Shri Hanuman Chalisa - an attempt to explanation - 3

Shri Hanuman Chalisa

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

श्रीगुरु चरन सरोज रज निज मनु मुकुरु सुधारि

बरनऊं रघुबर बिमल जसु जो दायकु फल चारि

Please find the links to the previous posts here - 

1. Shri Hanuman Chalisa - an attempt to explanation - 1 - https://nitswe.blogspot.com/2024/12/shri-hanuman-chalisa-attempt-to.html
2. Shri Hanuman Chalisa - an attempt to explanation - 2 - https://nitswe.blogspot.com/2024/12/shri-hanuman-chalisa-attempt-to_21.html

Today, let us look at the explanation for the second Doha. 

बुद्धिहीन तनु जानिके सुमिरौं पवन कुमार

बल बुद्धि बिद्या देहु मोहिं हरहु कलेस बिकार

Budhee-Heen Thanu Jannikay Sumirow Pavana Kumara
Bala-Budhee Vidya Dehoo Mohee Harahu Kalesha Vikaara

In the opening Doha, the poet prepares the mind to be able to invoke Lord Hanuman. The poet uses the blessings from the teacher to cleanse their mind where the invocation of the Lord Hanuman shall happen. 

In the second doha (the current one) - the poet requests Lord Hanuman, that consider me as a person with no brain. I pray to you, Lord Hanuman - the son of the Wind. Please help me with strength, wisdom and knowledge and take away all those traits that cause sorrow in my life.

When we go to someone asking for help, we praise them and then we state our problem statement to them upfront. When we request for help, we must offer something in return as well. We must let the person know clearly what we want, this will make it easy for the other who does not has to guess in how to help us. At the same time, it is important to add a disclaimer and ask for forgiveness before you make a mistake. This is a wonderful tact when you meet with a person of superiority. 

In easier terms, we are invoking Lord Hanuman in our minds that has been cleansed with blessings from our teachers and others. Hanuman is referred to here as the son of the Wind or the Vayu god. In the Vedic though, Wind is considered as the god of life sustenance, while in the Pauranic thought, the Wind is the life itself. We are worshipping the god of life, the one who is making the life sustainable and grow. We pray to the Lord requesting for forgiveness in case we make any mistake in worshipping him or mistakenly make any offer that might irritate him. We are requesting the Lord to grant us three important qualities in life and in return take away any of the things that may case sorrow for us or others. 

The qualities we request from Lord Hanuman are - 

1. Strength - To lead a happy and a courageous life, we all need strength. Whether it is physical or mental strength we need it both to fight the battles within our mind or outside our body. Who better than Hanuman can provide them to us, when his physical strength is so well known to the world - in the way he defeated and killed that Ravana's Army or he lifted the entire mountain looking for Sanjeevani. His mental strength is mismatched in tales that we see in Ramcharitmanas and later in Mahabharata too. A person without strength but with wisdom or knowledge has no meaning as they can not implement or spread their wisdom or knowledge. 
2. Wisdom - Strength without wisdom can lead us to being a weapon that has a high destruction potential and can be misused by someone who can control us. A person without wisdom is just like an animal, who can be tamed or will react as his master tells him to. Hanuman is known as an epitome of wisdom the way he deals with Sursa or even Lankini. It was his wisdom that baffled Ravana more than the fact that he destroyed his gardens. Hanuman is also seen with his wood in humbling Bhim during the Mahabharat age. Hanuman is seen as a monkey, but has the ability to talk in Sanskrit and can reason with any sages or learned people. 
3. Knowledge - Hanuman is known to have immense knowledge and is known to have read all the vedas in his childhood. It is said that Rishi Yagnavalkya gained his knowledge of vedas from the Sun. Sun is known to be most learned as he is observing everything as he is always present. It is said that Hanuman wanted to learn and gain knowledge so badly, that he requested Sun to teach him. But Sun refused as he had to continuously travel from east to west. Hanuman then flew constantly in front of the Sun's (Surya's) chariot facing the sun at all times. In another story, Hanuman had knowledge of all the vedas by the age of three, by the grace of Lord Brahma. But when as a child he jumped to eat Sun, believing it to be a fruit, Indra and other gods conditioned Hanuman in such a way that he forgets his knowledge until it can be put to use for others. A person with knowledge, wisdom and strength has a mind that is well expanded to think about others, their own self and is fully grown to be a human from an animal. 

We thank Lord Hanuman for the three most powerful gifts that he can give to us. 

In return we offer our qualities back to Lord Hanuman that can be a cause of quarrels, sorrows and displeasure amongst us. These qualities include - 

1. Anger
2. Disobedience
3. Jealousy
4. Addiction
5. Pride

These qualities can cause issues within our mind and also with others. We request Lord Hanuman to take them away thus giving him the title of "Sankat Mochan" - One who removes all obstacles.

Shri Hanuman Chalisa - an attempt to explanation - 2

 Shri Hanuman Chalisa

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

In the previous article, I started providing an introduction to Shri Hanuman Chalisa as written by Goswami Tulsidas. 

As We understand that Shri Hanuman Chalisa is actually not 40 chaupai verses but 43 - 2 Dohas at the beginning and 1 doha at the end of the 40 verses. 

A Doha is a couplet with 2 lines, often conveying moral lessons, spiritual insights, or reflections on life. They are characterized by their simplicity and depth. Each line usually consists of 24 syllables, split between 13 in the first half followed by 11 in the next. 

A Chaupai is a quatrain (four-line verse) that can vary in syllable count but typically has a rhythmic and lyrical quality. Chaupai are often devotional reflecting themes of reverence and love.

In our daily matters, we often try find ways to start a small talk before getting into the think of the things. And then after the business is done, we depart with another small talk with a promise for followup. 

The Hanuman Chalisa starts with the 2 Dohas, before the poet proceeds to worship Lord Hanuman. The 2 Dohas are like invocation of Lord Hanuman. Until the Bhakti movement gained momentum, the invocations and all rituals related to worship were in the hands of the Brahmins who understood Sanskrit and could recite the mantras. Goswami Tulsidas created Shri Hanuman Chalisa in the colloquial dialect of Hindi so that it could reach masses and help all who can read it. 

श्रीगुरु चरन सरोज रज निज मनु मुकुरु सुधारि

बरनऊं रघुबर बिमल जसु जो दायकु फल चारि

Shri Guru Charan Sarooja-raj Nija manu Mukura Sudhaari

Baranau Rahubhara Bimala Yasha Jo Dayaka Phala Chari

In the opening Doha, the poet prepares the mind to be able to invoke Lord Hanuman. 

The poet says I would use the earth from the feet of the teacher that has the potency to bloom my mind into a flower. In the initial words the poet uses the word "श्री" before the teacher. According to some learned people, they refer to this being a depiction of the Lord Hanuman's devotion to Sita Ji or Shakti. 

The poet says that with the use of the blessings from my teacher, I would want to expand my mind and decorate it as a temple to invoke Lord Hanuman. I want to invoke Lord Hanuman by talking about the stories of Lord Ram who is utmost example of purity. With this invocation I request Lord Hanuman to give me the four most sought after fruits - Dhrama, Artha, Kama and Moksha. 

The four fruits sought from Lord Hanuman have a very special connotation - 

• Dharma - Ability to follow a discipline to run your life using the rules that help you and others
• Artha - Ability to work with economics to keep the life and family running
• Kama - Ability to enjoy the gifts of life
• Moksha - Ability to detach oneself from the circumstances and ability to handover the control to others

All of these traits are possible from no other than Lord Hanuman as he is an embodiment of knowledge, strength, devotion and practice. He is no doubtedly the greatest Servan to Lord Rama who is devoted to him and seeks nothing in return. 

This devotion and servitude is what we all need in life. The detachment from the rewards is what shall make us better every time. 

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. 

Shall we play a game of snakes and ladders?

I am sure many of us would have played the game of Snakes and Ladders while growing up. It is a multiplayer game where each player takes turns and throws in the dice and moves the number of squares as indicated on the face of the dice. The first player to reach the finish line wins and the last one to have been left behind is the loser. When I was a kid, the fun was not just the winning  but also  watching how many times and when a player gets bitten by the snake. Though we all played to get the ladder for the easy escape, we knew that getting bitten is inevitable as well. 

This is an ancient Indian game which was brought to UK in late 1800s from where it got its world wide acceptance and variations!

In one of the Ancient Indian variation, the game had the ladders displaying the virtues that one must aspire to lead a righteous life - Generosity, Faith, Reliability,  Humility, Knowledge  and Asceticism. While the snakes represented the vicious vices that are always ready to cloud one's mind and bring them down - Disobedience, Vanity, Vulgarity, Lying, Rage, Greed, Pride, Lust, Anger, Murder and Theft. In this game of morality, it was expected that one attains Moksha - the final goal of the game when one defeats or refrains themselves of being bitten by the vices. Having the morality ladders shall help you attain moksha aster, but the key is not to be falling for the vices. 

Another similar version of this this game was popular in the Muslim world was based on the Sufi philosophy representing the dervish's quest to leave behind the trappings of the worldly life and achieve union with God. 

When this game reached UK, it was slightly modified to resemble the virtues and vices prevelant in those days to boost morality amongst people.

Even today, this game is very popular in various parts of India. In TamilNadu, this game is often played by the Vishnu devotees during the Vaikuntha Ekadashi to stay awake through the night. 

While growing up, my mother taught me the concepts of dharma, adharma and karma. My childlike mind  understood the concepts of abiding by the dharma or else the evil adharma will come like a serpent to bit me. Probably I learnt everything through the method of fear. Instilling fear of the punishment, bound me to the path of the dharma. Whose dharma? Which dharma? Who knows!

Recently, I learned an other ancient variation of the "Snakes and Ladders" game, that comes from the Jain philosophy. In their version, they call the snakes as "Paap" (Similar to the versions described above), and also the debt you incur during your life, while, the ladders resemble the scenarios when you gave debt to others. The goal is to reach the finish line debt free. As debt of any form would force you to take a rebirth and repay it in your next birth. 

Interesting, isn't it?

Stay tuned for my next post on similar thought process.

चिता

चिता 

यह कैसी आग है ?

सभी तरफ फैली हुयी,

ऊँची लाल तपती लपटें ,

सब कुछ जलाती हुयी ?

                            बढ़ती उफनती यह ज्वाला ,

                            मेरी तरफ ही आ रही है। 

                            और वो मोहल्ले के बाबा,

                            देखो तो कहाँ जा रहे हैं ?

और यह पड़ोस की नानी ?

सुनती थी रोज कहानी,

आज किधर जाती हो ?

मुझे दूर कहाँ जाती हो ?

                            देखो तो बालसखा मेरे ,

                            जाते हैं कहाँ मुझसे मुंह फेरे ?

                            बचाओ मुझे इस आग से ,

                            क्यों भागे जाते हो अपने इस मित्र से ?

अब यह चिल्लाना कैसा ?

कौन कराहा ? क्या चरमराया ?

आज यह आग क्या जलायेगी ?

किस किस की चिता सजायेगी ?

                            बचाओ यह तो मेरा ही घर है ,

                            अंदर मेरे सपने हैं, मेरा संसार है। 

                            घर में मेरी खुशियां हैं ,

                            संजो संजो कर रखी जीती जाती पुतलियां हैं। 

बचाओ यह मेरे अपने हैं ,

यह चिता मेरे सपनों की है ,

मेरे अरमानों की है ,

मेरे अपनों की है। 

Empathy and its value

 We just concluded our Govardhan Pooja 2023 or Annakoot for this year. We displayed Sri Krishna in 4 different forms as he is worshipped in different parts of India and elsewhere. This was an eye opening for many as some of us didn’t realize that these were forms of Krishna!

One of the most interesting form amongst all was the Lord Jagannatha!

Lord or Bhagwan Jagannatha is any form is depicted as an incomplete form but with big rather huge eyes for its form. The question is why? The Lord has big eyes because he sees it all. He sees you, me and all of us. He sees all of our issues and our problems. He sees and watches each of the hardships we go through and supports us along the same. 

But really what does he see? You me, others or our acts, wants, needs, stories and thoughts?

Sri Krishna was born to Devaki and Vasudeva in a prison. But he was transported to Gokul and was celebrated by a doting mother and a father –Yashoda and Nandbaba. He was always surrounded by the people of Gokul, Vrindavan and surrounding villages that accused him of stealing butter, but adored him dearly. Krishna was always surrounded by love and all he saw was love. 

Later in life, Sri Krishna saw Kansa – a despotic ruler who sent his father to prison to assume his throne. Kansa was also the reason why Sri Krishna’s parents were in prison. Kansa tried to kill Sri Krishna multiple times through his growing up years. Did Krishna see him like a villain or as a child who was born out of angst? Did Krishna see Kansa as a tyrannical ruler or a person longing for love? Did Krishna killed Kansa and looked at him in disdain or granted him peace?

Sri Krishna later established Dwarka and was known as Dwarkadhish. In this capacity, he intervened in the popular battle of Mahabharata where he tried to mediate between the Pandavas and Kauravas. He even promised his army to fight against himself in the battle. But did he really see two cousins fighting themselves? Or did he see Duryodhana – a child deprived of love. 

Duryodhana had a father who could not see due to his blindness since birth, and a mother who would not see due to her blindness in order to support her husband. Imagine a child in place of Duryodhana! Wouldn’t the child be scarred for life? 

Sri Krishna saw Duryodhana for what he was and admired him and showed his blessing in every bit possible. Possibly that’s the reason for the large eyes of Lord Jagannatha. He sees it all. Yet he showers his blessings on us. 

I wish we all grant the Krishna in us a chance. Be able to see the other for what they are – Do not judge by appearance or one event at all…. See who they really are, why are they the way they are! Have an empathy towards everyone. Not only will it make us Krishna, but will also help us develop a better human being.

Taadaka vadh

 दषरथनन्दन, रघुकुल वंदन  

हार्दिक अभिनन्दन 

स्वागत 

आप पधारे हमारे मठ 

यहाँ हैं सभी सुख 

मंत्रोचारण करते सभी मुख 

ना ही कोई होता भय 

सभी का पेट भरता यह अक्षय 

पर ताड़का है 

यह बड़ी भरी 

कृत्यों से राक्षस 

पर है यह नारी 

कभी नष्ट कर देती 

हवन समिधा  

तो कभी ले भागती यह 

यग्न फल 

उद्धार करो

हे कौशल्यानंदन 

उठाओ बाण 

कर दो छिन्न भिन्न 

जो हमारा है 

दिलाओ हमें 

अधर्म से छुटकारा 

दिलाओ हमें 

मत करो विषाद 

त्रिमातृका अपत्य 

यह नारी नहीं 

निशिचरी है या है दैत्य 

पशु घात या नारी पे आघात 

ऋषि कल्याण या समाज निर्माण 

राम के प्रश्न कई 

क्या समझ सका है कोई?

राम ने ठाना था 

राम राज्य का स्वप्न 

कर दिया विश्व निर्माण में 

अपना भी हवन 

विश्वामित्र की आकुलता में 

राम ने त्रिजटा का कर दिए वध 

राम राज्य की स्थापना 

की थी यहीं से प्रारब्ध 

करो यज्ञ, करो व्यापार 

लेन देन से बढ़ता है यह संसार 

छीनो मत, उठाओ मत,

बिना कर्म ना उसपर तुम्हारा अधिकार 

कर्म होगा तो फल मिलेगा 

क्या मिलेगा, न उसपर कोई जोर होगा 

कर्म से ही धर्म है 

और धर्म वही है जो जोड़े सभी को 

ना वह जो मुंह मोड तोड़े सभी को