Shri Hanuman Chalisa - an attempt to explanation - 1

-
 Shri Hanuman Chalisa
By RahulKSaini - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113402769

I grew up up listening to Shri Hanuman Chalisa and reciting it alongside others. Though written in Hindi, I have always wondered about its  meaning and the various stories hidden in this poem. I am sure many of you must have recited or even learnt the Shri Hanuman Chalisa at least once in our lives. Even if you may never have recited it, you may have at least heard it. Through this blog post and a series of articles hereafter, I will make an attempt to understand the various aspects of the Hanuman Chalisa and share those thoughts with you. However, please do forgive me where I may make a mistake or may not conform to your story or interpretation. A very apt sentence for this situation is as follows - 

हरि अनंत , हरि कथा अनंतः 

Shri Hanuman Chalisa was written by  Tulsidas, the same poet who wrote the most popular ram kata in Hindi - "Shri Ram CharitManas". Tulsidas wrote the Hanuman Chalisa in the same Avadhi Hindi dialect - that was the prominent Hindi form in that time. He also kept the same metering tone just like in Ram CharitManas for the Hanuman Chalisa. 

Hanuman Chalisa is known as a "Chalisa" denoting that it is a power with 40 (Chalis in Hindi) verses. Actually Hanuman Chalisa has 43 verses - 2 Dohas at the beginning and 1 at the end of the Chalisa. 

The Hanuman Chalisa is divided into three main parts by looking at the different verses. The first part of the Hanuman Chalisa comprising of the first 10 verses is an attempt to describe Lord Hanuman. The second part of the Chalisa comprising of the next 20 verses is an attempt to explain the deeds of Lord Hanuman and praise him. The last part of the Chalisa with the last 10 verses is an attempt to request Lord Hanuman to help us get through our difficulties. 

This structure of the hanuman Chalisa is the same as our own behavior in dealing with someone from whom we desire something. When you meet with someone, from whom you expect something. You need to praise them and boost their ego by telling them how good they are and how great deeds they have done. Once their ego is massaged properly, you would then go ahead and put your requests through hoping that they will now grant them.

It is said that Tulsidas sang the Hanuman Chalisa from a prison confinement for forty whole days, signifying the forty verses of the chant. At the end of which, an army of monkeys appeared to hamper regular life in the court of Akbar. This eventually led to the release of Tulsidas who then preached the strength of the powerful verses.

While Hanuman Chalisa has many meanings and stories that we shall unravel in my next set of blogs, the Chalisa an embodiment and symbol of the Bhakti movement or Devotional sentiment that was highly prevalent during the time of Goswami Tulsidas. Not only it praises the servitude nature of Lord Hanuman towards Lord Rama, but teaches us devotion to Lord Hanuman as well. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Flags and their meanings in Mahabharata

-
Image
Last night I was telling the bedside story to the younger love of my life, when she asked – “How do you identify the leader of the troop in a war – particularly in a warzone where a lot of people are fighting against each other”? While I explained to her how the modern warfare works and how the generals lead the army today, I also imagined the warcraft of yesterday and started to describe the vivid imagination fueled by the magnanimity of the movies like Bahubali, Bajirao Mastani and Padmaavat. The job was simple as we both had watched the movies together. And she understood all that I told her. Yet a question from her made me fumble – Do all the warriors have a flag on their chariot, and what do they mean? In my research for the answer, I stumbled upon the information that I would like to share with you too. In the Viraat Parva of Mahabharata, Arjuna under the disguise of Brihannala plays the role of the charioteer for Prince Uttara of Virata kingdom. Under the condition...
Read more

Ganesha - Reviving the series - 10

-
Image
The series cannot be completed without mentioning the reach of Lord Ganesha to cultures outside of India. In this last post for this year’s series, I shall try to present some more lesser known facts about the spread of the Lord Ganesha’s influence in Indian and non Indian cultures. During the early medieval period, both Jains and Buddhists incorporated Ganesh into their pantheon. The Ganesha cult thus travelled with the Mahayana Buddhism to distant lands, including Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, Tibet, China, Mongolia and Japan. Ganesha’s worship spread in all the regions rapidly. Manjangan ( Ganesha ) temple in  Bali ,  Indonesia Ganesha in Ta Prohm, Angkor For the Jains, Ganesha appears to have taken over certain functions of Kubera. The earliest reference to Ganesha in Jainism is in the Abhidhanacintamani of Hemachandra. It refers to several appelations of Lord Ganesha such as Herama, Ganavgnesa and Vinayaka and visualizes him as elephant headed, po...
Read more

Karwa Chauth - Why does moon rise so late?

-
I have often wondered as to why the moon rises late on the Karwa Chauth night. It’s probably because our hungry stomachs rebel and start cursing the moon instead of praying, that slows it down! Actually on a full moon day, the moon rises exactly at the time of sunset. The moon takes 27.3 days to travel once around the earth. This is also the next full moon day. To travel 360 degrees in 27.3 days, the moon moves approx. 13 degrees towards the east every day. Thus the moon rise increases by approx. 48 min per day in relation to the sunset. On the Karva Chauth day – 4 days after the full moon day, the moon rises 48*4 = 192 min (3 hrs and 12 min) after the sunset. Now please do notice the moon rise timings everyday and see the pattern!
Read more