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Posted on: May 31, 2014
Hanuman, Our Lives and the Annual Sportsmeet
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a study circle on why Swami hailed Hanuman
as the ideal for His students and devotees
Part – 6
Life is a Dream; Realise it!
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DA: I am reminded of one of Bhagawan's discourses where He mentions what Hanuman represents. Swami says Hanuman represents the intelligent and courageous mind, Sita is the Atma and Rama is the Paramatma. Hanuman bridges the ocean of samsara (worldly life) and makes the Atma to meet the Paramatma by his courage, valour and devotion. That is the message of Hanuman's life.
SG: We have discussed Shanthudu — the equanimous way in which Hanuman did seva, Balavanthudu — the courage and strength he derived from unwavering faith in the Lord's name, Gunavanthudu — how the virtues of discipline, discrimination, determination, detachment and devotion led him to do his duty or rather love without duty which is divine. Finally we come to Hanumanthudu.
BP: Hanumanthudu has a meaning?
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SG: Yes. Once when I was preparing for a talk on Hanuman, I was praying to Swami for some inspiration. An insight was born from within. If you look at the spelling of Hanuman, it is H-A-N-U-M-A-N. If you split it into three parts, one is the first letter H. It represents ‘His’, meaning ‘the Lord's’.
The next three letters A-N-U represents ‘anu’ in Sanskrit, which means ‘atom’.
The last three letters are M-A-N or man. This means ‘His Atomic form is man’. Hanuman represented this truth that every single being in this world is an atomic form or a spark of that Divinity.
DA: Excellent!
SG: When Sri Rama asks Hanuman, “What is your relationship with Me”, Swami beautifully describes the answer that Hanuman gives. Hanuman says, “When I am the body, I am your humble servant.” In fact when Ravana asks him who he is, he could have said, “I am the aspect of that Lord Shiva whom you worship. If I will, I can crush you this very moment and take Mother Sita and go.” Hanuman was that capable but all he said was, “Dasoham Kausalendrasya” or “I am the servant of Sri Rama.”
BP: That reminds me of the episode where Hanuman finally meets Sita after killing Akshayakumara, the first son of Ravana.
Finally when he meets Sita, after exchanging the initial courtesies, Mother Sita is very surprised and asks, “Hanuman, how were you able to come here? There are so many demons around. Did Lankini at the gate of Lanka not stop you?”
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When I read this, I thought Hanuman would have said, “Mother, you have no clue of who I am. Just because I'm like this in this form please don't think of me as a monkey. There is lot of power in me. I have killed this demon... vanquished that demoness...” But Hanuman didn't do any of that. The only answer that spontaneously came from Hanuman was, “Mother I am a servant of Rama. With Rama's grace what is it that you cannot do?”
Truly, the 'H' in Hanuman stands for humility.
SG: Yes. Hanuman says, “When I am the body I am your servant, my Lord. When I am the mind, this mind is dedicated in love and devotion to thee.” Hanuman's mind is engaged in Rama namasmarana. It is a concentrated form or nectarine flow of the name of Sri Rama. That was Hanuman's mind itself. So He says, “When I am the mind I am the nectar of your name. I am the devotion and the pure love of Rama. When I am who I really am, you and I are one, oh Lord.”
BP: That is at the Atmic (soul) level.
DA: Now about the aspect of the mind that Hanuman represents. Whenever Swami has asked the boys if they had any doubts, the most frequently asked question was how to control the mind. In many discourses Swami said, “Master the mind and become a mastermind.”
After one discourse in Kodaikanal, I took the spiritual risk of asking Swami, “What is the easiest way of mastering the mind and becoming a mastermind?”
Swami's reply was very pregnant with meaning and it also relates to Hanuman's devotion. Bhagawan said, “The easiest way to master the mind and become a mastermind is to love God more and more. As your mind is steeped in devotion it transforms you into God Himself. But when your mind is steeped with vishaya vikaras (desires), it transforms you into a demon.”
BP: Amazing! When you love God that intensely, if you want to be strong to do God's work. If you want to be intelligent, you want to be more intelligent so that you can use that intelligence for God's work. If you want to improve your talent, if you want to be a singer it is because you can sing Rama's name. That is the perspective you get when you have that sort of devotion. That is what Hanuman epitomised. In fact it is so beautiful that we're discussing about Hanuman today as it is Mangalvar (Tuesday).
SG: Oh! It is Hanuman's day.
BP: Yes. It just occurred to me right now. When I was reading the Rama Katha Rasa Vahini, Swami explains how Mangalvar came into being. When Ravana is vanquished, Rama sends Hanuman to break the good news to Mother Sita. She is so happy, and says, “I don't know what gift to give you Hanuman. You have brought such wonderful news for me.”
Hanuman says, “Mother, you are so happy. What other happiness do I need in all the three worlds?”
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Then Mother Sita says, “Hanuman, I don't know what I can give you but I grant you this boon: Since you have brought me such great news on this day, from this day onwards, let this day of the week be known as Mangalvar – the auspicious day.”
It is beautiful we got this chance to discuss about Hanuman on this Mangalvar. We started with why Bhagawan placed Hanuman right at the top — the summit of every spiritual journey. He shows us the way to reach there. We discussed ‘Life is a game; play it’, ‘Life is a challenge; meet it’, ‘Life is love; enjoy it’ and ‘Life is a dream; realise it.’ The last dictum means we should realise that everything is a dream because we are not the doer.
SG: Swami said, “I am the master lion who has come into your dream to awaken you from this deep slumber you have been in for births together.
BP: Yes! And that realisation that you are not the doer.
SG: Hanuman said, “When I am who I am I and you are one.”
BP: Bhagawan says realisation is rest and best and that is the goal of every spiritual aspirant. That is what Bhagawan wants every student to cultivate. He wants every student to be vibrant and dynamic — not docile and passive. He wants every student to be intelligent but humble, strong but not arrogant. All those things are very evident in the character of Hanuman.
SG: Shanthudu, Gunavanthudu, Balavanthudu and Hanumanthudu is what we all have to aspire to become. We should all pray to Swami with all our hearts that He should bless us that we imbibe these wonderful virtues of Hanuman and become Sai Rama sevaks (volunteers). In our life if we can imbibe even one per cent of the devotion that Hanuman had for Sri Rama and imbibe that kind of devotion and determination to serve the Lord, our lives will indeed be sanctified.
BP: Absolutely! Thank you very much brothers Sai Giridhar and Deepak Anand. Let us end this wonderful session by chanting the Sai Gayathri.
Aum Saayeeshwaraya Vidmahe
Sathya Devaya Dheemahi,
Tannassarvaf Prachodayat
Aum Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi!
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- Radio Sai Team
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