The full moon in the month called Chaitra, which usually falls in April in the modern calendar is celebrated as the day when Hanuman, incarnation of Lord Shiva, came into being. Hanuman is the ultimate Bhakta or Devotee and His beloved lord is Shri Rama.
The Puranas say that Hanuman is the son of Vayu, the Wind God. He represents Praan i.e. Life Force. Thus, He is always in service of Consciousness i.e. Shree Rama. Hanuman is one of the main characters in the Ramayana, and is also spoken about in great detail in the Mahabharata and the Puranas.
While devotion is the greatest of Hanuman’s qualities, he is also possessed of near-infinite strength and an intimidating physique. The traditional akhadas, or training schools for wrestling and body building all over India worship Hanuman as their role model for building physical strength and endurance.
On the day of Hanuman Jayanti the celebration takes place in the very early hours, beginning just before sunrise. When Praanic energy is at its peak in out atmosphere. Since Hanuman is the manifestation of Praan, it is natural that His birth celebrated at this peak in the morning. This is the time of maximum cosmic energy radiating from the sun into the earth’s atmosphere. Waking up early in Brahma-muhurat or pre-dawn time and performing pranayama breathing disciplines, imparts strength, vitality and success in all endeavors.
It is not coincidence that there is always a scientific thread running all along through the stories of the Puranas, Mahabharata, Ramayana and other traditional literatures. This is because all these so-called stories actually talk about how things work in our bodies and minds in daily life. Thus, Hanuman represents Praan and when we realize that he is attracted to Shri Rama who is the Consciousness we see the connection between consciousness and life-force. Consciousness and Praan are both inseparable and indispensable. If Consciousness leaves the body, Praan follows and life ceases.
We can also see that traditional behaviours and practices in devotion also take into account these truths. If Hanuman is in every place that Rama goes, then when we raise our consciousness and tell a story about Shri Rama, we reserve a nice seat, since we trust that Hanuman will surely come to meet His lord and He should certainly have a seat of respect.
From early childhood, Hanuman has been an inspiration to me and one day I built a small Hanuman temple all by myself at our house in Baroda. Since the inception of the Atmasantulana Village we have Hanuman shrines at multiple locations reminding us all of the importance of praan for healthy living. There is an interesting story in the Ramayana, Pleased with Hanuman, Sita the wife of Shri Rama, gifts him a necklace with precious pearls. Sita is shocked to see Hanuman biting each pearl off the necklace and discarding it. She asks the innocent devotee what he is doing. Hanuman replies that he broke each pearl to see if it had Rama inside. Else, what use are any precious gems or pearls to him.
In all things, whether food or medicine, consciousness is of utmost importance. It is manifest as ‘veerya’ or potency. In the age that we live in, people make great efforts to create attractive packing and presentation. We need to learn from Hanuman to not be tempted by beautiful covers, and look for quality and essence in each product.
Success in any venture is achieved only when one can offer heart and soul into the project. Shri Krishna in the Geeta teaches that one should perform all actions or karma with dedication and devotion. Simply visiting temples, churches or mosques and giving huge amounts in charity is not necessarily devotion. Along with philanthropic actions one needs compassion and empathy in the heart. One needs devotion in action too.
An unshakeable trust in God or the Supreme Consciousness will help us to endure tough challenges in life and come out as winners. Hanuman represents this unshakable trust. Let us all be inspired by Hanuman and seek His blessings to increase our praanic energy and potential every day in our lives. May He fill our hearts with devotion and love for all!
Shri Ram, Shri Krishna, Shri Hanuman teach us to do the each and every work, may be either small or large, with great efforts, sincerely and cautious. Means that work or job is treating its self as it is the order of God and hence we should do this with full devotion, without any hesitation. Definitely we will get full satisfaction and happiness.