Puttugam2

The following is the hymn composed by Kesari-

Tvatonya saraṇam nāsti tva meva mama rakshakaḥ

Ato mayī kṛpa dṛṣṭyā hanuman rakśa mām sadā.

Meaning- O Hanuman! There is no one apart from You, who can provide me refuge. You alone are my protector. Hence with feelings of complete compassion, kindly protect me at all times.

Who is Kesari who offers such a fervent prayer to Hanuman? He is none other than the father of Hanuman and husband of Anjana Devi!

How are we to be sure that Kesari, the composer of this hymn, was none other than the father of Hanuman? Was he the only Vanara with this name in the entire Vanara tribe? Let us assume here that the father of Hanuman was the only Vanara with this name Kesari. Even if this were to be acceptable, is it right on the part of a father to pray to his own son? This is a doubt entertained by many.

Mahatmas do not have feelings such as ‘I am the father; he is the son’ or ‘I am elder, he is younger’.  They solely praise and glorify the great traits when they have recognized them in the other!

Ordinary people normally feel- ‘Oh, what is this? Should I worship my own son? Should I praise and glorify him? I can love my son but I cannot pray to him’. Here, what people overlook is that fact that the son has surpassed the father in acquiring good traits. The wonderful traits of the son have brought the father great renown. Hence such traits in the son should necessarily be praised and worshipped.

Didn’t Maharishi Kashyapa and his wife Aditi, the first couple of this universe, worship their own son Vamana, who was an incarnation of Lord Vishnu? Don’t we all know that Vasudeva and Devaki, the parents of Lord Krishna, as well as Nanda and Yashoda, His foster parents, worshipped and praised Krishna profusely? Time and again they recollected His wonderful transcendental qualities. Did Devahuti not compose hymns and worship her son Kapila Maharishi?

Guru Sandipani eulogized and prayed to his own disciple Krishna. You may probably wonder as to how a Guru can worship his own disciple? But what is wrong in it? There are innumerable stories wherein the Gurus have glorified, profusely praised and sung hymns about the magnificent traits of their disciples.

It is the disciple’s personal choice to let such praise either increase his ego and self-pride or to enhance the traits of humility and modesty. The disciple should reflect for himself- ‘My parents as well as my Guru are praising me. Upon hearing this, should I further increase those good traits or should I increase my self-pride which is nothing but destructive in nature?’ We can understand the strength of the disciple’s samskaras (deep mental impressions of the earlier actions, including those of earlier births) from his decision and resultant behavior.

In this instance, Kesari recognized not only the good traits but also the divinity within his son and hence he sung hymns in praise of his son. Here the father emphasizes that there is no one apart from his son, who can give him refuge.

It is said that one should never beg. If at all one has to beg, then he should beg only from Him who is supreme and who is the giver of everything. The Supreme Lord undoubtedly bestows everything upon us. Kesari therefore prays to his son, Hanuman, realizing that He is none other than the Supreme Lord who bestows us with everything that we need. Kesari seeks eternal protection and refuge from such Lord. ‘Oh Hanuman, I will not pray to anyone apart from you. You are the Supreme Lord. Apart from You there is no one who can protect me. You are the most supreme. The capacity to listen to my prayers and to grant me the suitable boon rests purely with You’, prayed Kesari.

The Supreme Lord eternally protects every being every second, right from the time it enters its mother’s womb. It is the Lord who graces us with birth. He is worshipped as the Trinity. As a creator He is worshipped as Brahma; for protecting this entire creation He is glorified as Vishnu and in the end, for absorbing us back unto Himself , He is worshipped as Shiva.

Hanuman is the form of the Trinity and hence offering protection is one of His duties.  Although he is aware of this, Kesari does not display a careless attitude and say- “Ah, as it is the Lord’s duty to protect, He will anyway protect me’. Instead he fervently prays, ‘Oh Lord, through your limitless compassion kindly protect me at all times’. Thus, through his behaviour he teaches that one should approach the divinity with all humility.

Om Namo Hanumate Namaha

It is the greatest fortune of earthlings that Hanuman resides on this planet. This being so, not contemplating upon him and refusing to hold on to his feet reflect utter foolishness. Letting go of this golden opportunity in life is nothing but stupidity.

All of us are familiar with stories from our Puranas which state that all Gods, be it Rama or Krishna or Subrahmanya, all retired back to their planets upon completion of their tasks.  That they left behind on earth, their energized shadow images (chaya roopa shakti), is also a well-known fact. Apart from Hanuman, the Sun with its self-originating natural energy is the only other visible God on earth. Amongst them, the Sun is neither completely visible nor within reach. Hence Hanuman is the only God who is both visible and within our reach. How can we not remember him then, when we are living on this earth?

Hanuman has preached varied good paths, all of which have been penned down as poetic compositions by eminent poets. Through reading and understanding of these poems and following the path prescribed therein, everyone will transform into worthy beings of great character.

Every being necessarily enters this world in the form of a small infant. All infants are alike and labels such as good, respectable, evil and sinful cannot be attached to any being at the time of birth. It is the character that defines them as adults. No one is born as inferior or mean. It is the samskaras (subtle tendencies of past actions) as well as the present actions of the individual that labels them as good or bad. Meditating upon Hanuman prompts the person towards performing good deeds. In turn this helps in building an excellent character. Good character brings with it the resultant respect and fame.

To lead a respectful life on this earth, devotion is a very critical pre-requisite. Even though people in the society greatly retain the tendency to ridicule others, deep down they entertain a certain degree of respect towards true devotees of the Lord. ‘Oh, he is a great devotee’ or ‘ He is a firm devotee of Lord Hanuman’ or ‘He visits the Venkataramana temple every single day’ – people make such respectful observations about devotees in general. What could be greater luck and respect than to be addressed in this manner by the entire neighborhood?

For example, there are many who customarily offer a vadamala (garland of doughnut shaped lentil-based dish) to Hanuman upon the completion of every good assignment in their life. The society holds such devotees in great respect and awe. This boosts the devotee even further and encourages him to accelerate the participation in such good deeds. It also, in addition, strengthens their good character. Thus the terms ‘devotion’ and ‘devotee’ are steps to building a great character in the individual.

Earth is the only plane in which the person has a chance to build a good character. This is possible because of Hanuman’s grace. Under such circumstances, abstaining from talking about Hanuman and worshipping him is nothing but complete foolishness. Engaging in sinful deeds while displaying pretentious devotion serves no purpose. Ramayana and other great epics are the holy books, reading which will help in developing a great character.