HANUMAN JAYANTI

Hanuman Jayanti

                    Hanuman Jayanti is celebrated on the full moon day (pournima) of the Hindu lunar month of Chaitra. A special feature of Hanuman Jayanti is that according to some religious almanacs (panchangs) the birthday of Shri Hanuman falls on the fourteenth day (chaturdashi) in the dark fortnight of the month of Ashvin while according to others it falls on the full moon day in the bright fortnight of Chaitra. This year it falls on 4th April 2015. On this day, in a Hanuman temple spiritual discourses are started at dawn. Hanuman was born at sunrise. At that time the spiritual discourse is stopped and the offering of food (Prasad) is distributed to everyone. Lord Hanuman was born in Anjaneri (now a hilltop temple). Anjaneri is near Triambakeshwar, Nasik - a pilgrim village in Maharashtra State. 

                                           Hanumanji is known by many names as Anjaneya, Anjani  Putra, Bajarangbali, Hanuman, Mahaveer,Marutinandan, Pavanputra etc. Hanuman, worshipped for his strength, valor, agility, is a man of great teaming. He is the son of Anjani and Maruti, born with the blessings of 'Vayu', the wind god (also called Pavan). He is considered to be an avatar (incarnation) of Lord Shiva.

                          He is one of the seven Chiranjivis and the only learned scholar who knew the nine Vyakaranas. He learned the shastras from Suryadev, the sun god. He is well versed with the Vedas and other sacred books. He has exhibited astonishing physical strength and worked many miracles. His valour, wisdom, knowledge of the scriptures and superhuman strength attracted everybody who came near him. He had extraordinary skill in warfare. He is the chosen messenger of Lord Rama and the minister & messenger of Sugreeva. Lord Hanuman is fast - the most agile and oriented god.

 H = Helpfulness (kindness)
· A = Adoration (devotion)
· N = Naturalness (sincerity)
· U = Understanding (knowledge)
· M = Modesty (humility)
· A = Allegiance (loyalty)
· N = Nishkama-karma (selfless work in service of God)

Incidents in Shri Hanuman’s life and their significance:

                   To provide assistance for the establishment of the Divine Kingdom : The main objective of Shri Hanuman’s life was to destroy obstacles in the establishment of the Divine Kingdom by providing the required warrior element. As a result, the embodied souls who would assist in the establishment of the Divine Kingdom were protected. For this reason itself Shri Hanuman manifests Himself in various forms during different Yugas. His task in the manifest-unmanifest form never ceases. Shri Hanuman has humility in serving(i.e. Dasyabhav) to the extent of 100%. Thus He is constantly active.

Assisting embodied souls in performing spiritual practice : Shri Hanuman has always helped embodied souls do spiritual practice in various Yugas. In the Tretayuga Shri Hanuman taught the right path of spiritual practice to the monkeys and helped them.

 Hanumanji is the symbol of Devotion and Service.
Like Krishna, Rama is an incarnation of Vishnu whose elevated character and righteous actions are designed to inspire men to divine consciousness. In liberating his consort Sita from the demon Ravana (symbol of material illusion), Rama is greatly aided by the brave Hanuman.
Hanuman was the chief of the armies of Sri Ramachandra and took a prominent part in the war against Ravana, the king of Lanka, in the Indian epic poem Ramayana. Hanuman helped restore Sita Devi back to Sri Rama. Recognizing Godhead beneath the human disguise, Hanuman consecrates himself wholly to service of Rama.

Liberating many souls : The embodied souls with an intense desire for spiritual practice were granted liberation by Shri Hanuman even at the cost of His own powers. He liberated many souls from existence in their cursed class by using His mace.

An example of a perfect Sevak : 

                 He is generally depicted in kneeling pose of utter devotion and humility, he symbolized the strength and purity of the Perfect Servant.

                      Shri Hanuman presented an example of a perfect sevak. As a result, many embodied souls attained Final Liberation by following the same path i.e. Dasyatva. Due to His humility only He was able to narrate the good qualities of Shri Rama to Ravan and when Ravan denigrated Shri Rama, Hanuman burnt Lanka and returned safely. Hanuman carried Sri Rama and Lakshmana on his shoulder to Sugreeva, the king of all Vanars (monkeys) in Kishkindha and helped them to find Sita. Prior to the war between Sri Rama and Ravana, Anjaneya visited Lanka, met Ravana, created havoc and burnt down the city of Lanka (Lanka Dahan).

                          During the war, when Lakshmana was injured seriously, Sushena, the surgeon/physician of the monkey army, dispatched Marutinandan to bring herbal medicine, Sanjeevini, from the far-off Sumeru Mountain in the Himalayas, before sunrise. Flying over the Himalayas and unable to identify the particular herb fast, Hanuman uprooted and carried the entire mountain in time to save the life of Lakshmana along with the rest of the Vanar army. Hanuman was blessed by Sri Rama with immortality (chiranjeevi) at the end of the war.

                             Hanuman was a bachelor (brahamachari) and is worshipped in all the temples of India. Every temple of Sri Rama contains an icon of Hanuman. Worship of Sri Rama is complete only with the worship of Hanuman. There are various temples dedicated solely to Lord Hanuman also. Sant Tulsidas composed the 40 stanzas of Hanuman Chalisa in praise of Hanuman.

Hanuman Jayanti is the birth anniversary of Lord Hanuman. One cannot understand Hindu Dharma unless one knows Hanuman.

Ritualistic worship

                     Ritualistic worship of Shri Hanuman (Maruti) There is a specific science to the ritualistic worship of each Deity. This means that, actions done in a particular way during the ritualistic worship, have a specific underlying science. Just by following these actions, we can get maximum benefit of that Deity’s Principle. The following questions and answers contains the divine knowledge received by the seekers regarding exactly how some routine actions should be performed during the ritualistic worship of Shri Hanuman (Maruti).

                     The worship of Hanuman symbolizes the worship of the Supreme Lord, for acquiring knowledge, physical and mental strength, truthfulness, sincerity, selflessness, humility, loyalty, and profound devotion to the Lord. Students pray to him for intelligence and soldiers for strength. In olden days, there used to be temples of Hanumantha, at the gates of forts. The gymnasium of wrestlers invariably have his picture.

1. Applying sindoor

Q. – How should a worshipper apply sindoor before starting the ritualistic worship of Shri Hanuman ?
Ans. – Sindoor should be applied with the ring finger.

 2. Waving incense sticks

Q. – Incense sticks of which fragrances should be used? How many incense sticks should be used? What is the method of waving ?
Ans. – Kewda, Chameli (Jasmine) and Ambar. Two incense sticks. Holding them between the index finger and thumb of the right hand, the incense sticks should be waved thrice, in a clockwise direction, in a full circle.

3. Circumambulation

Q. – How many circumambulations should be performed around Shri Hanuman ?
Ans. – Minimum five but if a worshipper wants to perform more, then they should be in multiples of five.

                        In Maharashtra, Saturday is considered to be the day of Shri Hanuman while in rest of India (Bhaarat) both Tuesday and Wednesday are considered to be His days. There is a custom of offering sindoor and oil to Shri Hanuman on these days. Breaking a coconut in front of Shri Hanuman also appears to be an age old custom. For spiritual progress, Shri Hanuman with His face to the left (Vaammukhi Hanuman) or Shri Hanuman with an attitude of service (Daas Hanuman) is worshipped.

                 Saade-saati of Saturn (Shani) and the ritualistic worship of Shri Hanuman

  The oil is then offered to Shri Hanuman. When  oil is offered to Shri Hanuman, the negative energy therein gets destroyed.  

          Use of Brahmatej and Kshatratej as required

The sacred thread (Janeu) on Hanuman’s left shoulder is a sign of Brahmatej. Since Shri Hanuman is an incarnation of Shri Shiva He has destructive powers too. Yet, because of His devotion to Shri Rama, Vishnu-tatva developed in Him. Since Shri Hanuman adorns Brahmatej and Kshatratej during wars, He can use both as required. During the war between the Kauravas and Pandavas, Shri Krishna seated Shri Hanuman on Arjun’s chariot (He can be seen on the flag at the top of Arjun’s chariot). Hanuman destroyed the weapons, directed at Arjun and his chariot, in mid-air itself.

       Install the warrior posture idol of Shri Hanuman

                        To get the benefit of the gross, manifest and destroyer element, we should avoid installing an idol of Shri Hanuman in the seated posture. Amongst the seven higher Deities (Shiva, Ganapati, Rama, Krishna, Datta, Maruti and Durga), Shri Hanuman’s element (tatva) is of a gross, manifest and destroyer nature. The word ‘Hanuman’ means – ‘One whose ‘roar’ cannot be fathomed even by the Gods’. When Gods perform a destructive activity, they use the ‘Maruti’ element (which moves at the speed of wind) as a medium to appear in the Universe. Hence He is referred to as Shri Hanuman. The roar of Shri Hanuman is capable of activating the element of any higher Deity in the Universe who is engrossed in deep meditation. Similarly, it also possesses the power to shake all the fourteen planes (Saptalok and Saptapatal).

                        Shri Hanuman in seated posture depicts the unmanifest form of power. Shri Hanuman in a warrior posture depicts the manifest form of power. To obtain the benefit of the gross, manifest and destroyer element, we should avoid installing a seated idol of Shri Hanuman in a temple. Shri Hanuman in a seated position implies He is in deep meditation, wherein His motor organs are in a dormant, inactive state. Thus, the common man will be able to derive very little benefit from this posture of Shri Hanuman. When the spiritual level of an embodied soul is above 60%, it is capable of activating the element present in an idol in meditation, through his devotion.