Every thought of Hanuman is about Rama.
Every pore of Hanuman’s being contains Rama.
Every dream of Hanuman is about Rama.
Hanuman is inseparable from Rama.
Hanuman is the epitome of devotion.
After defeating Ravana and returning to Ayodhya, Rama showered gifts on everyone.
Rama gave Brahmanas cows. He showered riches on everyone who wanted them. He gave Sita a dazzling gift: A necklace filled with precious gems. Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna got nice gifts, as well. Everyone got a gift.
Well, almost everyone.
Hanuman did not get a gift.
Sita noticed this. Rama noticed Sita’s consternation and told her she can Give Hanuman her necklace, if she wishes. Sita duly gave Hanuman her valuable necklace. Hanuman took the first bead out of the necklace. He examined it carefully. To the shock of everyone in Rama’s court, he threw it away. He repeated this process for the second bead. One by one, he threw away every bead, destroying the necklace irreparably.
Everyone looked at each other, and whispers were exchanged. “When you give a precious ornament to a monkey, what else can you expect”, the courtiers said. Sita asked Hanuman to explain his actions.
“I examined every bead to see if it read ‘Rama’. It did not. I didn’t have any use for them, so I threw them away.”
“Does your body have Rama’s name on it?”, a courtier challenged Hanuman.
Hanuman smiled, and plucked a hair from his body. It echoed “Rama, Rama, Rama …”
Not stopping at this, Hanuman performed the world’s first open heart surgery — he tore open his heart — displaying Rama and Sita seated comfortably, shining gloriously.
The courtier who challenged Hanuman was filled with remorse and begged Hanuman’s forgiveness. Hanuman smiled and embraced him lovingly. Rama, who was touched by Hanuman’s devotion to him, embraced Hanuman warmly, to the delight of everyone present at the assembly.
When you focus your energy on one task, one object, one project, you concentrate all your forces in one direction.
When the object of your concentration is God, you gain the ultimate gift life can offer you.
Krishna makes the ultimate promise in the Bhagavad Gita: When a devotee lives his life in a God-centric way, God provides said devotee with what he/she needs, and helps preserve them.
We make it our life’s mission to acquire things, people, love, experiences, in unlimited quantities. After acquiring them, we’re worried about protecting them — we get protection plans, routine services, insurance, maintenance, worry, paranoia … To someone who functions with nary a care for himself and lives for the Lord, the Lord has no option but to take care of the devotee.
The mother monkey leaps from tree to tree — the baby monkey has to hold on tight. The mother cat, by contrast, takes responsibility for holding the kitten — she holds on to her kitten tightly when going from one place to another.
We can choose to be the monkey and take charge of our lives. Or we can choose to be the cat — take the easy route — and waltz through life without worries — we outsource the responsibility to God.
Devotion is a Muscle that Can Be Strengthened
Some people have devotion built in them.
I didn’t. Devotion was alien to me. I couldn’t muster it for the love of my life. I have, however, slowly made progress in the devotional front. It seemed unnatural at first. I made efforts to be a devotee nevertheless — being inspired by many people with high devotional quotients — and I can tell you from experience — devotion is a muscle that gets strengthened with practice.
And it is a fine muscle to strenghten.
The muscles in our arms and legs will atrophy one day.
The devotional muscles will stay forever.
And ever.
Hanuman is a superhero.
His prowess and achievements are well-documented. He has made seemingly impossible tasks look trivial. For someone with Hanuman’s achievements and powers, the presence of hubris is but natural. Hanuman, however, is devotion personified. Most pictures of Hanuman depict him with folded arms, praying to either Rama or Sita.
Hanuman’s devotion is His greatest strength.
When Rama went back to Vaikuntha to assume His form as Vishnu, Hanuman decided to stay back in earth and listen to the stories and glories of Rama.
To beckon Hanuman, all we need to do is call out Rama’s name.
Hanuman inspires all of us by way of example — He is a superlative example of a devotee par excellence.
Cultivating devotion to Lord Hanuman is the most beautiful way to lead a meaningful and rich life. He is known as Sankat Mochan or someone who takes away your difficulties. He also bestows devotion to his devotees. Download the free and incredible Vedic Sadhana app to deepen your bond with Lord Hanuman by performing Abhishekam, Hava, Japa, Nitya Pooja, and Sadhana of Lord Hanuman.
