Life of Deity Hanuman

Origin of Deity Hanuman

Hanuman was born as the son of Vanar raj Kesari and Anjani. He belonged to the vanar race and was very powerful. He is also known as Bajarang Bali. It consists of two words: Bajarang and Bali. Bajarang means with a strong iron-like body. Bali means all powerful. Other names of Hanuman are Pavan-Putra (meaning son of wind), Maruti, Kesari-nandana (son of Kesari), Anjani-putra and Anjaneya (son of Anjani).

Deity Hanuman is the incarnation of Shiva. Shiva took birth in the form of Hanuman to serve Shriram and destroy Ravan, the demon king of Lanka. Hanuman was very strong, intelligent and kind to all the living beings. He is a worshipper and devotee of Shriram. He practiced devotion and sacrifice. Hanuman’s birthday (Hanuman Jayanti) is on the full moon day (pournima) of the Hindu lunar month of Chaitra.

Video given below shows the method of ritualistic worship on the day of Hanuman Jayanti.

​Meeting with Shriram

When Hanuman grew up he became a minister at the court of Sugreeva, the King of Kishkindha. Vali was Sugreeva’s elder brother. Once Vali, entered a cave to fight with a demon; he did not come out for a long time. Blood began to flow from the cave, so Sugreeva thought that Vali was dead. He returned to Kishkindha and became its king. But a later, Vali returned and drove out Sugreeva thinking that Sugreeva had betrayed him. Sugreeva and his ministers hid themselves in the Malaya mountains; it was here that Hanuman became Sugreeva’s minister.

When Shriram, His wife Sita and His brother Lakshman were in exile in the forest, a demon by the name of Ravan took Sita away by force. Shriram was in great grief. He was wandering the forests in search of her when He came to the Malaya mountains. Sugreeva saw Him there with Lakshman. Sugreeva and his companions were very fearful that Vali had sent Shriram and Lakshman to kill them. So Sugreeva was very anxious to know who those handsome young men were. He chose Hanuman to talk to Shriram and ascertain the reason of their presence in Malaya.

Hanuman, on the orders of Sugreeva, had masked himself as a Brahman to try and find out if the two mighty looking warriors had really been sent by Vali, the vengeful brother of Sugreeva. However on seeing Them, all doubts were immediately wiped from the mind of Hanuman. He immediately revealed his true form.

Hanuman was an excellent ambassador. He could easily understand the nature of other people. As soon as he saw Shriram and Lakshman, he realised that they were not deceivers but noble persons. In soft and pleasing words he asked them who they were and told them about himself. Shriram was very happy when He heard the words of Hanuman. He said to Lakshman, “Did you hear his words? Even an enemy with his sword drawn would be pacified by such words. If a ruler has such a messenger, his efforts will always be successful.”

Hanuman took Shriram and Lakshman to Sugreeva. He had hopes that these brave young men would make Sugreeva king again.

Powerful Hanuman

Shriram and Sugreeva promised to help each other. One of the things Sugreeva did was to send Hanuman to look for Sita. When Hanuman was searching for Sita he met Sampati who was brother of Jatayu. Jatayu was killed while he was trying to stop Sita from being kidnapped by Ravan. Sampati told Hanuman that he had seen Sita being kept prisoner in the Ashokvatika in Lanka.

When Hanuman reached Lanka and met Ravan, Ravan did not offer Hanuman a chair to sit on. So Hanuman created his own throne by extending his tail, coiling it under him and then sitting on top of it, in front of Ravan. Ravan was shocked to see this and called on his demons to set Hanuman’s tail on fire. Ravan’s soldiers started tying rags to Hanuman’s tail to set it on fire. As they did that, Hanuman made his tail longer and longer. The exhausted demons stopped trying to tie more rags and set fire to his tail.  Now it was Hanuman’s turn. With his tail on fire, he jumped all over Lanka, setting the entire city ablaze.

When the battle between Ravan and Shriram was being fought, Lakshman got hit with an arrow and lay senseless. The vaidya told Rama that if Lakshman smelled a shrub called ‘Sanjivani’ from the mountain ‘Gandhamadan’ he will recover. Hanuman went to the mountain but as he could not recognize the shrub, he uprooted the entire mountain and brought it to the vaidya!

Hanuman – The perfect devotee

Hanuman is a pure devotee and a prefect servant of Shriram. Everything that he did was only to please Shriram, whether it was building bridges, fighting demons or flying across the country to fetch life saving herbs. When he saw Sita in Ravan’s Lanka, he not only delivered the message of Shriram to her but also destroyed the forest, killed many demons and burnt down half of Lanka. Hanuman never expected anything in return from Shriram.

Hanuman had a special place in the heart of Shriram. Hanuman’s devotion to Ram was profound. Anything and everything, without Him, seemed futile to Hanuman. Once, when Sita presented a pearl necklace to him, he tried to find Ram in each pearl. When he couldn’t, he was disappointed and he tore it apart and threw it away. She was surprised and asked for an explanation. In reply, Hanuman tore open his chest with his nails and showed everyone the word ‘Ram’ engraved on his heart.

Even today the idol of Hanuman is found in the temples of Shriram.