Hanuman and Ram: Hanuman and Ram - Bond of Brothers  

By C D VERMA  

Hanuman and Ram: Hanuman and Ram - Bond of Brothers  

Hanuman, the monkey-god, was an ardent devotee of Rama. His devotion took him wherever he was required to help Rama tide over difficulties. Most famously, Hanuman searched and found Ram's kidnapped consort Sita, brought vital healing herbs from the mountain to make a seriously wounded Lakshman well, and acted as the commander of Ram's forces.

Hanuman, therefore, is popularly referred to as the sankat mochan , resolver of problems, easy to please. He was born on Chaitra Shukla Purnima, and there are many legends surrounding his birth. He is also known as Shankarsuvan, Kesarinandan, Pawansut - that is, son of Shankar, of Kesari and Anjani and of Pawan, the god of the winds respectively.

Following the churning of the ocean, gods and demons fought for the possession of amrit , the celestial ambrosia. Vishnu took the form of enchantress Mohini to deflect the attention of the demons. However, Shankar got attracted by Mohini's beauty and the resulting seed was implanted in the womb of Anjani. Since Hanuman was born of Shankar's seed, he is known as Shankarsuvan.

Another legend says Hanuman was the incarnation of the 11th Rudra. In the Yajur Veda Rudra is first called Mahadeva. The 11 Rudras are all forms of Shiva. Ravana did penance to propitiate Shiva. He offered his 10 heads to the 10 Rudras. He, however, left the eleventh Rudra unpropitiated. Shiva, pleased with Ravana's tapasya, granted him the boon to become immortal. He could not be killed by anything other than monkeys and human beings. Shiva knew that Vishnu was soon to incarnate Himself as Rama. Also wishing to witness Rama's leela, Shiva appeared on earth as a monkey, Hanuman.

Both the Skand Purana and Valmiki's Ramayana speak of the apsara dancer, Punjikasthala, who annoyed Indra. He cursed her to be born a she-monkey in her next birth. She was born to Kunjar, the monkey-king and was named Anjani. She was married to a monkey chieftain, Kesari. The childless couple did tapasya and propitiated the wind-god. The wind-god manifested himself, and granted the boon that his incarnation would be born to Anjani. So she gave birth to Hanuman who was also called Pawansut.

The Hanuman Purana claims that his real name was Sundar, meaning beautiful. Most Hindu families organise the recitation of the Sundar Kand, as part of Ramkatha, as it is considered auspicious.

There is yet another interesting legend in the Anand Ramayana. The apsara Suvarchala enraged Brahma, the lord of creation, who cursed her that she would be born as a she-vulture. Brahma said that she would be redeemed from her curse in the Treta Yug when she took a portion of charu or sweet kheer (rice pudding) from the hands of Kaikeyi, and dropped it from her beak.

King Dashrath got four sons after he performed the putreshti yagya and propitiated Agnidevta. The god of fire offered Dashrath a bowl of charu which was divided among the three queens, Kaushalaya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra. When Kaikeyi was about to eat it a she-vulture swooped down and snatched a part of it, and took flight. But she found it too hot to swallow and dropped it on top of a mountain, where Anjani was engrossed in penance. Anjani caught the prasad and ate it. The "vulture" regained her original form and flew to heaven. Anjani became pregnant, like the three queens of Dashrath and gave birth to Hanuman. So in a way, Rama and Hanuman are brothers, born of the effect of the same divine prasad .

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