MY HANUMAN CHALISA

by Devdutt Pattanaik

Hindus have always believed that a temple can be created in the mind using words and verses, just as brick, wood and stone can be used to construct a temple in the material

This yearning for the literal is indicative of insecurity, for the insecure mind finds it easier to control matter, which is measurable, than the mind, which is not.

dharma (social order), artha (wealth and power), kama (pleasure) and moksha (freedom from material burdens).

there is life there is desire, and hence suffering. Suffering ends

If one wants to give purpose to life, then it is to enjoy desire and accept destiny, without being addicted to either, and realizing there is more to life than satisfaction and suffering,

desire and destiny. This can only happen when we have buddhi, complemented with strength (bala) and knowledge (vidya), which is what this chaupai refers to.

dim-witted tools in the hands of others. Intelligence without strength, on the other hand, means we can never realize our dreams, for strength means a body that has stamina, a mind that has patience, and a life with access to resources and agency. Knowledge without intelligence prevents us from being worldly. Intelligence without knowledge makes us narrow-minded, short-sighted frogs in a well. Knowledge is infinite, it has no boundaries, and in Hinduism, God is the personification of that infinite knowledge. Everyone has access only to a slice (bhaga) of reality; the one who knows all slices is God (bhagavan).

Control, in Hinduism, is an indicator of fear.

The intelligent seek control: the strong have the resilience to handle the lack of control, and the knowledgeable know the fultility of control. Hence, we ask Hanuman for strength as well as knowledge, along with intelligence.

Note that everything that is being sought from Hanuman involves the mind and body: we want him to give us strength, intelligence, and knowledge. We are not asking for fortune or success. With a healthy mind, we know, can

Hanuman means one with a wide or prominent or disfigured jaw, indicating a monkey. Colloquially, in the Hindi belt of India, the name means one without ego, pride and inflated self-image (maan), a meaning that makes sense when we appreciate the structure of the epic Ramayana, where Hanuman appears for the first time.

Ram is a metaphor. So is Ravana. So is Hanuman. The Ramayana takes place in the landscape that is our mind.

All behaviour is aimed at ensuring the body survives. This is the jungle way (matsya nyaya). To outgrow these animal instincts is the hallmark

Such rationalizations are often seen in people who are unable to differentiate the physical from

the psychological, the measurable (saguna) from the non-measurable (nirguna), the form (sakar) from the formless (nirakar). Since the world is diverse, diverse readings of the Ramayana must be appreciated with empathy so that we appreciate the diverse needs of the human mind.

Not much is known about Hanuman’s mother. In some stories, she was a nymph, an apsara, cursed to live on earth, after she upset a rishi. In other stories, she is the daughter of Gautama, the sage who discovers his wife, Ahalya, in the arms of Indra. She is cursed either by Gautama for not telling the truth about her mother or by Ahalya for not lying to her father. The curse involves her turning into a monkey. She marries Kesari, a vanara, who lives in Kishkinda.

Thus Hercules has a celestial father (Zeus) and a mortal father (Amphitryon) just as Hanuman has a celestial father (Vayu) and a mortal father (Kesari). Did this story of Hanuman have a Greek influence?

Piercing the ears of a child is a rite of passage (samskara).

the world has four phases, like all living creatures: childhood, youth, maturity and old age. These are the four yugas, identified as Krita, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali. The Ramayana takes place in Treta Yuga. Since the world has gone through infinite lifetimes,

The Chalisa gently makes its way from the external to the internal, from conversations on material success to psychological and physical well-being, to the idea of yoga, and the connection between a living creature and the divine. In the verse, all of us are described as the subjects of the hermit-king Ram, whose tasks are executed by Hanuman.

In medieval India, the common folk rarely saw the king. They saw bureaucrats and soldiers fulfil the king’s will. This is why worshippers of Shiva invoked Nandi, devotees of Vishnu invoked Garuda, and devotees of Ram invoked Hanuman.

Siddhis refer to powers that enable one to manipulate one’s body and one’s ecosystem and nidhis refer to secret treasures. Embodied, ‘Siddhi’ and ‘Nidhi’ can be seen as Tantrik forms of Saraswati and Lakshmi.