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Chapter One Text 20
atha vyavasthitan drstva
dhartarastran kapi-dhvajah
pravrtte sastra-sampate
dhanur udyamya pandavah
hrsikesam tada vakyam
idam aha mahi-pate
Translation
At
that time Arjuna, the son of Pandu, seated in the chariot
bearing the flag marked with Hanuman, took up his bow and
prepared to shoot his arrows. O King, after looking at the sons
of Dhrtarastra drawn in military array, Arjuna then spoke to
Lord Krsna these words.
Lecture
We
are at the battlefield, and there are only a few minutes before
the great battle will start. At this moment, everyone notices
the flag of the Pandavas army, on which Hanuman is painted.
Hanuman is the symbol of victory; he took part in the great
rescue of Sita, who was kidnapped by Ravana. Hanuman is the
witness of all victories when good conquers evil. Because
Hanuman was on the flag of the Pandavas, this was a sign for the
sons of Dhritarastra. Today we will talk about Hanuman. Today we
have Hanuman-katha.
The
most interesting is that Hanuman is one of those people, who
don’t die in this world. In Sanskrit they are called "chiranjivi"
(people, who are still living). There are not many of them, but
they are very powerful and famous. They are: Ashvatthama, Bali
Maharaja, Vibhisan, Kripacharya, Parashurama, and Vyasadeva.
Hanuman - the Son of the Wind and the God of Strength
Everyone, who is engaged in spiritual development, respects
Hanuman, because he is not only capable of destroying a person’s
flaws, but he can also destroy his sins. He burns sins, just
like he burned the palace of evil Ravana, who captured the
beautiful Sita. Sita is prosperity itself; she is also the
eternal wife of God. Everyone, who tries to use prosperity for
something other than spiritual goals, risks instantly being
filled with flaws and sins.
Therefore, using riches only for the satisfaction of the senses
is often compared to cheating on your spouse. This is low and
mean. Prosperity comes to us to invite us into the wonderful
world of spiritual development, but we waste it on satisfying
our bodies. This is like when parents send their child money to
pay for his education, but he wastes it all on going out with
his friends.
Therefore, wasting money and adultery often go together because
this is practically the same sin. It is impossible to expect a
person who wastes money to be true to his spouse. It is also
impossible for someone who is untrue to his spouse to spend
money wisely. It is time to clean ourselves of sinful thoughts,
otherwise fate will teach this lesson to us and it's not going
to be very pleasant.
A
Story about a Magical Tree
Once, a tired traveler was searching for a place to rest. He saw
a sprawling tree, which attracted everyone by its shady crone,
and decided to rest in its shadow. Because the day was hot, the
traveler was thirsty. As soon as his desire to drink came into
his mind, a tall glass of fresh cold juice appeared before him.
He gladly took the glass and sipped from it. Then, the traveler
thought: "How wonderful it would be if a soft bed appeared
here." As soon as he thought this, he was sitting on a bed. How
wonderful, thought the traveler, but it would be even better if
my wife was here and could enjoy all this with me. Right away,
his wife appeared before him.
However, when he saw his wife he became afraid: what if she
isn't real? What if a demon has taken her form? As soon as he
thought this, his wife turned into a demon. The traveler shook
with fear. "This demon can eat me". Of course, his thought
became a reality and the demon threw himself on him and ate him.
The
same thing happens in our life. We dream of something, and then
we become afraid of what we achieved. When we achieve what we
want we don't have any satisfaction and dream of something else,
thinking we were mistaken. However, this continues year after
year and, actually, life after life. We are surprised at the
events in our life and forget that we dreamed of this. This
means that it is time to clean up our consciousness and
understand what we should think about, and what we shouldn't
think about.
Modern culture mostly teaches us to act right, but true culture
should teach us how to think right. Hanuman is an ideal example
of such a culture.
“The heart is a living room, please enter, dear guests”
Hanuman gives us an example of how to get rid of all flaws. To
do this, it is enough to invite the Absolute Truth into our
hearts. Where there is light, there cannot be darkness. Even if
this light is a small candle, it still brings light. Like this,
a small knowledge of Truth is able to get rid of our wrong
thinking.
Hanuman placed Sita and Rama into his heart and his heart is
considered to be an example of complete purity and devotion.
Once, he actually tore his chest and showed that the Absolute
Truth is really in his heart. This happened after the victory,
when Rama thanked Hanuman and gave him a golden bracelet with
pearls, but Hanuman threw it away. When a bear asked him why he
didn't accept the gift from Rama, Hanuman explained that he
didn't need it because it doesn't have Rama's name on it. Then
the bear said: "If you speak like this, then why do you need
your body?" When Hanuman heard this, he tore his chest open: in
his heart there were Rama and Sita, and on all the muscles and
bones it was written "Ram, Ram, Ram".
Another variant of this story
At
the time of the coronation of Rama, many gifts were given away
to everyone. Rama heartily thanked everyone for their service.
Of course, he gave the most wonderful present to his wife. It
was a pearl necklace. At this moment, Sita looked at Hanuman,
which was glad for everyone, but didn't even think about getting
a present for himself. Sita appreciated his loyalty and, after
talking to her husband, she gave him her necklace.
Hanuman was so overjoyed and happy that he started doing the
same thing that other monkeys do with presents: he started
biting the necklace. However, the guests were bewildered by this
and started criticizing Hanuman and said that he insulted the
king. Hanuman understood that people did not understand what he
did.
Then he came into the center of the place and said: "Do you
really think that I don't respect Rama?" Then he tore apart his
chest and heart, and everyone saw Sita, Rama, and Hanuman in his
heart. This new Hanuman also tore apart his heart, and everyone
again saw Sita, Rama, and Hanuman in his heart. And again this
new Hanuman tore apart his heart, and so on...
This is an expression of the level of spiritual development,
which is called dasya-rasa (the relationship between a servant
and master). This depth of loyalty and faith gives a person true
happiness. After we experience this happiness, we will be able
to rise to other levels, but we cannot skip this level. Before
we became true servants of God, we shouldn't imitate friendship
or other higher levels.
Once, when Hanuman found out that red color on the hair parting
brings luck to Rama, the husband of Sita, he rolled in red paint
and was red all over. Hanuman is still painted like this in
traditional Vedic temples.
A
Story about Faith
Once, one student wanted to cross the sea. He turned to a
teacher for help. This teacher had a palm leaf, on which the
name of God was written. The student didn't know about this, the
teacher put the leaf in a bag and told him: "Take this with you
and tie it to your clothes. This will give you the opportunity
to cross an ocean safely. But don't open it, because if you look
inside, you will drown".
The
student believed the words of his teacher and started walking
across the ocean. Everything was fine, until he became very
curious. He wanted to find out what is the precious and powerful
thing that allows him to walk on the ocean as if it is dry land.
He
opened the bag and saw that this thing was a palm leaf with the
name of God written on it. He thought: "Is that really it? How
can such a simple thing give me the opportunity to walk on
water?" As soon as this thought appeared in his heard, he fell
into the water and drowned.
I
Wish You Health and a Long Life
Also, Rama gave Hanuman a long life, youth, and health.
Therefore, those who need physical strength pray to Hanuman.
They are warriors, wrestlers, and also those, who want to
achieve the same devotion toward God as Hanuman. His body is
compared to a golden mountain. However, this power is special;
it gives the opportunity to overcome our own demonic thinking
and consciousness. Hanuman is the one who controls breath and
all five pranas in our body, therefore those who practice hatha-yoga
and pranayama pray to him. He was able to bring Sita and Rama
back together, so in our body he is the one responsible for
connecting our soul with the Super soul. Don't forget about
Hanuman, pray to him and serve him as soon as you get the
opportunity.
Once Bhima, who was also the son of Vayu (the wind god), and,
because of this, the half-brother of Hanuman, came to visit him.
Hanuman pretended that he was sick; his tail was lying on the
road in front of Bhima and didn't allow him to go further. Bhima
was very proud of his strength and tried to move Hanuman's tail
out of the way, but couldn't even lift it off the ground.
Therefore, Hanuman is drawn as a mighty warrior or in a humble
position on his knee. But after this incident, all strong men
know that, no matter how big your strength, there will always be
someone stronger...
A
Story About Forge Furs
Once, a person who didn't believe in God, and was also a mocker,
came to a teacher and started to tell him that God doesn't
exist.
"If
you prove to me that God exists, I will consider you a great
teacher," he told the wise man.
"I
will tell you a parable," said the teacher. "Once, a merchant
brought home forge furs, gave them to his worker and said: "If
you need to make a fire bigger, stretch the furs and the flame
will grow". The next week, the worker came to the merchant and
said: "The furs don't work. No matter how hard I try, I can't
start a fire". The merchant decided to find out what was going
on. He looked inside the furnace, but there was not even a spark
there. The coals were not even hot. Then he said to the worker:
"How can you make the fire bigger when it has died out? Not even
a spark is left, and without it we cannot make the fire bigger.
You should have taken a burning piece of coal from your
neighbor, or lighted the fire with a match."
"The same thing is with a person, who can't even assume that God
can exist," concluded the teacher. "If you had even a spark of
faith, I could have helped you make it bigger, like making a
fire bigger with furs. But you have put out that spark in your
soul. Therefore, I won't waste my time on you."
Hanuman, Who Conquered His Mind
Hanuman is an example of a person, who conquered his mind. He
was able to keep his senses under control, and his reason became
so pure that he was able to feel deep sympathy for everyone.
This is true reason, and everything else is just an imitation of
intelligence. Wisdom, elevated and true understanding of the way
the world works makes the person so full of sympathy that he
cannot even bare the suffering of others. He cannot just sit and
do nothing, so he goes to people and talks to them about God and
the soul. Without certain cleanness it is not easy to understand
this, but such a person doesn't even need the understanding of
others. He just understands his duty to help others and decrease
their suffering. Such a person accomplishes his duty and mission
in life, he cannot do otherwise. He is active and his activeness
is conscious. This means that he does not do anything that is
not practical help.
A
Story about a Cat
Every evening, when guru sat down to start service to God, one
cat, which belonged to the ashrama (temple), always came into
the room and distracted people. Therefore, guru asked to tie up
the cat during the service to God. When this guru died, the cat
was still tied during the service. When this cat died, the
ashrama got a new cat to tie during the service.
Centuries passed… The followers of that guru made up scientific
tractates about the important role of the cat if the service is
done correctly.
The
Body Size that Attracts
The
special mystical power of Hanuman is that he can change the size
of his body. He can become huge within a few seconds, and he can
become so tiny that he will be able to enter secret pathways and
caves. For example, right after his birth, Hanuman grabbed the
sun, because he thought it was something eatable. To protect the
sun, Indra drove Hanuman away with his thunderbolt. The
thunderbolt was directed at Hanuman’s jaw. This is how Hanuman
received his name, which means “the one who has a broken jaw”.
The
followers of Hanuman explain the philosophical meaning of such
behavior. It means that we have to become strong and great, when
we go to do good deeds, fight injustice and violence. But, when
we are with our friends and family, we have to become small
servants of everyone who surrounds us…
Strong and artful speeches should be directed toward criminals
and adversaries, but among our family members we have to be soft
and simple. It is important to remember that value and strength
in our words comes not only from speaking loudly and
aggressively, but also from being quiet sometimes. If you want
others to listen to you, you have to be quiet for at least some
time.
A
Story about Monkeys
In
one kingdom there lived a king who loved monkeys and fed a whole
clan of them. He could guess their wishes and the monkeys also
understood him. To satisfy the monkeys, he even fed his family
less. Each morning he gave every monkey 4 chestnuts. However, he
suddenly became poor, and had to give the monkeys less food. He
was afraid that the whole clan would stop obeying him, and
decided to deceive them:
-
What if I give you three chestnuts in the morning, and four in
the evening?
At
this, all the monkeys arose. They were furious and started
hissing at their well-wisher.
-
All right, if you don't agree, then I will give you four
chestnuts in the morning, and three in the evening? - he asked.
All
the monkeys smiled and calmed down...
The
Protector of Medicine
Hanuman is also considered to be the protector of medicine
because of the following episode in the Ramayana: when Rama and
his brother Laxmana were seriously wounded in the battle at
Lanka, Hanuman saved them. Their wounds could only be healed by
a special herb, which grew in the Himalayas, and Rama sent
Hanuman for them. However, when Hanuman arrived there, he forgot
what this herb looks like. Without thinking long, he tore the
mountain out of the land and carried it to Rama's camp with all
the plants that grew on it. This herb was only effective before
the moon rises in the sky. Flying through the sky, Hanuman saw
that the moon was about to shine in the sky, so he swallowed it
and arrived at Lanka in time. Therefore, prayers to Hanuman have
a great healing power.
Rama
I
cannot refrain from telling you about Rama himself, who is the
master of Hanuman. Once, after the battle at Lanka, one warrior
from Ravana's army - Vibhisana - approached the army of Rama.
Monkeys that were keeping watch saw him and thought: "A spy is
entering our camp". They surrounded him from all sides, tied him
up, and brought him to Lord Ramachandra (Rama). They started
talking about what they should do with him. Vibhisana said:
- I
come in peace. I left Ravana and I want to help you.
The
leaders among the warriors looked at him and talked it over. One
of the generals said:
-
Raksasas are not to be trusted. Look at his fangs, look at his
ears. Can he be trusted?
Someone said:
-
We need to appoint four monkeys to always keep an eye on him.
Hanuman smiled and said:
-
He is a devotee. I saw him at Lanka. When everyone else was
feasting, he was secretly serving Lord Ramachandra.
Opinions were different and everyone argued. Ramachandra smiled
and said:
- I
promise that even if someone has Mercenary motives, but comes to
Me and surrenders unto Me, I will protect him.
Vibhisana fell before Ramachandra in a great bow, started crying
and said:
-
My Lord, I always knew that You will protect me...
It
isn't important which motives a person has when he starts the
path of spiritual development; God will happily accept him and
protect him! |
