Sunday, January 23, 2011

Gods And Goddesses: Hanuman

It is about time I actually made a post about a god or goddess of Hindu mythology, especially seeing as I know so little of Hindu mythology in the first place. I have to thank ED BULEY, also known as THE SPIRITUAL HOBO, for this seeing as he mentioned being also known as Hanuman. It is the monkey god Lord Hanuman himself who I find interesting while at the same time I know so little about.

Hanuman is known for aiding another god, Lord Rama, in fighting against evil forces and believed to be an avatar, or incarnation as some may say, of the god Lord Shiva. Hanuman is well known for appearing in the epic Ramayana in which Hanuman was assigned the responsibly of looking for the wife of Lord Rama, Sita, who was sadly abducted by the demon king of Lanka, Ravana.

Punjikasthala, an attendant of the god Vrihaspati, was cursed to take the form of a female monkey. This curse could only be stopped if Punjikasthala gave birth to an incarnation of Lord Shiva. Eventually Punjikasthala was reborn and became known as Anjana, as Anjana she did her best to please Lord Shiva who granted her the birth that could stop her curse. This is how Hanuman became to be.

Soon before Hanuman was born Anjana was meditating and was delivered a drop of divine pudding into her hands by the god of wind, Pavana. Because of this, Pavana became Hanuman’s godfather.

Seeing as Hanuman’s birth freed Anjana from her curse she was to return to Heaven, but before Anjana returned to Heaven Hanuman asked of his future. Anjana told Hanuman he would never die and that fruits as ripe as the rising sun would be his food. Hanuman, mistaking the sun as his food, leapt for the sun but was struck down by a thunderbolt from Indra and was thrown back down to earth. Pavana carried Hanuman to the nether world known as Patala and the god Brahma begged Hanuman to return where blessings of invincibility, immortality and of super strength was given to appease Hanuman.

The sun god Surya was whom Hanuman went to with the request to teach Hanuman the scriptures. Surya agreed and Hanuman became disciple. Hanuman’s concentration made it possible for Hanuman to master the scriptures in only sixty hours. Surya told Hanuman that the mastering of the scriptures was Hanuman’s fees for being taught, however, Hanuman requested Surya to accept more then that. Hanuman was requested to assist Surya’s son, Sugriva, by being his minister and compatriot.

Hanuman met Lord Rama and his brother Lakshmana while Rama was in exile within a jungle and looking for his wife Sita who just happened to have been abducted by a demon known as Ravana. While looking for Sita, Rama and Hanuman came to Pampa Lake at the foot of Mount Risyamukha where a monkey king called Sugriva and his minsters were hiding. Sugriva was being persecuted by his brother Bali suspected that Rama and Lakshmana might have been sent by Bali himself to kill Sugriva himself. Hanuman approached Sugriva and his minsters as the guise of the god Brahmin.

Hanuman introduced Sugriva to Rama and did a large search for Sita. Finding the whereabouts of Sita, she was consoled by Hanuman and the city Lanka was burnt down. Hanuman brought Rama to the burnt city and fight the demon Ravana with his own army, defeating the demon.

Hanuman later saved the life of Rama’s brother Lakshmana by getting the herb Sanjivani and from then on served Rama. Hanuman is often depicted carrying a mountain that he is said to have carried when going back to Lakshmana with the herb Sanjivani, as Hanuman apparently was unable to identify the herb himself so he uplifted the whole mountain the herb happened to be on and took it to Lakshmana.

Tuesday’s, and for some, Saturday’s, are when many fast in honour of Hanuman and give offerings to him. It is also common among Hindu’s to chant the name of Hanuman or the hymn of Hanuman, “Hanuman Chalisa”, during times of trouble. Of the full moon of the Hindu month Chaitra at sunrise, what is known as Hanuman Jayanti is celebrated as a commemoration of the birth of Hanuman.

Hanuman is very much beloved by many people and one of the more widely worshipped Hindu gods. With a large appeal to devotes that includes wresters, healers, politicians and even monkey catchers.

3 comments:

  1. HANUMAN lifted a mountain and carried it away. Jesus said that if you had faith the size of a mustard seed you could move mountains too. This is possible for the same reason that a mother can lift a care off of a son who's being crushed because the jack failed. It's not adrenaline. It's faith and believe me... it works. Switch the last two letters of the word "BELIEF" around and what do you get?
    CONSULTING WITH THE SPIRITUAL HOBO

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  2. TYPO; lift a "car" not a "care" but faith can lift mountains of cares also!
    CONSULTING WITH A SPIRITUAL HOBO

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  3. BELLYBUTTONS & GRAVESTONES
    You leave behind the only world that you have ever known
    and blindly enter into another totally different one when you are born.
    You will repeat this remarkable process again when you die!

    In the last and final act of separation from the only world that you have ever known, a cord is cut and the life support system that has sustained you since your beginning completely shuts down. Incredibly, an entirely new life support system takes over and you find a way to breathe by catching a new breath. All of this should be familiar territory to you but it's no wonder that you can't remember dieing. Your mind lost consciousness in order to survive the trauma, just like it does during a bad accident. Your throat was sliced, when the surgeon cut the umbilical cord that had sustained you, since your conception. Birth actually seems like death to the one who is about to be born because in childbearing; there are many that do not survive. For them, birth is death. Your Bellybutton is living proof that you had to survive death in order to get here... and there you were thinking, that your Bellybutton was nothing more than a dust collector.
    MOTHER NATURE GAVE YOU A BELLY BUTTON ON YOUR BIRTHDAY. A Bellybutton is an odd gift indeed but it was given to you, on your very first birthday, so that you would never forget just how remarkable you are. You have already survived death once and you even have the scar to prove it! Your Bellybutton is a symbol of "your past life" and the mark of an extraordinary survivor. Coincidentally, the word "GRAVE" means; to mark, or engrave. Gravestones are "Marking Stones". Bellybuttons and Gravestones are marks that are left behind after a passing.
    As strange as it may seem, human bodies are transportation devices. You came out of your mother's body when you were born, and you will come out of your own body when you die. A human body brought you into this world and a human body will release you from it. Dying and being born are the very same thing but it's the outcome of the act that determines how we choose to use the words.
    Human beings are truly remarkable and that is why, we use two words instead of only one, to describe ourselves as a species. We use the term "Human Being" to describe ourselves because there are two separate parts to our nature. The "Human" part of your nature is your Visible Outer Person (VOP). The "Being" part of your nature is your Invisible Inner Person (IIP)... or otherwise known as, your inner person(ality). Your Outer Person(OP) is made of physical matter but your Inner Personality (IP) is not. A doctor cannot find your personality with a scalpel or a microscope and that's too bad... because your personality was essentially created from two other personalities (mother/father), therefore you were born with a "split personality". Your purpose in life is to develop the split-minded personality that you were born with into a "single-minded one, before you die..
    Your personality is growing inside of you just like a baby in a womb. It's developing and changing during every minute of every day. In fact, you are not the same person today that you were yesterday, or for that matter... ten minutes ago. Personality growth ends when death begins. Death separates the non-physical part of your nature from the physical part. If your personality is strong enough to survive death... then once again, you will be born into another new life. Where else would newborns for the next life come from?
    You faced death once before and found out that there was life beyond the womb and, if your personality is strong enough, when you die... YOU WILL ALSO FIND OUT; THAT THERE IS LIFE BEYOND THE TOMB.
    CONSULTING WITH THE SPIRITUAL HOBO

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