Lessons from Hanuman, Lord Rama’s Greatest Servant
By Madhava Smullen on 23 Mar 2010
Lord Rama and his devoted servant Hanuman
This March 24th, devotees around the world will put extra focus on the essence of Gaudiya Vaishnavism—loving service to God—as we celebrate the appearance day of Lord Ramachandra, God’s form as the ideal leader. And who better to follow as the perfect example of selfless, devoted service than Lord Rama’s greatest devotee, the monkey warrior Hanuman?
We cannot, of course, imitate Hanuman’s actions. This is someone, who, as a newborn baby, tried to eat the sun because he thought it was a delicious-looking fruit, and would have succeeded had not Indra the lord of the demigods stopped him by striking him unconscious with his deadly thunderbolt weapon. He was then personally revived and granted untold powers by the creator Brahma, in an effort to pacify his father Vayu, the God of wind, who in a fury had taken away the ability to breathe from every living entity in the universe.
We can, however, follow Hanuman’s example of using his talents and capacities to the fullest in the Lord’s service.
Doing Our Very Best
Hanuman’s talent was strength, and a quick study of his life reveals endless examples of his using it to the fullest. When Rama’s wife Sita devi was kidnapped by the demon king Ravana, Hanuman jumped, with playful disregard, across thousands of miles of fathomless ocean to warn Ravana to release her.
Then, when the demon refused and launched an attack on him, Hanuman proceeded to kill eighty thousand of Ravana’s “Rakshasa” soldiers, then the great demon Jambumali, then the seven sons of Ravana’s ministers, the five commanders of Ravana’s armies, and finally Ravana’s own son Akshaya-kumara. He then set fire to the entire demon city of Lanka, before jumping back across the ocean to Lord Rama, who was extremely pleased with him when he delivered the news that Sita was safe.
Then it was time to go to war, and once again it was Hanuman who took the initiative, directing and participating in the construction of a bridge across the ocean to Lanka.
During the battle, Hanuman carried both Lord Rama and his brother Sri Lakshmana on his broad, strong back during confrontations with Ravana and Ravana’s deadly son Indrajit. In fact, Scriptures describe Hanuman as the best of all the Lord’s carriers, including Vishnu’s bird carrier Garuda.
One of Hanuman’s greatest moments occurred when Indrajit struck with black magic in the middle of the night, severely wounding Lakshmana and knocking him unconscious. Listening to advice from the physician Susena, Hanuman headed for Gandhamadana mountain in the Himalayas to bring back the herb visalya-karani, which alone could save the lives of Lakshmana and the many vanara soldiers that had also been injured. To do this, Hanuman had to defeat an army of protective demigods, uproot the entire mountain because he couldn’t distinguish which plant was the correct one, and swiftly return before it was too late.
Reading about all these incredible feats, we may feel inadequate. “How ridiculous will my meager efforts seem next to those of a devotee such as Hanuman?” we may think. “Will Lord Rama even care?”
A story from Hanuman’s own life answers this question. While Hanuman was hefting huge mountain tops into the sea to build the bridge to Lanka, he noticed a tiny spider brushing small particles of dust into the water with its legs to assist Lord Rama. He was about to brush the spider out of the way of his own serious work, when Ramachandra admonished him, saying, “Give up your pride! This spider’s devotional service is just as satisfying to me as yours. You are serving me according to your capacity, and he is serving Me according to his capacity.”
Two powerful lessons emerge here: the first is that whoever we are, we always have something to offer the Lord—and if we serve to our fullest capacity, with all our heart and soul, it will be accepted by Him as first class devotion. The second is that as we strive to do our best for the Lord, and progress in our service, we should never obstruct or belittle another’s devotional service, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem to us.
Caring for Others
Hanuman’s many feats of strength do not make him a brute—rather, he is very soft-hearted and caring. When he jumped across the ocean to warn Ravana and kill many of his men, for instance, he also gently comforted Sita in her distress, giving her Rama’s ring to assure her of his allegiance and promising her that her Lord would come and save her soon. Such care earned him a deep embrace from his master upon his return.
When the battle had ended and Lord Ramachandra had killed Ravana, Hanuman once again visited Sita, who was still in captivity, and brought life and joy back to her when he told her the good news. He then personally took her to meet her husband.
The Lord deeply appreciated such service, favoring Hanuman by presenting him with Sita’s gold necklace and granting him unflinching pure devotion to himself, Rama.
Simplicity
A devotee is very uncomplicated—his life is simply dedicated to doing whatever will please the Lord. This simplicity and innocent devotion is illustrated in a story told at Hanuman temples all over India.
When Hanuman was delivering Rama’s message and ring to Sita while she was being held captive by Ravana, he saw her applying reddish vermillion—known as “sindhur” or “kumkum”—in the parting in her hair, and asked what its purpose was.
“It is to give my husband Sri Rama a long life and to protect him from calamities,” Sita explained.
Hearing this, Hanuman thought, “If just a pinch of sindhur can protect Rama, how safe will a huge amount keep him?” He then promptly covered his entire body with sindhur.
When he returned to the other side of the ocean, where Rama was preparing his army of monkey warriors for war, the commander-in-chief Sugriva burst into laughter. Rama, however, gravely asked Hanuman why he had done such a thing. When Hanuman told him, Rama was deeply moved by this innocent show of Bhakti and proclaimed that any devotee who worshipped Hanuman with sindhur would receive His mercy and be able to cross all obstacles in devotional service.
Today, devotees at temples across India still worship Hanuman by anointing his deity form with sindhur.
Selfless Service
Hanuman is also endowed with many other wonderful qualities, all of which he uses to serve Lord Rama. In the Vaishnava text Brihad-Bhagavatamrita, the traveling saint Narada Muni learns of these while searching for the greatest devotee of the Lord.
The book describes Hanuman as free of all fear, strictly celibate, and extremely intelligent—he is a skilled poet, thoroughly learned in all Vedic literature, and gave excellent strategic advice during the battle with Ravana.
He also carried out medical services, treating Rama’s battlefield wounds, and sang beautiful songs for the Lord’s pleasure.
While Lord Rama was living in the forest, on exile from his kingdom, Hanuman used his huge white tail to provide the Lord with a white umbrella—a traditional symbol of royalty at the time. The same tail also served as a sunscreen canopy, a fan, and, when Hanuman was serving as the Lord’s vehicle, a flag.
Yet despite rendering all these services to Lord Rama, when the Lord offered him liberation as a reward, Hanuman did not accept it—he did not want anything in return other than more service.
“Even though liberation destroys the bondage of material existence,” Hanuman told Rama, “I have no desire for liberation, in which I would forget that You are the master and I am Your servant.”
Chanting the Lord’s Holy Name
It is stated in the scriptures that wherever rama-katha, stories about Rama, are recited, Hanuman comes to listen. He makes every endeavor to increase the bliss of Lord Ramachandra’s devotees, both in ancient times and today.
It is also said that the immortal Hanuman has vowed to remain in this world as long as the holy names of Rama are chanted.
Sure enough, ISKCON devotees all over the world are chanting the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, which contains the name of Rama, every day.
So on the sacred appearance day of Lord Rama, as we hear stories of his pastimes, and chant the Hare Krishna mantra—the essence of which translates as “My dear Lord, kindly engage me in your service”—we can be sure that the great monkey warrior Hanuman is right there with us, listening and increasing our desire to serve his Lord.
Foundation For ISKCON Temple Laid by Governor in Assam
By Basu Ghosh Dasa on 19 Mar 2010
n the auspicious day of papamochani (“freedom from sins”) ekadashi, Thursday, March 11, 2010, the Governor of Assam, Sri Janakivallabh Patnaik, launched the efforts to construct a new Jagannath temple in the city of Guwahati. The fifteen thousand square foot property at Jaynagar Charali Beltola was donated to ISKCON by Shantidevi Kamikya Prasad Sharma.
Bhadra Charu Dasa of ISKCON Mayapur performed Vastu puja, Bhumi puja, and Vastu homa that morning and the Governor participated in the “purnahuti” (final oblation of the vastu homa).
Thereafter the Governor unveiled the foundation stone for the new temple in the presence of ISKCON Assam Zonal Secretary and Guwahati Temple President Shree Jeeva Dasa and other dignitaries, devotees and well-wishers of ISKCON Guwahati.
Jadupati Shyam Dasa of ISKCON Dibrugarh, Assam, welcomed the dignitaries on the dais and addressed the gathering. He spoke briefly about the proposed Jagannath temple, and the aims and objectives of the Institute
for Transcendental Science to come up on the same plot.
Sri Akon Bora, Minister of Social Welfare of Assam State, lauded the project, Captain Robin Bordolai, son of the first Chief Minister of Assam shared his connection with ISKCON since the opening of the Guwahati centir.
Vayasaki Dasa explained that Prabhupada introduced the worship of Jagannath, Baladeva, and Subhadra in ISKCON centers before introducing Radha Krishna worship. During ISKCON's initial three years, 1967-69, ISKCON centers therefore only had Jagannath Deities. He further remarked that in the twenty-first century, Lord Jagannath's Rathayatra festival is known in every major city of the world. Therefore, He is not simply Purinath, or Assamnath, but actually Jagannath.
Afterward, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam Minister for Health, Family
Welfare, Science and Technology and Dr. Bhumidhar Barman, Assam Revenue Minister, cited the necessity of spirituality for creating a peaceful society, particularly commenting on its value for the youth.
Basu Ghosh Dasa, President of ISKCON Baroda, spoke in Samskritam and encouraged the
members of the public to learn conversational Samskritam, reminding them that all of the Vedic literature was written in this refined and beautiful language.
The Governor of Assam, Sri J.B. Patnaik, speaking in fluent Assamese, praised ISKCON Guwahati for it's determination to establish a Jagannath temple here in the state capital. He then mentioned the ancient Vaishnava saint of Assam, Shankaradev, who visited Jagannath Puri twice during his lifetime. He explained that Shankaradev's influence was to unite the Assamese people culturally and spiritually. He agreed with
Basu Ghosh Das that Samskritam must be made the national language of India. He said that only Samskritam can unite the entire country on the platform of language, since it's familiar to all throughout India.
An Odissi dance performance by Sitadevi Dasi of France, kirtans by Vaiyasaki Das and a dinner of ekadashi “phalaahaar” prasad concluded the evening.
Honoring Patrick in a Saintly Way in the UK
By Gaura Hari Dasa on 19 Mar 2010
The organizer, Parasurama Dasa, fiddling a jig
The Irish festival of St Patrick's day is celebrated in many major cities around the world. Unfortunately the festival in honor of the Patron Saint of Ireland is often celebrated in a rather unsaintly fashion. Many see it as simply a national festival celebrating all that is Irish with an emphasis on wearing something green and getting drunk.
However most cities put on a grand parade during the day, filled with marching bands, traditional dancers, musicians and colorful floats. This year for the first time Parasurama Dasa entered the Hare Krsna devotees in the public parade in London. London has always had a large Irish population and the St. Patrick's Day Parade has been an annual event there for many years.
About 20 devotees wore either green saris or green chadars (wool scarves) and sang, accompanied by traditional instruments as well as base guitar and a drum kit. At the front of the chanting party, Parasurama Dasa and another devotee, Mark, dressed as traditional Irish Leprechauns and sang and danced, doing cartwheels down the streets.
As the parade weaved it's way through London's famous streets people clapped and cheered.
"It was like London Ratha Yatra" remarked Gopa Kumara Dasa. "We went down the same route, Hyde Park, Piccadilly, and Trafalgar Square. The streets were packed. Everyone was smiling with many even singing 'Hare Krsna'!"
Many Irish people are very familiar with the devotees singing in the streets on St. Patrick's Day. Annually devotees would take to the streets of the capital, Dublin, and for a few years they also took part in the main parade there using the Ratha Yatra cart.
Although no longer in the Dublin Parade, the devotees still performed kirtana in Ireland's fastest growing City, Galway. Situated on the Atlantic coast Galway attracts people from around the country as well as many international tourists.
Medhavi Nimai Dasa, who lives in the city explained, "Usually devotees go out for Harinama in Dublin during the year. However today devotees from around the country have come here to Galway to take advantage of the festive spirit and give people a chance to hear Krsna's names. It really has a big impact. I meet people from time to time during the year who fondly remember dancing with the Harinama or just watching and listening."
Back in London Parasurama has big plans for the summer months. Although originally from Ireland, he now lives in England and is involved in many carnivals around the country. As he drove the minibus of devotees back to Bhaktivedanta Manor, he told them of the many similar upcoming festivals and proudly announced the first ever Ratha Yatra in Scotland in August.
For years devotees have openly invited people to participate in Vaisnava festivals such as Ratha Yatra. Now that favor is being returned by the authorities, who are allowing devotees to participate in national and community carnivals and parades around the country.
Ramayana Renewed: Pixar Cartoonist Revamps the Ancient Hindu Story
By Aarti Betigeri for CNN Go on 12 Mar 2010
Ravana battles Jatayu, the noble vulture king
Growing up, cartoonist Sanjay Patel only had a dim awareness of the great Hindu epic the Ramayana, his bare-bones knowledge coming from his Gujarati parents' colloquialisms. "Every time someone sneezed in the house, my mother would say Sitaram," says Patel. "Only later did I understand they were saying Sita and Rama, and it was auspicious to say that."
The Ramayana tells the story of the god king Rama who -- with the help of the monkey god Hanuman -- rescues his wife Sita who has been kidnapped by the evil demon Ravana during the couple's long forest exile. Suspecting his wife's purity may be in question after her detention, he banished her to the forest even though she proved her fealty by walking through fire.
That's the abridged, shortened, nutshell version. For "The Lord of the Rings" has nothing on the Ramayana when it comes to length.
Some 25 years after grasping the basics of the story, Patel has produced what should become one of the defining accounts of the epic tale in a span of 100 illustrations, titled "Ramayana: Divine Loophole". It's certainly not the first time a cartoon book version has been produced, but it's certainly the most stylish and the most internationally appealing.
In the book's title the divine loophole is a reference to Rama. Since Brahma gives Ravana the power to be indestructible from both gods and demons he becomes a great menace. In an effort to restore balance Vishnu realized that there was a loophole in Ravana's power and that was for him to be reborn as a man. Since Ravana had no protection from a god reborn as a man, we get the divine loophole, the avatar of Rama.
In Patel's Ramayana, his drawings are angular and sometimes starkly graphic, most often with a limited colour palate, evoking elements of the mid-20th-century design language the cartoonist loves. An artist at California's Pixar for 13 years, Patel has worked on features including "Monsters Inc", "Cars", "The Incredibles" and "A Bug's Life." Work, he is not shy to say, has deeply influenced his personal projects.
For example, "I was really touched by the movie Up, and was impressed that the studio took on such a risky project, that had such weighty themes." He says his Ramayana is of a similar nature. "It has deep themes in there but on the surface it looks like colorful candy. There are so many people working in animation that are all style and no substance, I wanted to bring some style to the substance, and bring it to a younger generation, and to make it accessible to people like you and I."
Patel is referring to second-generation non-resident Indians, who grew up wedged between two cultures, sometimes only receiving snippets of their parents' heritage.
"Growing up, I watched a lot of Looney Tunes, read a lot of Marvel comics, and watched a lot of Japanese animation like Robotech," says Patel.
But at the same time, his staunchly Hindu parents would corral him and his brother into daily prayers at a home temple, watched over by a picture of Hanuman standing on a mountain. "I didn't realise it at the time, but the Ramayana was there in front of me as I grew up."
It took Patel a good year just to read the story. "I read about four different versions, and dozens of childrens' book versions," he says. The subject matter, that of an estranged married couple, became closer to Patel than he might have anticipated: his own decade-long marriage broke down while he was working on the book. "It was happening in the middle of it. It delayed things," he says.
"Once I realised I was going to get divorced, for the first time ever in my life I wasn't able to draw. I couldn't pick up a pen for six months," he says.
In a strange parallel, cartoonist Nina Paley had, around the same time, picked up a pen in the wake of her own broken marriage and produced a feature-length cartoon film, telling the Ramayana from Sita's perspective, Sita Sings the Blues. (CNNGo article)
Despite the overlap, Patel and Paley are both big fans of each other's work and hope the new take on this ancient scripture might spur a new generation of Ramayana readers.
"There's nothing original in what I'm doing," says Patel. "The only thing I'll take credit for is doing artwork that's [bringing] mid-century design and ancient myth together. If people see parallels between my work and Nina's, it's because we're all drawing on the same legacy."
That very legacy is one that Patel now can see reflected in his own life trajectory.
"An aunt pointed out something very astute: she said Rama's story is a tragedy, he was the dutiful one. But Krishna [along with Rama, an avatar of Vishnu] broke all the rules, had lots of lovers and liked to party," says Patel.
"She said perhaps the lesson of Vedic culture is that there are times in our life when we have to behave dutifully like Rama, and others when we can be playful like Krishna and not follow any rules. In my opinion, that's the lesson of the text."
For more news in the world of ISKCON, please visit:
ISKCON News, PlanetISKCON.com, Dandavats.com & Sastra Dana.com |
S Y D N E Y
