The Vanara by name Rundhra Greeva states-
Hanumat sadṛṣam daivam nāsti nāstīti bhutale
Tam pūjayanti satataṃ Brahma gowri maheśvaraḥ.
Meaning- I emphatically state that on this earth there is no other God equal to Lord Hanuman. Even the great Gods such as Brahma, Gowri and Shiva eternally worship Lord Hanuman.
Hanuman chalisa states- aur Devata chitta na dharayi, Hanumat seyi sarva sukha karayi. – The other Gods need not be worshipped; it is adequate if only Hanuman is worshipped for it is only Hanuman who grants all joys and happiness.
Neither do the Gods nor do any of their divine incarnations remain eternally on this earth. Once the task for which they had incarnated is duly complete, the Gods return back to their abode. Even the greatest incarnations such as Rama and Krishna abided by this policy.
Only Hanuman lives eternally on earth. With Rama’s permission, Hanuman lives forever on Mountain Gandhamadana, in steadfast contemplation upon Rama. He is always present in those places where the glories of Rama are sung, where the name of Rama (Rama koti) is constantly written and wherever his mantra ‘Om Namo hanumate namaha’ is recited. This is the protection for this earth.
On this earth, we are living completely under His protection. It is said that Hanuman is the protector for this earth plane (kshetra palaka). For this reason, whenever the Gods descend to earth, they firmly believe that there is no God who is superior to Him and with these intense feelings, they too revere and worship Him.
We have discussed earlier that Hanuman will be the future Brahma. We had also discussed that Hanuman was born out of an aspect of Shiva. We yet wonder whether it is right on Hanuman’s part to accept worship on behalf of Shiva? An important point that should be noted is that the deities do not have the concepts of dualities. On this human plane, we entertain feelings of I, mine, you and yours. The Gods on the other hand, follow the principle of oneness. Due to this trait they are addressed as Gods.
From their point of view Hanuman worshipping Brahma, or Brahma, Shiva and other deities worshipping Hanuman is one and the same. In other words whether Hanuman worships all other Gods or whether all other Gods worship Hanuman, it is all the same! There are no differences between them.
The worship does not assume significance in this context. It is their innermost mental feelings that are important. Where feelings of pure oneness exist, can there be scope for questions such as- who conducted the worship? To whom was it performed? Who accepted the Prasadam? Who offered the Camphor light? Who rang the bell? For whom was it rung? Who distributed the prasadam etc.?
It is these deep feelings that Rundhra Greeva stresses in his hymn. Hanuman’s philosophy in terms of His relationship with Lord Rama was- Atma buddhyā tvame vāham. It means – O Rama, when seen from point of the inner most self, I am you and You are me. I am not able to see any forms of differences’.
When one worships Hanuman with total concentration and devotion, he/she will experience all the three states of dualism (dvaita), non-dualism (advaita) and conditional non-dualism (visishta-advaita).
-When we listen to His story, it appears to be dualistic.
-When we intensely worship Him, feelings of dualism vanish away in totality, and Hanuman blesses us with complete feelings of oneness (non-dualism)
-His innermost perceptions are that of conditional non-dualism.
How beautifully the concepts of advaita, dvaita and vishista-advaita are intertwined here! Anyway, we should remember that in the end, He blesses us by bestowing the fruit called non-dualism upon us!
Om Namo Hanumate Namaha.
