Hanuman at end. 2.See the last stanzas (50-56) in ‘Maruti Shatakam’ glorifying Hanuman’s tail. 3.Sundar Kand, 24.34.Uttar Kand, 31.1, 32.1 5. As mentioned in Shiva Puran (Canto 19-20) and other Sanskrit scriptures god Shiva had wished to be born through Anjana’s womb (when impregnated by the Wind god) as Hanuman to serve Ram (Himself a reincarnation of Vishnu) as his adherent in Ram’s quest to end all evil in the world represented by Ravan. 6. See Literature on Hanuman at end.
From Hanuman Bahuk
1.
O
Son of the Wind god,
Who
shine like the morning Sun,
long-armed
and fierce-faced,
veritable
death even for Death,
You
who flew across the ocean
to
assuage Janaki’s sorrow;
One
who fearlessly burnt
the
dreadful forest of Lanka
which
was virtually unburnable,
and
who mauled the pride
of
the twisted-browed,
ferocious
demons – says Tulsidas –
You
can easily be pleased
with
dedicated reverence,
always
standing benevolently
by
the side of your devotees,
and
always ready to destroy
your
devotees’ afflictions – devotees
who
would sing your praise, bow to you,
remember
you and chant your name.
2.
With
a body like Sumeru,
the
mountain of burnished gold,
infinitely
radiant like the midday’s sun,
large-hearted
and brawny-armed,
yellow-eyed
with fearsome brows,
visage,
teeth and tongue; having
nails
and physique of granite,
russet-haired,
tough-tailed,
and
ready to vanquish terrible demons -
none
holding, says Tulsidas,
such
dreadful form as
the
Son of Wind’s in their heart,
can
be afflicted even in a dream
by
sin and sorrow.
5.
Sitting
stoutly on
the
flag of Arjuna’s chariot
in
the Mahabharat war,
you
roared so mightily
creating
total chaos in
Duryodhana’s
humongous forces.
Dronacharya
and Bhishmapitamaha
both
knew it wasYou, the prodigious
Son
of Wind, whose vigour has
the
fathomless depth of
the
ocean of courage, who had
easily
spanned the distance
between
the earth and the Sun
across
the sky, in a child’s play,
in less than a single step.
All
the valiant chieftains,
with
folded hands, again and again,
kept
bowing their heads
in
deep reverence, thus gaining
through
your appearance
the
realization of their
life’s
worth in this world.
6.
Reducing
the ocean to
the
hollow of a cow’s hoof,
you
fearlessly burnt
the
impregnable Lanka,
creating
there a terrible ballyhoo,
uprooting
the gigantic
Drona
mountain, holding it
in
your hands sportingly like a ball,
like
a veritable wooden apple,
performing
(in Lakshaman’s trauma)
an
act of exigency, in a trice,
impossible
to be done even
in
an eon, it became possible
under
your mighty arms
O
brave master of Tulsi,
protector
and benefactor
of
the worldly rulers.
7.
The
hollows made by your
feet
on the turtle’s back
may
look like measuring cups
for the ocean’s waters,
that
becomes a sanctuary
for
the massive fishes where
demons
hide to escape
from
your terrible extermination;
says
Tulsidas – whose valour
became
the fierce blaze
burning
Ravana, Kumbhakarna
and
Meghnada to ashes,
which,
said Bhishmapitamaha,
belonged,
in the three worlds
and
three eons, to none other
than the prodigious Hanuman.
8.
Worthy
son of the Wind god,
and
a bliss for Anjani, your mother,
blessed
with the dazzling radiance
of
a thousand suns, a messenger
of
Raja Ramchandra, and slayer
of
Seeta’s woes; destroyer of sins,
and
vices, protector of the oppressed,
and
dear as life to Lakshamana –
You
have appeared in the three worlds
as the annihilator of Tulsi’s Ravana,
his
unbearable penury.
O
devotees, you must hold
in
your hearts,the sage Hanumana,
repository
of all virtues,
strength
and benevolence.
From Vinay Patrika
25.
O victorious Hanuman!
A moon born of the ocean-like
womb of Anjani, rousing the
clan
of gods, like a field of kumud
flowers
to mirth, delighting the
beautiful
chakor-like eyes of your
father Kesari,
and wiping out the sorrows of
all the worlds –
victory be Yours!
Even as a child in your
childish pranks
You had swallowed the mighty
rising
red glowing Sun, as if it be a
toy,
crushing the admantine pride
of Rahu,
Indra and the Sun. O protector
of all
seeking your protection,
saviour of the world,
victory be Yours!
You, unwavering in every
battle,
always ready to help Your Lord
Ram,
incarnation of Rudra, the gem
among
all gods, and protector of the
world.
Your body being a manifest
form
of the blessings of brahmans,
gods,
saints and sages, you are the
creator of
the ocean of pious virtues and
wisdom –
victory be Yours!
You are an adept in protecting
Sugreev, Jamvant and the
bears,
and the prime factor in Bali’s
slaying;
a lion killing the demoness
Sinhika
while crossing the ocean, and
a comet
for the destruction of Lanka
of demons,
victory be Yours!
You dispelled the sorrow of
Seeta
carrying Ram’s message to her
and ravaged Ravan’s Ashok
forest.
You let yourself be enmeshed
fearlessly
by the inviolable Bramhastra
of Meghnad,
and burnt a terrified Ravan’s
Lanka with
the raging fire of your
playful tail –
victory be Yours!
You, who were the delight
of Ram and Lakshman, who
assembled
the army of monkeys and bears
and built the bridge over the
ocean,
for the good of the gods, and
helped
Ram of the Surya clan win his
battle –
victory be Yours!
Your granite-like body, nails,
teeth
and fearsome mouth, with your
terrific brawny arms that can
lift
mountains and their trees on
your palms,
crushing to pulp demon-hordes
like
oilseeds in the oilpress of
the battle –
victory be Yours!
You were the cause of the
killing of
Ravan, Kumbhkarna, Meghnad and
the wily Kalnemi; You are the
mighty
who can make the impossible,
possible
and the possible, impossible;
You can
wander over the earth, the sky
and
even into the depths of the
ocean –
victory be Yours!
Worshipped in the world, ever
dressed
in the outfit of valour, ever
praised
in the holy words of the Vedas
and
the wise, and always ready to
vanquish
the worldly fears of Tulsidas,
always
living in Ayodhya in
resplendent glory
with Seeta’s sweetheart Ram -
victory be Yours!
From Maruti Shatakam
2.
When the ferocious Meghnad,
howling and aflame in wrath, was
creating havoc in the Enemy’s
forces,
and Sugreev had grown faint,
Nal was in panic and Angad
totally trounced,
Jamavant badly doddering and Neel’s
face
had gone blue out of dread,
Hanuman
had just reached there to help
them.
May Hanuman end the woes of
all who are good!
3.
Capable of breaking to bits
the chest-bones of the demons,
and adept
in rooting out sturdy trees
with bare hands;
terrorizing the enemy forces
in the battlefield,
invincible in yourself, though
a well of kindness,
bent on crushing the limbs of
Ravan,
fragile like cane, while
shaking the earth
with a lion-like roar –
Hanuman - shall
brush away all human vanity
like a piece of straw.
7.
Groves of trees were swiftly
uprooted
and blown back by whose mighty
leap
when He flew across the ocean
–
and pierced into the limbs of
the demons
crushing their massive chests,
while the flying rocks of the
mountains
blew to smithereens Ravan’s
majestic palaces
when He, Hanuman, forcefully
entered into Lanka -
may He give his blessings to
you!
8.
infused with compassion,
Who had pulverized to dust
the huge-limbed Kumbhakarn,
keen-eared for the roar of
battles,
and the foaming-sea like
chieftain
of Ravan’s army, and who
treated
and spared Meghanad like a
mere child –
may He absolve you of all your
sins!
9.
Son of Wind, Hanuman, like a
strong iron statue
with mighty spear-like
arms,with the solidity
of a mountain, killing the
monstrous fortress guards,
possessing limitless strength
like Shiva
in destroying the hateful
hordes of demons
as your noble aim, and
stunning Ravan,
the king of demons – may He
anoint you
with fragrant smears of peace
and benediction
in your moments of sorrow!
10.
Before Hanuman, the gigantic
earth
looks like a tiny mustard seed
on the serpent hood of god Sheshnag,
who lies like a lotus in the
ocean
which itself is like a palmful
of water;
indeed the sage Agastya
himself looks
a tiny glowworm in the vast
sky
while the expanse of the
entire sky
is only as long as a step of Vaman,
who like a little bee himself
is humming
around the lotus bud, while
the god looks
merely like a tiny fruit on a
spread out palm –
may that mighty Hanumana, protect you all!
A Note on Translation
The literary pieces presented in English free verse translation here are all related to the well-known episodes in Hanuman’s life, and except Maruti Shtakam, which is written in classical Sanskrit, all others - Hanuman Bahuk, hymns from Vinay Patrika, or the prose summation of Hanuman-related episodes from Ramcharit Manas - are written in Awadhi or Brajbhasha, old dialect forms of Hindi. Besides, the English free verse translation in all cases has been done from their ‘teeka’ or commentary written in modern Hindi. Hence, in that sense, the translations are done not directly from one language into another, but through a third modern Hindi language (of commentary) different, in separate ways, from the source language. This should therefore be seen more as ‘re-creation’ than translation, keeping as close as possible, in meaning, to the source text. It must also be emphasized here that Sanskrit is a synthetic language as opposed to Hindi which is an analytic language, and that the ‘synthetic’ character of Sanskrit was necessitated in olden times for memorizing texts for transmission across generations. Classical Sanskrit, for that reason too, was the language of the literary and learned elite and not of the common people which made it obligatory for such texts to be provided with ‘teeka’ or commentary for the consumption by the common people. For the purposes of the present translation, this meant a transfer of the essential content of the meaning from a complex old language ‘synthetical’ structure through the modern evolved ‘analytical’ structure of a language form (Hindi) of the same family into the ‘analytical’ structure of another language (English) of a different family. Obviously, it is a different kind of translation process which is as complex and challenging as creative and sensitive. Such creative transcreation of a special text with linguistic complexities may result in a shadow representation, something akin to an ‘old wine in a new bottle’ with a fresh creative feel. In that sense, the present transcreation of the older texts is, perhaps, more likely to have attained a parallel identity of its own, with its own richness and warmth. Besides, Maruti Shatakam itself is a parallel creation inspired by Surya Shatakam a poem by Mayurkavi, a 7th century poet.
CONTENTS
General Introduction
Hanuman Bahuk
From
Vinay Patrika
From
Maruti Shatakam
Hanuman
in Ramcharit Manas
Note on Tulsidas & his writings
Note
on Maruti Shatakam
Note
on Translation
Note
on literature on Hanuman
Glossary
(C) Dr BSM Murty
Copies of the book are available are available from the Hanuman Mandir Bookshop, Patna Jn., from Amazon.in or from the publisher (see back cover image)
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