Shri Hanuman

“Then, after seeing the newly risen sun in the great forest when you were a boy, taking it to be fruit and wanting to catch it, you jumped up and flew towards the sky.” (Jambavan speaking to Hanuman, Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kand, 66.21)

abhyutthitam tataḥ sūryam bālo dṛṣṭvā mahā vane ।

phalam ca iti jighṛkṣuḥ tvam utplutya abhiutpato divam

Shri Hanuman, the powerful Vanara warrior and faithful servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is one of the most celebrated divine figures in the world. The regular adulation and worship directed his way has gone on for thousands of years, dating back to the time of his initial advent on earth, when he aided the victorious side in one of the greatest battles this world has ever seen. Since the entire universe goes through many cycles of creation and destruction, the circumstances surrounding Hanuman’s birth are a little different each time around. The most often referenced account is provided in the sacred Ramayana of Maharishi Valmiki, which actually describes Hanuman’s early life in two different sections; such is the greatness of the fearless devotee. Hearing of his birth and his tremendous courage shown in battles against the enemies of the Lord is enough to secure transcendental bliss for a lifetime. Such figures are put on this earth at just the right time and place to allow current and future generations of conditioned souls a chance at understanding true greatness, courage, strength, perseverance, and most importantly, devotion to the Lord.

Pure love for God, or bhakti, is the constitutional position of the soul. Though we tend to identify with our outward features, it is the spirit soul inside which forms the basis of identity. “I” and “Mine” really refer to the soul and not the body. We may have the form of a human being in the present life, but in a future one we may be born as a demigod, a plant, or even an animal. The soul can never be discarded, burned up, dried, or cut into pieces. No matter the trials and tribulations it endures, the soul can never change in properties. Part and parcel of the soul’s makeup is a deep and unadulterated love for God. When the individual spiritual spark is placed in a temporary realm, wherein birth, old age, disease and death constantly repeat, knowledge of the loving propensity gets forgotten. Therefore the aim of human life is to rekindle the pure connection with God through activities in divine love. Unlike conditioned activities, acts of devotion lead to liberation. Just as in an elementary school classroom there are two paths, one which leads to knowledge and subsequent elevation to the next grade, and another which forces the student to retake the same class in the following year, in the material world the living entities have a choice as to which type of engagement they will adopt, as free-will and independence are also characteristics of the soul.

“Work done as a sacrifice for Vishnu has to be performed, otherwise work binds one to this material world. Therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your prescribed duties for His satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain unattached and free from bondage.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 3.9)

Material activities, those actions that aim to satisfy the senses of the temporary body, are deemed conditioned and thus leading to bondage. The binding aspect shouldn’t be difficult to understand, as the body is temporary and subject for destruction, so any activity which aims to satisfy it will also end in destruction. Since such engagements also do nothing to purify consciousness, the soul remains bound to the cycle of birth and death. The Supreme Lord, the one and only God for all of humanity, is very kind. Through His separated energies, He gives those who do not worship Him personally what they want, even if their desires won’t lead to eternal freedom. If the individual wants to remain tied to the repetitious activities of sense gratification based off false identification, they are free to do so.

There is another class of activity which has the opposite effect; it slowly but surely breaks the bonds of attachment to the phenomenal world, thus leading to liberation, or the cessation to the cycle of birth and death. These activities, which are collectively known as bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, spark a change in consciousness. While the body is temporary and ultimately discarded, consciousness travels alongside the soul from life to life. It is the consciousness that determines the type of body the individual receives in the next life. As is readily perceptible, young children are born with certain qualities. One child will naturally be very peaceful and quiet, while another will be antsy and very talkative. These natures are determined by the previous consciousness of the soul. When one’s mindset is completely purified by remaining transcendentally situated at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, a spiritual body is given in the next life. A spiritual form is a permanent one that is of the same quality as the soul. While the temporary outer covering composed of material elements has a spiritually inhibiting effect, the transcendentally situated form lacks any propensity for illusion or activities leading to bondage. Thus the Krishna conscious soul is free to associate with the Supreme Lord in their specific mood of choice.

How does a change in consciousness come about? Though we are in a temporary body, the key is to take to acts of bhakti, one of the simplest and most effective of which is hearing. Though the Supreme Lord remains invisible to the soul deluded by the sense consciousness, He kindly makes appearances on earth to give the inquisitive and love-starved individuals a chance at liberation. One such appearance took place many thousands of years ago during the Treta Yuga. During that time, the original personality of Godhead, who is known as Krishna or Vishnu in the Vedic tradition, descended as a handsome and pious prince named Rama. Just as there is a natural interest in the workings of the notable royal families of today, there was a great interest in the day-to-day dealings of the famous Ikshvaku dynasty, which ruled the world. Their king at the time was Maharaja Dasharatha, who was so pious and kind that everyone loved him. Lord Rama was the king’s eldest son and the heir to the throne that was missing for such a long time.

From the time of His birth, everyone was enamored by Rama’s activities and also those of His three younger brothers: Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna. When one rises above the animalistic stage and gains a basic understanding of spirituality but still hasn’t achieved pure God consciousness, there are four rewards in life that are deemed most precious and worthy of attaining: dharma [religiosity], artha [economic development], kama [sense gratification] and moksha [liberation from birth and death]. They say that during Dasharatha’s time, these four rewards manifested in the forms of his four young children. In fact, these beautiful boys, who were all non-different forms of Vishnu, were rewards far greater than anything anyone could ever ask for. Devotion to the feet of these sweet children would bring the greatest gift of all: bhakti, which is an eternal flame of love that illuminates any form the soul happens to assume.

Those who lived in Ayodhya at the time certainly were transcendentally benefitted by seeing Rama and His brothers all the time, but in order to give future generations a chance to hear about the wonders experienced by the citizens of Ayodhya, the Lord took to transcendental activities performed outside of the town as He grew up. These actions were so blissful and beautiful that they were chronicled by Maharishi Valmiki in a wonderful poem called the Ramayana.

As part of His pastimes, Rama roamed the forests of India alongside His beautiful and chaste wife Sita Devi and Lakshmana. On one unfortunate occasion, Sita was kidnapped from the forest while not in Rama or Lakshmana’s presence. In their subsequent search for her whereabouts, Rama and Lakshmana forged an alliance with a Vanara king named Sugriva, who was living in the forest of Kishkindha. Vanaras are usually taken to be monkeys, but the Sanskrit word itself means “one of the forest”. Based on the descriptions of their activities and their notably strong penchant for intoxication and sex life, we can understand that the Vanaras were very monkey-like, but they still retained many human tendencies. Species themselves don’t evolve, for matter is incapable of doing anything on its own. However, the body types in which the souls are injected certainly can change over time. The Vedas cap the list of distinct species at 8,400,000, with the Vanaras being one of them.

Sugriva sent out search parties to scour the earth for Sita’s location. Though the monkeys were divided into groups, Sugriva knew that the party which included Shri Hanuman, his most faithful and dear servant, was the only one with any legitimate chance at success. Sure enough, Hanuman’s group, after much stress and turmoil, finally stumbled upon Sita’s location. Through the help of a bird named Sampati, Hanuman and his monkey friends were informed that Sita was taken to an island kingdom of Lanka. There was just one problem: getting to the island. The monkey party was on one side of the water, and Lanka was all the way on the other side of the ocean. Realizing their dilemma, the monkeys each asserted how far they could jump. Similar to the old game show Name That Tune, each monkey stepped forward and said they could jump a certain distance. Realizing that none of these distances were long enough to make it across the ocean, Jambavan, one of the elderly monkeys in the group, approached Hanuman and asked him why he was silent. Up to this point Hanuman had not even ventured a guess as to how far he could jump.

Jambavan took the opportunity to inform Hanuman of his tremendous prowess inherited from his father. Not knowing the circumstances of his birth, Hanuman was told the beautiful story about the early years of his life. There once was a celebrated celestial nymph who was exquisitely beautiful. Due to a curse imprecated by a sage, she was subsequently born as a monkey. Given the name of Anjana, she was later married to a monkey named Keshari. Though she was in the form of a Vanara, Anjana still retained some of her celestial powers, one of which included the ability to assume any shape at will. One day she decided to assume a human form and roam the top of a mountain which had a beautiful cloud amassed around it. The wind-god, Vayu, then saw her and became enamored.

Though this seems like a poetic trick of personification or a mythological tradition, the Vedas inform us that each of the material elements has a presiding deity. We can think of it in this way: As human beings, we can most certainly enter the water, but it is not our natural habitat. We could never survive in water because our specific body type is made to reside on land. Fish, on the other hand, can only survive in water. They would immediately die in any other environment. Just because we can’t survive in the water doesn’t mean that other living entities aren’t meant to live there. In the same way, each of the various planets of the universe has living entities with specific bodies residing on them. Even the sun is considered a deity, for it is presided over by a powerful living entity who possesses a body of fire.

manasā asmi gato yat tvām pariṣvajya yaśasvini |

vīryavān buddhi saṃpannaḥ putraḥ tava bhaviṣyati

mahāsāttvo mahāteja mahābala parākramaḥ |

langhane plavane caiva bhaviṣyati mayā samaḥ

“Since after embracing you I have entered you with my mind, O famous lady, a son who is powerful and endowed with intelligence will be born to you. He will be mighty, highly effulgent, very powerful, valorous, and my equal in flying and leaping abilities.” (Vayu speaking to Anjana, Valmiki Ramayana, 66.18-19)

Wind, along with earth, water, fire and sky, is one of the central elements of the material world. It has a presiding deity named Vayu who is responsible for its workings. The importance of this responsibility would be highlighted shortly after Vayu’s meeting with Anjana. Seeing the beautiful woman on the mountaintop, Vayu brought her close to his body, a gesture not appreciated by Anjana. She made a vow to only accept one husband, and now this strange person was seemingly violating her. Vayu allayed her fears by informing her that he had not had any intercourse with her, so her vow of chastity had not been broken. But due to the embrace, Vayu had impregnated her using his mind. Being with child, Anjana went to a nearby cave and gave birth to a Vanara son endowed with the celestial powers of his father.

When he was still a child, the young boy one day saw the sun in the sky and mistook it for a fruit. Wanting to grab the fruit and eat it, the child leaped into the sky and made his way closer and closer to the sun. His jumping ability and swiftness weren’t remarkable considering Vayu was the boy’s father. Even though the child was eventually repulsed by the massive splendor of the sun, he did not get discouraged in any way. Indra, the king of the heavenly planets, saw the child approaching his realm, and possessed by anger, he hurled a thunderbolt at the young boy. Being struck by Indra’s vajra, the child in the sky was throttled back and subsequently collided with a mountain. Since his jaw was broken by the impact with the mountain, the child was thenceforth known as Hanuman.

Seeing his son attacked and injured, Vayu was not happy at all. As revenge, he decided to cease functioning; so subsequently there was no wind anywhere on the earth. Obviously, this led to chaos and disaster, so the sages and demigods pleaded with Vayu to give up his anger. To pacify Vayu, Hanuman was granted the benediction from Lord Brahma of being invincible in battle. Indra, who was the cause of the whole mess, granted Hanuman the boon that he would never die unless he wanted to. When Jambavan finished his story, he also reminded Hanuman of his great powers borne of the ancestral link to the wind-god. Jambavan encouraged Hanuman to assume a massive form to cross over the ocean. The comparison was made to Trivikrama, the incarnation of Vishnu also known as Vamanadeva, who once shifted from a dwarf body to a massive form and covered the earth in just three steps. Jambavan also stated that Hanuman’s strength and speed were equal to that of Garuda, the celestial bird-carrier of Lord Vishnu.

These references to Vishnu were no accident, for the monkeys were involved in devotional service to Rama, a celebrated incarnation of Vishnu. Reminded of his sterling ancestry and prowess, Hanuman gladly abided by Jambavan’s words and assumed a massive form. Hanuman then boldly asserted that no one would be able to defeat him and that he would easily cross over the ocean. He assured the monkeys that Sita’s whereabouts in Lanka would be found. The rest, as they say, was history, as Hanuman would bravely leap across the ocean, find Sita, set fire to Lanka, return to Rama and Sugriva, and then play a major role in the final battle against Ravana. All would end well, as Ravana would be defeated by Rama, and Sita would be reunited safely with her dear husband. For his efforts, Hanuman was granted eternal devotion to Sita, Rama and Lakshmana. To this day he remains always fixed in thoughts of love and devotion to them. Hanuman easily could have been granted liberation from the cycle of birth and death, but as a pure devotee and divine figure, he didn’t want any such reward, as bhakti is even greater than moksha. He only asked that he be able to remain on this earth for as long as Rama’s story continued to be told.

This means that anytime we say the name of Rama, or anytime we chant the glorious names of the Lord found in the sacred maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, Shri Hanuman hears us and is pleased at the heart. As the gate-keeper of the spiritual kingdom inhabited by the glory of the Raghu dynasty, Hanuman doesn’t require an entrance fee, a cover charge, or steep penances and austerities as prerequisites for entry. He simply asks that we try to love Sita and Rama as much as he does. Surely this is not possible, but if we remain fixed on the path of devotional service and never forget the glorious Hanuman, the son of Anjana and the darling of the devotees of Rama, our efforts in this life will be successful. The potency of the human form of life lies not in the ability to enjoy the senses, but rather in the potential to understand and associate with the Supreme Spirit and His dearmost associates like Shri Hanuman.

Priorities

“My dear Lord, if You like You can give me salvation from this material existence, or the privilege of merging into Your existence, but I do not wish any of these things. I do not want anything which diminishes my relationship with You as servant to master, even after liberation.” (Hanuman)

Whether one grows up in America or another country, they are generally taught the same thing by authority figures regarding what the aim of life should be. The importance of attending school is heavily stressed. A good education is a prerequisite for landing a good paying job. Once we get a nice job and earn a good livelihood, we can think of starting a family. A stable and secure family life seems to be the end goal that most people strive for.

In the Vedic system, the goals of material life are broken into four categories: artha, kama, dharma, and moksha. Artha means economic development or earning money. They say money is the mother’s milk of politics, but it is also the key component of almost anything related to the material world. “Money makes the world go around” is how the saying goes. We all want to earn a decent wage so that we can provide for our necessities and desires. Kama is sense gratification or enjoyment. Especially in today’s technologically advanced age, there is ample time for sense enjoyment. This is actually the reason that we spirit souls take birth in this material world since life here represents our opportunity to seek out sense gratification. Dharma is religiosity. These three rewards of life go hand in hand. People in general want just enough religion in their life so that they have enough money to satisfy their senses. After we are done practicing religion to earn money to satisfy our senses, we seek moksha, or liberation from the repeated cycle of birth and death. These four rewards are referred to quite often in Vedic texts.

Now earning a good living and having a nice family are certainly very noble goals. A person earning a steady income is self-reliant and not a burden on society. Society functions well when people are productive and able to provide for themselves. Countries which have high employment rates are generally more peaceful than those countries which have many people that don’t work. If too many people are not working and are living as dependents of those who do work, then a sense of resentment is sure to arise. These disagreements lead to various movements such as socialism and communism which seek to the level the disparities between those who have high incomes and those who don’t.

The four material rewards of life may be nice, but the Vedas teach us to strive for something higher. Instead of working hard for material things, we should make God realization our main priority in life. Though many of us may not realize it, sense gratification is temporary. We may work very hard to achieve a goal, but that reward is not permanent. For example, the great tennis player Pete Sampras worked long and hard to win a record fourteen Grand Slam singles titles during his career. When he was playing, the record for Grand Slam titles was twelve, previously set by Roy Emerson. It took Sampras almost thirteen years to break that record. When he finally retired from tennis in 2002, there was no other active player even close to him in Grand Slam titles. Yet, just seven years later, his record would be broken by Roger Federer, who at the moment has fifteen Grand Slam singles titles. While Sampras’ effort was very noble, the record he achieved was completely temporary, just like everything else in the material world. Even if we have a good job and a nice family, those things will not last forever. At the time of death, we lose all connection to the material world.

“An intelligent person does not take part in the sources of misery, which are due to contact with the material senses. O son of Kunti, such pleasures have a beginning and an end, and so the wise man does not delight in them.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 5.22)

The fact remains that our material senses can never truly be satisfied. We see evidence of this from those who are very wealthy and successful. At some point, they reach a stage in their life when they want more than just money and fame. They then try to fill the void in their life by taking to acts of philanthropy, such as opening hospitals, schools, or charitable foundations. Many rock stars and actors go the other way and turn to drug and alcohol abuse.

Knowing this, the great sages of India, the rishs who passed down the original Vedic teachings to generations on down, taught us to rise above mundane material sense gratification. This human form of life is our opportunity to know and understand Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The primary activities of animals are eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. As human beings, we are supposed to be smarter than animals, thus we should rise above these four activities. We may have a nice car, a big house, and a beautiful wife, but if we simply spend our time trying to please our senses, then our life is no different than that of an animal. For this reason, Vyasadeva has made the aphorism, athatho brahma jijnasa the first instruction of the Vedanta-sutras. “Now is the time to inquire about God”. That should be the top priority for all mankind.

One may ask, “How do I know God?” Fortunately for us, the great acharyas have shown us the path. Acharya means a teacher or one who leads by examples. There are many great acharyas in the Vedic tradition, with the most recent one being His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. A spiritual master in a great line of gurus traced all the way back to Lord Brahma himself, Shrila Prabhupada preached that everyone should take up the sankirtana process, or the congregational chanting of the holy names of God. Chanting, whether done in public or private, connects us with God since there is no difference between the Lord and His names. Krishna is the original name of God, meaning “all-attractive”. This name can be recited by people of all faiths. There is nothing more sublime in this world than the Lord’s name, His fame, and His pastimes. This is the declaration of all the great devotees, including Shrila Prabhupada, Goswami Tulsidas, and Hanuman. Lord Chaitanya, the incarnation of Krishna who inaugurated the sankirtana movement in India some five hundred years ago, asked people around the world to unite under one religion and one mantra, the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”.

Chanting is one of the processes of devotional service, or bhakti yoga. Devotional service has nine different processes (hearing, chanting, remembering, worshiping, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering prayers, carrying out the orders of the Lord, becoming friends with Him, and surrendering everything to Him), allowing us ample opportunity to serve the Lord throughout the day. Even if we are involved in material activities such as working at our jobs or living at home with our wife and children, we can still stay connected with Krishna through these processes.

“In all activities just depend upon Me and work always under My protection. In such devotional service, be fully conscious of Me.” (Lord Krishna, Bg 18.57)

Most people in are not self starters. They require leadership. The great acharyas have set the example that we should all follow. Shrila Prabhupada dedicated his whole life to serving Krishna, so why can’t we do the same? It’s okay to be a full-time devotee and always think about God. There is not only nothing wrong with it, but it is our natural inclination to act this way. So why go against nature? Become a devotee, chant the holy names of God, and see the difference it makes in your life.

The Power of Love

“Devotional service alone is competent to award a devotee all material power. A pure devotee, however, is never attached to material power, although he gets it very easily without personal endeavor." (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 6.16.28 Purport)

Every person wants to attain some type of power. The material world consists of three subtle elements: mind, intelligence, and false ego. It is this ego that causes one to crave attention in the form of fame and fortune which come as a result of the acquisition of some sort of power or perfection in a certain field.

Since the material world means a place where material qualities exist, known as gunas, each person has different desires. In fact, that is the definition of karma, i.e. work performed with desire for fruitive results. Karma is the cause of our being in this material world and it is also the determining factor of the type of body we will have in the next life. Some people seek power in the form of yogic siddhis. We are all familiar with the term yoga, which we generally associate with the hatha yoga system involving various breathing exercises and sitting postures. Yoga actually means to have union of the soul with Krishna, or God. The hatha-yoga system was created as a way to allow those who are overly attached to their senses to be able to break free of them. This system naturally has very nice side effects, among which are the yogic siddhis. Siddhi means a perfection or an extraordinary power, and by practicing this type of yoga very strictly and sincerely one can gain such powers as being able to become infinitesimally small (anima), being able to travel to various planets at the speed of the mind, and being able to determine the time of one’s death. The full list is delineated in the Vedic scriptures.

One doesn’t have to a yogi to crave material power. Bodybuilders train very hard to be able to have a physique which they can show off in magazines and on videos. They strive to be able to lift very heavy weights, wanting to bench-press more than anyone else in their field. Politicians are some of the more well-known seekers of power. In today’s political scene, it is more and more common to find that the people who run for office are already millionaires in their private life. Having amassed large amounts of money, they still aren’t satisfied and thus they look to politics as a means of acquiring even more power. Once they get into office, they have a very difficult time giving up the post. In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently got the legislature to change an existing law that would have limited his term in office. He is now free to run for mayor again. These term-limit laws were enacted by the public as a way of preventing one person from amassing too much power by remaining in office indefinitely. The first president of the United States, George Washington, voluntarily stepped down after serving two terms, a tradition which was honored for almost one hundred fifty years after that. However, during the early 1930s, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected to office for an unprecedented four terms. So unwilling to give up his position, he eventually died in office. Congress subsequently passed the twenty-second amendment to the Constitution which now limits presidents to serving only two terms.

On the surface, acquiring powers or other perfections in material endeavors may not seem like a bad thing. We all have to do something with our time after all, for the mind must always be active. We all must be engaged in some activity or another, and striving to achieve our goals is a good way to stay occupied. The problem is that these material perfections are all temporary. One may acquire a massive amount of wealth, but that money doesn’t come with us after we die. We may be a great big politician loved and adored by all, but that can all be taken away in a second, as we saw with Mahatma Gandhi. Not only are these acquisitions of power only temporary, but they also require great effort to secure. Bodybuilders spend hours and hours in the gym torturing themselves by lifting heavy weights. In fact, the proper technique for increasing the mass of the body muscles is to actually hurt them by lifting heavier and heavier weights. The muscles eventually grow as a result of being pushed to the limit. Yogic siddhis are similarly difficult to acquire. One must go to a secluded place, concentrating the mind very seriously on the Supreme Lord for long periods of time. The rules and regulations are very strict.

And what does one gain from these perfections? According to the Vedas, this human form of life is meant for God realization. Any activity which helps us achieve this goal is worthwhile, and anything that takes us further away from God is considered a waste of time. In actuality, one doesn’t have to work very hard to achieve all these material perfections, for they come naturally to those who engage themselves in devotional service. Technically known as bhakti yoga, devotional service is the discipline of dovetailing all of one’s activities with the desires of the Supreme Lord Krishna. One may wonder what these activities entail. They can be anything actually. One can be singing and thinking of God. One can even be eating nice food and thinking of God. There are nine distinct processes of bhakti yoga, as outlined by Prahlada Maharaja: hearing, chanting, remembering, worshiping, serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offering prayers, carrying out the orders of the Lord, becoming friends with Him, and surrendering everything to Him. One can attain perfection of life by only engaging in one of these processes.

Lord Hanuman is a great example of someone who acquired tremendous power simply as a result of serving the Lord. Born as a Vanara, a monkey with human-like characteristics, Hanuman had tremendous power that he was completely unaware of. Having had his jaw broken in his youth by the demigod Indra, Hanuman was completely pious and devoted to God but he had no recollection of his immense strength. However, when the time came to serve Lord Rama, God Himself, Hanuman became reacquainted with his strength. He had the power to make himself larger than a mountain and to fly through the air with the speed of the wind, for he was the son of the wind god, Vayu. Hanuman could also assume any shape at will, which was similar to a power possessed by Rakshasa demons. However, Hanuman used all these powers for one purpose, to rescue Sita Devi, Lord Rama’s wife, from the clutches of Ravana. A Rakshasa demon of a terrible nature, Ravana had kidnapped Sita from the forest while Rama and His brother Lakshmana were not around. His kingdom was on the island of Lanka and Hanuman was the one deputed to find Sita and bring back the details of her whereabouts to Lord Rama. Aside from finding Sita, Hanuman playfully set fire to the city of Lanka and also served as the chief warrior in Lord Rama’s fight against Ravana and his band of Rakshasas. Rama proved victorious and he awarded Hanuman with eternal devotion to Him. To this day, Hanuman is synonymous with love and devotion to Lord Rama, and also strength and courage in one’s religious endeavors.

Attaining perfections and acquiring power is not prohibited according to the Vedas, but it just needs to be used for the right purpose. Hanuman was never puffed up with his power, for he viewed himself as a humble servant of the Lord. This is the example to follow. The only thing required from us is that we be sincere in our devotional service. Seeing that, God will automatically provide us all the necessary tools to serve Him properly.

Equality

“Different living entities appear in different forms of dress, but according to the instruction of the Bhagavad-gita, a learned person sees all living entities equally. Such treatment by the devotee is very much appreciated by the Supreme Lord.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 4.11.13 Purport)

The recent election of Barrack Obama to the presidency of the United States was regarded worldwide as a landmark occasion. American has officially been a country for over two hundred years, but this was the first time in its history that a person of color, an Africa-American, was elected as president. Many thought that this day would never come, for they viewed America as a racist country. Yet, one is left to wonder whether Obama’s election was really that groundbreaking.

Black people have not been treated very well historically in America. During the country’s founding, most blacks weren’t even treated as human beings, but rather were slaves, owned and traded as property. The founding fathers struggled very hard with the issue of slavery while adopting the Constitution, eventually tabling the issue, allowing the process to continue. Slowly but surely however, slavery would meet its end, culminating with the Civil War during the early 1860s. However, even after the abolition of slavery, blacks were still discriminated against, especially in the Southern portion of the country, where they would periodically be lynched or harassed in other ways. This treatment continued for almost one hundred years, until the Civil Rights movement of the late 1960s. Due to this history of racism, many blacks felt that the country was forever doomed and incapable of electing a black person to any meaningful position of power. The election of Obama was redemption for them, offering a glimmer of hope that maybe people no longer made judgments about others based on their ethnicity or skin color.

On the surface it appears that progress has been made, but according to the Vedic teachings, it hasn’t. The central tenet of any religion, but especially the Vedas, is that we are not our bodies. One may then ask, “Well, if we are not our bodies, then what are we?” The answer in Sanskrit is aham brahmasmi, “I am a spirit soul”. Our souls are certainly enclosed inside of our bodies, but this body is constantly changing. The body we had as a child is completely different from the one we have as adults, yet we don’t mourn for the death of our childhood. In the same manner, a wise person doesn’t lament over the death of the current body, which is nothing more than clothing that is given up at the time of death and then replaced again in our next birth.

“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, similarly, the soul accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.22)

Since most of us aren’t taught about the soul in school, we are falsely identifying with the body. Though it may be nice that a black person has been elected president, constitutionally such a person is no different than all the others who previously held the esteemed title of President of the United States. Sure their life experiences may have all been different, some enduring more discrimination growing up than others, but that is something we all deal with. The material world means a place full of miseries, dukhalayam. Every living entity is forced to suffer the fourfold miseries of life: birth, old age, disease, and death.

The Vedas declare that anyone who identifies with the gross material body is a mudha, or an ass. An animal has little to no intelligence, and is certainly not smart enough to understand the concept of the soul and changing bodies. The human being is unique in its ability to take in this information and use it for its benefit. However, if we continue to identify ourselves as black, white, man, woman, American, etc., then our intelligence is very limited. Real progress comes when we view everyone equally, as a spirit soul part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna.

“The Blessed Lord said: He who does not hate illumination, attachment and delusion when they are present, nor longs for them when they disappear; who is seated like one unconcerned, being situated beyond these material reactions of the modes of nature, who remains firm, knowing that the modes alone are active; who regards alike pleasure and pain, and looks on a clod, a stone and a piece of gold with an equal eye; who is wise and holds praise and blame to be the same; who is unchanged in honor and dishonor, who treats friend and foe alike, who has abandoned all fruitive undertakings-such a man is said to have transcended the modes of nature.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 14.22)

Since most people live on the material platform, the Vedas give different directions on how material life should be governed. They state that society should be divided into four classes based off of one’s qualities. Also, the time span of one’s life should also be divided into four stages or ashramas, each progressively leading one to spiritual perfection. This system, known as varnashrama dharma, is the code for managing society with the aim of helping everyone progress spiritually. So in this system, there are material designations such as those between men and women, brahmanas, shudras, vaishyas, etc. These are all material, but one can rise above them immediately by becoming a devotee of Krishna. The bhaktas, or devotees, are above any material designation. Since they have a pure love for Krishna, they are mahajanas, or completely spiritual beings following the original principles of religion.

Many examples of this fact can be found in the Vedas. When God came to earth as the pious prince Lord Rama, He wandered through the forest for fourteen years as an exile with His wife Sita and younger brother Lakshmana. During that time, the Treta Yuga, the varnashrama dharma system was adhered to, and those living in the forest were generally viewed as lower class living entities. Basically anyone not living in a normal house, except for the brahmanas, was considered uncivilized. Early on in His travels, the Lord and His family met the Nishada chief Guha. The Nishadas were a tribe living in the forests that were generally viewed as outcastes. However, Guha showed great hospitality to Rama and His family, and for this the Lord gave Him His blessings. Guha was a pure devotee and was rewarded with the opportunity to personally offer food and hospitality to God Himself. His caste was completely meaningless, for God viewed Him very favorably.

Later on, in another incident, the Lord teamed up with the Vanara king Sugriva. Vanaras were a race of monkeys with human-like characteristics. Rama helped Sugriva regain his lost kingdom by killing his brother Vali. Sugriva was very distraught after his brother’s death, and he blamed himself for what he viewed as a horrible deed. Bewailing thus, Sugriva begged forgiveness from Rama, stating that he was just a lowly monkey with very little intelligence. Now Sugriva was a great devotee, so he was by no means unintelligent, but he was referencing a generality that existed at the time. Since they were more monkey-like than human-like, the Vanaras were especially known for their animalistic tendencies, with one of them being their penchant for getting drunk off a certain type of honey. Yet again, God overlooked these stereotypes and looked at what was in Sugriva’s heart. As pure devotees, Sugriva and his Vanara army were given the opportunity to directly serve the Lord by helping Him battle Ravana and rescue Sita. The greatest of the Vanara warriors was Hanuman, Sugriva’s chief deputy. Considered Lord Rama’s greatest devotee, Hanuman is above is all material designations. He is completely spiritual, a great soul with immense strength, able to assume any shape at will. He uses his strength only to serve the Lord and for this reason he is still celebrated today.

To serve Lord Krishna properly, Lord Chaitanya recommended everyone to follow the mode of worship subscribed to by the gopis of Vrindavana. When the Lord personally came to earth around five thousand years ago, He spent His youth in Vrindavana as a cowherd boy, the son of His foster parents Nanda and Yashoda. The gopis, the cowherd girls of Vrindavana, were completely in love with Krishna, and they spent all their time thinking of Him. They weren’t high class yogis or Vedantists. They even openly declared themselves to be unintelligent, for women didn’t receive a formal education during those times. However, their pure devotion actually made them smarter than the greatest of scholars. Many of us go to God with some personal motive, either we want something or we want relief from some ailment. The gopis however just wanted to always be with Krishna, and to always love Him. This is the highest form of worship, and for this reason Krishna is eternally associated with His gopis, the greatest of them being Shrimati Radharani.

The lesson here is that if we want to make real progress as a society, then we should all become Krishna conscious. That will immediately afford us the opportunity to break free of all material designations. Though the performance of great Vedic sacrifices requires an expert brahmanas or priest, the process of devotional service is open to anyone.

“O son of Partha, those who take shelter in Me, though they be of lower birth-women, vaishyas [merchants], as well as shudras [workers]—can approach the supreme destination.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.32)

Knowing this fact, we should all take up bhakti yoga, for that is the only path taken by all the great souls.

God is the Most Magnanimous

"O Lakshmana, do you together with me rule this earth. You are my second self; and this good fortune has taken possession of you as well. Do you, O Sumitra’s son, enjoy every desirable thing and the privileges pertaining to royalty. My life and this kingdom I covet for your sake alone." (Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kanda, Sec 4)

Every now and then God personally comes to earth to deliver His devotees, giving them protection from the asuras. According to Vedic teachings, since the beginning of creation, there has been an ongoing war between the daivas and asuras. The daivas are those who believe in God and the asuras are God’s enemies, the atheists. The atheists are very attached to sense gratification, taking this gross material body to be the be-all end-all. They view the daivas as a threat to their sinful way of life, thus they are always harassing them. The attacks of the asuras take various forms, sometimes they declare that God is dead, other times they say that He is impersonal and that we are all God, so we have no need to worship a Supreme Being. When they really feel threatened, the asuras revert to using force against the devotees.

This was the case many thousands of years ago, when a demon named Ravana had risen to power. A Rakshasa by birth, Ravana performed the severest of penances to gain the favor of the demigods. The devatas, or demigods, are God’s deputies in charge of running the material world. One of their prime duties is to grant material benedictions to those who please them. These boons are granted to anyone who properly worships them. Lord Shiva known as Mahadeva, or the great demigod, has a reputation for being easily pleased. Regardless of the person’s character, Lord Shiva will grant boons to those who pray to him and perform austerities. Ravana pleased not only Lord Shiva, but many other demigods. He received various boons, such as having ten heads, and being invincible in battle against any demigod. In his haste for acquisition of power, Ravana neglected to ask for immunity from human beings, thinking there was none who existed that could defeat him. Taking advantage of this oversight, the demigods went to Lord Vishnu, the Supreme Lord Himself, and asked Him to relieve their distress by ridding the world of Ravana.

The Lord kindly obliged and took birth as a human being by the name of Rama, the eldest son of the king of Ayodhya, Maharaja Dashratha. Ravana was not only very powerful, but he used his strength to harass the great sages living in the forests. During that time, the saintly people, the rishis, mostly lived in the forest, for that environment was better suited for their spiritual activities. Ravana and his band of Rakshasa demons went after these saints, killing them and then feasting upon their flesh. The atheists are always merciless, having no compassion even on the kindest of people. Lord Rama was born in a very famous family, known as the Ikshvakus. Not only were they all great kings, but they were terrific fighters, the highest of the kshatriya race. God specifically chose to take birth in this dynasty due its reputation and high standing.

When He reached an appropriate age, Lord Rama was set to be installed on the throne as the new king of Ayodhya by His father. Rama was eldest son and the most beloved of all the people, so the king desired very much to pass down the kingdom to Him. The news was spread throughout the city and everyone become very excited. When Rama was told of the news, He went to His younger brother Lakshmana and spoke the above mentioned verse. When God comes to earth, His closest associates come with Him. In Shvetadvipa, a planet in the spiritual world, Lord Narayana takes rest on Ananta Shesha, the serpent who holds all the planets of the universe on his unlimited hoods. Narayana is served by Goddess Lakshmi, His eternal consort. When the Lord took birth as Rama, Shesha and Lakshmi also took birth in the forms of Lakshmana and Sita respectively. From their childhood, Lakshmana was inseparable from Rama, for he would always follow his elder brother like a shadow.

When we devote ourselves completely to God, He recognizes our love and reciprocates. Being installed as the new king was the highest of honors bestowed on Lord Rama, but He made sure to include His younger brother. He never wanted Lakshamana to feel slighted in any way. Obviously Lakshmana was also very happy on this occasion and needed no consolation, but the Lord, out of His generous nature, told Lakshmana that the two would rule the earth together. Sometimes when one ascends the ladder of fame and fortune, the “little” people are sometimes forgotten. The new fame and celebrity can cause relationships with friends and family to change. But God always loves His devotees, no matter what. Lord Rama wanted to assure His younger brother that he would also enjoy all the luxuries associated with being king.

Even though God separates Himself from His devotees from time to time, they are never without Him. Lord Krishna had to leave the gopis of Vrindavana and later on He had to leave His friends Arjuna and Uddhava. Lord Rama was forced to abandon His wife Sita, who had done no wrong. Sometimes His duties require Him to follow a certain path, but He never forgets His devotees. They are always thinking of Him and He is always with them in spirit.

“The yogi who knows that I and the Supersoul within all creatures are one, worships Me and remains always in Me in all circumstances.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 6.31)

God is always looking to glorify His devotees first, thus this behavior on the part of Rama towards Lakshmana wasn’t very surprising. Lord Krishna delivered the message of the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna, so as to give him everlasting fame as a great devotee. Hanuman was deputed to find the whereabouts of Sita and to destroy Lanka at the behest of Lord Rama. For this reason, he is loved and adored to this very day. Bhishmadeva’s devotion to Krishna was rewarded at the time of his death, when Krishna granted him the opportunity to give spiritual instruction to Yudhishthira, the eldest of the Pandava brothers.

“Krishna wanted the Pandavas to hear from Bhishma, who alone was able to give such great instructions even at the time of his death. So, Krishna likes to glorify His devotee.” (Shrila Prabhupada)

Though we may suffer through hard times or witness the calamities of others, we should never forget that God is nice. Any service rendered to Him never goes to waste.

Everlasting Fame

“Oh Hanuman! Your magnificent glory is acclaimed far and wide all through the four ages and your fame is radiantly noted all over the cosmos.” (Hanuman Chalisa of Tulsidas)

Social networking websites have greatly increased in popularity. It seems that everyone has a MySpace, Twitter, or Facebook page. These sites make it very easy to connect with other people quickly and to share information and thoughts.

Of all these sites, Facebook has stood out as the premier social networking engine. Facebook allows you to upload pictures of yourself, describe your hobbies and interests, and make friends with a large network of people. Instead of having to contact all of your friends individually, you can just update your Facebook profile and broadcast updates about yourself to all of your friends. Your friends in turn can post responses to you or to your “wall”, creating a message board like atmosphere.

The popularity of Facebook lies in its ability to make anyone famous. We all want to be noticed and to matter. When something good happens to us, we immediately can’t wait to tell our friends. When we are sad, we take comfort in the soothing words and advice from our well-wishers. Similar to how the news media follows every move of celebrities, Facebook allows others to follow our every move. In this way, we can achieve fame and notoriety without ever having to leave our homes.

This fame and notoriety is no doubt very pleasing to us, but it has a very short duration. We are all destined to give up our current bodies at the time of death, and when we do, we give up our fame as well. From studying Vedic literature, we can see that the best way to have everlasting fame is to become a devotee of Krishna, or God. When we sincerely love God and devote ourselves to Him only, then He will automatically give us all the fame that we crave. There are many examples of this principle holding true, with four in particular that stand out.

When God advented as Lord Rama many thousands of years ago in Ayodhya, as part of His pastimes, He suffered through many trials and tribulations. One ordeal He endured was the kidnapping of His wife Sita by the demon Ravana. Though a prince and son of a great king, Lord Rama was serving His exile period in the forest at the time, so He had no army with which to attack Ravana and reclaim Sita. Instead, He enlisted the help of Vanaras, or human-like monkeys, which were dwelling in the forest. The foremost of the Vanaras was Lord Hanuman. Hanuman was a great devotee of Lord Rama and he played an integral part in helping the Lord defeat Ravana and rescue Sita. In reward for his devotion, Lord Rama blessed Hanuman and granted him the boon of remaining on earth for as long as the Lord’s story was still told and His glories still chanted. Hanuman had no desire for this fame, but the Lord granted it to him anyway. Hanuman is still worshiped to this day and his name is synonymous with love and devotion for Lord Rama.

When Lord Krishna personally came to earth some five thousand years ago, there was a great war that took place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra between the Pandava and Kaurava families. Lord Krishna was very fond of His cousin Arjuna, the leading warrior for the Pandavas, so He acted as Arjuna’s charioteer and guide. The great grandfather of both families,  Bhishma, was one of the leading fighters on the Kaurava side. Bhishma was eventually defeated by Arjuna in battle. While he was lying on the ground, his body pierced throughout with arrows, Lord Krishna instructed Yudhishthira, the eldest of the five Pandava brothers, to go to Bhishma and receive spiritual instruction from him. Bhishma was a great devotee of the Lord, and had his mind concentrated on Krishna while he was lying on the battlefield about to die. The Lord knew this and thus wanted Yudhishthira to question such a great devotee. The Lord could have taught Yudhishthira Himself, but He preferred to have Bhishma do it. God is always glad to give fame to His devotees. As much as His devotees like to please Him, the Lord prefers to give His devotees all the fame and glory.

Maharishi Valmiki, the great sage and author of the Ramayana, incarnated some four hundred years ago in India as Goswami Tulsidas. Tulsidas was a great devotee of Lord Rama from birth, and he dedicated his whole life to worshiping and writing about the Lord. His book, the Ramacharitamanasa, is revered to this very day. Tulsidas had no desire for fame or fortune. He wrote only for himself so that he could put his love for Lord Rama into words. The Ramacharitamanasa is the story of Lord Rama written as beautiful poetry in the mood of pure devotion. From reading his books, one will find that Tulsidas was one of the most humble and kind people to ever have lived. Because of his pure devotion, the Lord guaranteed him everlasting fame. His Ramacharitamanasa is today a staple in the homes of all Hindus in India. It is publicly recited during the auspicious times of the year relating to Lord Rama. Tulsidas’s poem praising Lord Hanuman, known as the Hanuman Chalisa, is equally as popular and is memorized and recited daily by millions of Hindus as well. All glories to Tulsidas.

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, made the name Krishna known throughout the world. Instructed by his spiritual master to preach the teachings of the Vedas in English to the western world, Shrila Prabhupada came to America on a steamship from India in 1965. In the twelve years that followed, he authored almost one hundred books and started a worldwide movement dedicated to serving Lord Krishna that continues to this very day. Though the swami left this material world more than thirty years ago, he continues to teach through his books and recorded lectures. He is worshiped as the spiritual master in hundreds of temples throughout the world and in the homes of devotees. He also had no desire for fame and fortune. His only desire was to make the world love Krishna even more than he himself did. Krishna recognized this devotion and thus made him one of the most famous saints to ever have lived.

These are just some of the examples of famous devotees. In the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna to “declare it to the world that My devotee shall never perish.” So let all devotees of the world unite and spread the glories of Lord Krishna on Facebook and every other social networking site. This will be most beneficial to us, for it will give us everlasting fame. If we love Krishna and are truly devoted to Him, then He will surely make all our wishes come true.

Flying High

“A pure devotee is constantly engaged-sometimes he chants, sometimes he hears or reads books about Krishna, or sometimes he cooks prasadam or goes to the marketplace to purchase something for Krishna, or sometimes he washes the temple or the dishes-whatever he does, he does not let a single moment pass without devoting his activities to Krishna Such action is in full samadhi.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Bhagavad-gita, 12.2 Purport)

The purchase of a new motorcycle is one of the more obvious indications of someone in the midst of a midlife crisis. Reaching the halfway point of one’s life means that one has endured life’s ups and downs. After successfully starting and raising a family, along with maintaining a steady job, people reach a point where they want more out of life. Something is lacking; there is a spark that is missing.

Often times, people going through such a period will make an impulse purchase and buy a brand new motorcycle or high end sports car. Fast cars and motorcycles are the ultimate symbols of freedom and adventure. Since they can travel at such high speeds, they are much more dangerous than a regular automobile. To operate them properly, one must give their full attention at all times. There is a natural thrill built into operating one of these vehicles. Being on the the open road, you feel liberated, with nothing keeping you down…just you and the road ahead.

Similar to the exhilaration and euphoria felt from driving fast cars, religion also brings liberation and bliss, except on a much higher level. According to the Vedas, our souls have been bound up in the repeated cycle of birth and death in this material world. We can only be released from this cycle through devotional service to God. Though religion often has a negative and restrictive stigma attached to it, it is actually meant to be just the opposite. If we lovingly devote ourselves to God, then we will feel complete freedom from all material miseries. We are suffering in this life because we are falsely identifying with our material bodies. We think that sense gratification is the be-all end-all when in fact, we see from experience that our senses are never satisfied.

People generally buy a motorcycle or a fancy sports car because they feel a void in their life. That void is actually a spiritual one, and not a material one. No material possession will fill that void. The only way to make ourselves truly happy is to engage our senses in spiritual activities. Following religious principles actually leads one to the path of liberation. Driving a motorcycle may bring about feelings of liberation, but that experience is temporary. In fact, everything associated with the material world is temporary. There are many philosophers who take the creation and the people in it to be false, so they try to just block everything out through meditation. They sit in a secluded place concentrating on nothingness, in hopes of reaching the stage known as nirvana, where everything material is negated.

In the Vedic system, we are taught that this world is in fact real, but temporary. We cannot block out material impediments through artificial means such as impersonal meditation. Instead, we are told to concentrate our minds on the Supreme Lord Krishna, and dovetail all our activities in His service. Through this process, we can achieve samadhi or complete concentration of the mind on Krishna, even while performing acts which appear to be material.

The life and times of Lord Hanuman is a great example that illustrates this point. Lord Rama was the incarnation of Krishna who appeared many thousands of years ago in India. Born into a family of kshatriya kings, the Lord was the best of fighters. Through a series of unfortunate events, He was forced into exile by His father, who was the king of Ayodhya at the time. While serving His term in the forest, His wife Sita, who had accompanied Him, was kidnapped by the Rakshasa demon Ravana. Lord Rama couldn’t go back to Ayodhya and get His army since that would violate His father’s order. Instead, he enlisted the help of Vanaras, a race of monkeys with human-like characteristics.

Among the Vanaras, Hanuman is the greatest warrior, with tremendous strength and powers. He is the son of the wind God, Vayu, so he naturally inherits all the strength of the wind. According to Vedic philosophy, air or wind is the strongest element since it represents the vital sign of life. As long as one has air in the body, they are alive and able to function. It is the air inside the body that provides strength. For this reason, people striving for perfection in ashtanga-yoga are taught to control the vital life force through the practice of pranayama, which involves various breathing exercises. The real purpose of pranayama is to prevent the mind and senses from engaging in fruitive activity, or any acts not relating to Krishna’s service.

Hanuman has extraordinary strength, but he uses it only for good and not evil. He is Rama’s greatest devotee from birth, so he immediately surrendered unto Him when the Lord needed help in rescuing Sita and defeating Ravana. Hanuman is famously depicted travelling to the island of Lanka by flying through the air at the speed of the wind. Ravana’s kingdom was in Lanka, and it was also where Sita was held captive. Hanuman bravely went there to deliver to her a message from Rama. He met many obstacles along his way and also while in Lanka, but he never wavered from his duty. He was completely liberated throughout the entire process, though it appeared he was involved in material activities. This was all due to his devotion and pure love for Rama.  One who loves God and serves Him sincerely will always feel free and happy. They don’t require a fast car, motorcycle, or expertise in pranayama to feel happiness, for just the thought of Rama and His pleasing smile fills their hearts with joy.

Better Than a Superhero

 “O Sita, there is none who can defeat your husband. There is not the least doubt in this. Worshipful madam, the celestials, animals, birds, and others…there is none among them who can withstand Rama, who equals the lord of celestials, Indra, in warfare. In fact there is none who can do away with Rama in battle.” (Lakshmana speaking to Sita Devi, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, Sec 45)

The latest Batman movie to be released, The Dark Night, set records for box office attendance. Based on the fictional superhero character of the same name, previous Batman movies also enjoyed similar successes with movie goers. The Star Wars and Lord of the Rings movies were so popular that they spawned multiple sequels. The Spiderman movies are another popular series. It seems the best way to ensure a box office hit these days is to come out with a fantasy movie involving one or more superheroes.

The Star Wars movies hold their own unique place in our culture. The first movie, released in 1976, was so popular that people eagerly anticipated the five movies that followed over the next thirty plus years. Fans would camp out in movie theater parking lots just so they could be the first ones to see the new movies. Others would dress up as their favorite characters as a sign of loyalty and adoration. Fans would go back to the theaters to see the same movie two and three times. They just couldn’t get enough.

The popularity of these and other movies involving superheroes shows our natural affinity towards strength and courage. We like to see the good guys win. We understand that we are mere mortals and have limited abilities, so we are drawn to those who can rise above the limitations of ordinary human beings. Superheroes have extraordinary powers that enable them to defeat enemies of immense strength. Movies like Spiderman, Superman, and Batman show ordinary people doing extraordinary things through their special powers. The heroes struggle through adversity, but never give up, and always win in the end. We see evil all around us in our daily lives and we feel helpless in stopping it. Superheroes give us hope that maybe someone is out there who can protect us and give us peace of mind.

Though these stories are very nice and uplifting, they are nonetheless fictional. They were drawn up by the imagination of writers and comic book creators. Once the movie ends, we go back to our normal lives, where superheroes don’t exist. All hope is not lost however.

Many thousands of years ago, there was a great demon by the name of Ravana who was wreaking havoc throughout the world. He had performed many great austerities in order to please the demigods and they rewarded him with special powers. According to the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, the demigods are elevated living entities who manage the affairs of the material world. They are not God, but they have been deputed by Him to handle different departments relating to karmic activity, similar to the way a President will have a variety of Cabinet secretaries handling specific areas of government. The demigods grant benedictions to pretty much anyone who pleases them to their satisfaction. In Ravana’s case, He was given ten heads and granted the boon that no demigod, celestial being, or animal could defeat him. Lost in the jubilation of his new found powers, Ravana forgot to ask to be immune from human beings. Ravana belonged to the Rakshasa race, people who lived off eating flesh and drinking wine. He was an enemy to devotees of God and he persecuted them every chance he could get. Ravana steadily rose to power as a result of the boons he received. The demigods were all afraid of him, as were the great sages, or brahmanas, living in the forests.

Lord Vishnu, God Himself, was informed of the situation by the demigods. To relieve their stressful situation and give protection to the sages, He decided to incarnate on earth as a human being in the form of Lord Rama. He appeared as an ordinary human being, who was the kindest, nicest, most courageous, and the most dedicated to dharma, or righteousness, of all people. He had no desire to please Himself in any way. He was completely dedicated to those who were dependent on Him. The name Rama actually means “one who gives pleasure”. At the request of His father, the king of Ayodhya, and step-mother, the Lord spent fourteen years as an exile from His kingdom. His wife Sita and younger brother Lakshmana insisted on accompanying Him to the forest, for they didn’t want the Lord to suffer alone. God actually never suffers, but since He was playing the role of a human being, He agreed to put Himself into stressful situations for the benefit of others. One day while they were living in the forest, a demon by the name of Marica appeared in front of their cottage in the guise of a deer. Sita was very much enamored by the deer and requested Rama to catch it for her, with its life in tact if possible. The Lord chased the demon a long way, finally piercing it with an arrow. As Marica gave up his life, he revealed his original Rakshasa form, and cried out for help in the voice of Rama. Sita, hearing this and getting worried, told Lakshmana to see if Rama was alright. In response, Lakshmana, in the above referenced quote, reminded her that Rama was unconquerable in battle and that the sound must have been an illusion. Nevertheless, as events played out, Lakshmana would end up leaving Sita’s side to go check on His brother, which gave Ravana the opportunity to kidnap Sita and take her to his palace.

Already an exile ranging the forest, now the Lord had to deal with the abduction of His most beautiful and chaste wife. Rama persevered and with the help of the Vanaras, monkey-like people dwelling in the forest, He was able to defeat Ravana in battle and rescue Sita, proving Lakshmana’s words to be true.

We needn’t look to movies or comic books to find a superhero. Lord Rama is the ultimate protector, with powers greater than those of any fictional character. God comes to this earth from time to time specifically so we can have someone to look up to and worship. In times of trouble, we need only turn to Him, as He is the most powerful and most courageous. The lessons from Lord Rama’s story are timeless. The Star Wars movies depicted material advancement in the modes of warfare. Even with advanced weaponry, Darth Vader’s empire was defeated by the powers of good, represented by the Jedis. Similarly, Ravana’s great powers achieved through great boons were no match for Rama’s army, consisting of monkeys hurling rocks and trees. The monkeys, headed by Rama’s greatest devotee Hanuman, were fighting for the good guys, with God on their side, so their victory was guaranteed. Ravana’s demon army cast many illusory spells and used trickery as their weapons. Lord Rama and His brother Lakshmana used simple bows and arrows to defeat them. That is the power of God. He can turn a simple arrow into something more powerful than the strongest nuclear weapon.

God is eternal and so are His various forms. Lord Rama’s activities are still celebrated to this day in India and throughout the world. We are eternally indebted to Maharishi Valmiki and Goswami Tulsidas for giving us the story of the Lord in such great detail. We should all read the Valmiki Ramayana or Ramacharitamanasa at least once in our lives. The story is so wonderful and moving, that we’ll never get tired of reading it. Though the actual events occurred many thousands of years ago, through the power of His holy name, Lord Rama is still with us, helping us fight the Ravanas of today. Let us always remember the Lord, chant His name, and offer Him our prayers. By so doing, our lives will become perfect.

The Flag of Devotion

 “The emblem of Hanuman on the flag of Arjuna is another sign of victory because Hanuman cooperated with Lord Rama in the battle between Rama and Ravana, and Lord Rama emerged victorious. Now both Rama and Hanuman were present on the chariot of Arjuna to help him. Lord Krishna is Rama Himself, and wherever Lord Rama is, His eternal servitor Hanuman and His eternal consort Sita, the goddess of fortune, are present. Therefore, Arjuna had no cause to fear any enemies whatsoever.” (Shrila Prabhupada, BG 1.20 Purport)

We find that in our material endeavors, we often invoke the name or memory of someone as a way of bringing good luck. Athletes often carry good luck charms given to them by legendary figures in their sport. They also remember the accomplishments of previous great athletes prior to having to perform. Politicians will often invoke the names of great leaders from the past when making an important speech.

These are all ways that we try to ensure success in our ventures. When entering a new field or starting a new task, it is best to consult those who have previously been able to triumph. The successful have the necessary experience and wisdom to help us achieve victory since they have gone through similar challenges. In the same way, in order to be successful in spiritual life, we must consult great devotees of the past.

To the normal person, Arjuna’s task prior to the start of the Kurukshetra War seemed to be that of a warrior trying to achieve victory for his side. In actuality, since he was following the direct orders of Lord Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his task was actually that of performing devotional service to God. Because of this, Arjuna’s chariot was decorated with a flag bearing the emblem of Lord Hanuman.

In Lord Krishna’s previous incarnation as Lord Rama, there was a great demon named Ravana who had kidnapped Lord Rama’s wife, Sita. Hanuman, a Vanara (human-like monkey) and great devotee of Lord Rama, carried out the orders of the Lord and helped defeat Ravana and rescue Sita. Since Arjuna was also involved in a similar task of performing devotional service to the Lord, he made sure to invoke the memory of Krishna’s great devotee, Hanuman. In our normal everyday affairs, we tend to forget things that we do, services that we provide for people, and the things that others have done for us. God, on the other hand, never forgets service performed for Him. Hanuman was a pure devotee and helped the Lord, and Krishna never forgot it. He made sure that Hanuman would always be famous as a great devotee. He made sure the name of Hanuman would be synonymous with victory in devotional service.

So the lesson is that we should always remember the great devotees of the Lord and ask them for their mercy in helping us serve Krishna. Arjuna already had God acting as his charioteer, so he had no cause for concern. However, simply by remembering Hanuman, his success was guaranteed. This is God’s promise to us. By always remembering Krishna’s great devotees and following the example they set forth, we will never meet defeat in our devotional service to the Lord.

Ramayana of Tulsidas

 

Title: Shri Ramacharitamanasa

ISBN: 8120804430

Author: Goswami Tulsidas, translated by R.C. Prasad

Versions: Print

Synopsis: This is probably the greatest book ever written. The Ramacharitamanasa, or the “Holy Lake of the Acts of Rama”, is the biography of Lord Rama, an incarnation of Lord Krishna, written by Goswami Tulsidas several hundred years ago. The original story of Lord Rama was written by Maharishi Valmiki during the Lord’s time on earth. Tulsidas’ version is similar in spirit, but more of a devotional work and doesn’t contain as much detail as Valmiki’s. Considered an incarnation of Valmiki, Tulsidas wrote the Ramacharitamanasa in a dialect of Hindi so as to make it more accessible to the people of His time. The writing is beautiful and one who reads this book with firm faith will be a devotee of Lord Rama forever. Already a staple in the homes of most Hindus living in India, this version, translated into English, gives everyone a chance to enjoy the wonderful pastimes of the Lord, His wife Sita, His brother Lakshmana, and His devotee Hanuman.