Unlocking the Mystery

“O very powerful one, I depend on your might. As you are the best of the monkeys, O son of the wind, do you exert yourself in such a way that by using your extraordinary strength and bravery, O Hanuman, the daughter of Janaka may be found.” (Shri Rama speaking to Hanuman, Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kand, 44.17)

atibala balam āśritaḥ tava aham

hari vara vikrama vikramaiḥ analpaiḥ |

pavana suta yathā adhigamyate sā

janaka sutā hanumān tathā kuruṣva

Followers of the Vedic tradition worship Shri Rama as the Personality of Godhead, the same person that the rest of the world refers to as God. Yet in this instance, we see Rama declaring His dependence on the might and power of another entity. How can Rama be God if He requires the help of others? The answer to this mysterious question uncovers the most well-guarded secret of life, the reason for our being on earth. Studying the personal nature of the Divine, including His names, forms and pastimes, is certainly beneficial, but to understand the complete picture, the full range of the Lord’s attributes, familiarity with the behavior of the Lord’s closest friends, those whose only business in life is to serve Him, is required. Of all the sincere servants, no one is dearer to Shri Rama than Hanuman. For this reason, Rama will do whatever it takes to praise and glorify His dearmost devotee, the son of the wind-god.

Those following Vedic traditions, the spiritual discipline emanating from India at the beginning of time, give deference to many heavenly and godlike figures. A typical Hindu household has an area set aside in the home where such worship takes place in a semi-formal manner. The altar is typically adorned with beautiful flowers, pleasant incense, ghee lamps and beautiful pictures of the Lord and His various associates. Some households worship God as Shri Vishnu, while others worship Krishna or Rama. There is no difference between these forms, for they all represent the original Personality of Godhead, the Divine figure who is unmatched in excellence, beauty and power. The different forms account for the different viewpoints and penchants for service found in the unlimited spiritual sparks emanating from the transcendental body of the original Lord. Some prefer to worship God in a mood of reverential devotion, while others prefer a more intimate exchange of emotions. Each non-different form of the Lord has attributes and features which appeal to specific tendencies found in the worshipers.

“Unintelligent men, who know Me not, think that I have assumed this form and personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is changeless and supreme.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.24)

These personal expansions of Supreme Spirit weren’t just concocted through some mythological tradition, but rather each incarnation and expansion exists eternally and often appears on earth. Many thousands of years ago, the incarnation of Lord Rama descended to the visible plane and enacted wonderful pastimes. Those with a limited understanding of spirituality and the discipline that worships God in a mood of love and affection have a difficult time understanding the activities performed by such incarnations. The lowest of mankind, the miscreants and the atheists, generally fear religion and spirituality, for they know their behavior doesn’t match well with the law codes established by the various spiritual disciplines. If they do contemplate a “God” in any way, they take Him to be an angry figure. After all, if such miscreants were to amass unlimited powers and capabilities, they most certainly would use them to instill fear in others. The desire to lord over nature in this way is the reason for the existence of the material world. Those who want to imitate the Supreme Lord’s capabilities of dominance, creation and destruction are allowed to carry out their desires on a playing field. The field, of course, must go through development, and since no one can actually equal God in any endeavor, there will naturally be collisions. Hence the material world ostensibly becomes a place full of misery, wherein defeat and heartache are found at every corner.

The purpose of the incarnation is not to instill fear or to get miscreants to change their ways. If someone has a sincere desire to be God even after being informed of the futility of the endeavor, what can be done to change their mind? The Supreme Lord is completely independent, for that is the natural characteristic of spirit. The individual spirit souls, the jivas, are part and parcel of the Supreme; hence they inherit the qualities of independence and free will. Differences are seen, however, in how the powers of freedom are invoked. God is the Supreme Soul, so His quantitative powers are greater than those possessed by the jiva souls. The jivas have a choice as to how they want to exercise their independence. If they choose to associate with the spiritual energy, the superior nature, they will always remain in the Lord’s company. If they choose to associate with the material energy, the inferior nature, the result will be perpetual misery. The material energy is a separated energy emanating from Krishna; therefore the Lord has no direct role to play in it. Just as the brain controls all the actions of the body, the Big Brain that is Krishna controls all of nature’s movements. The material scientists, those who ignore the presence of the soul, in their pursuit of knowledge can only ascend as far up to the point of understanding the outer workings of nature. The evolution theories posited by Darwin and others ultimately ascribe the control of the changes in species to nature. The non-devotees take nature as their God, not understanding that even nature has a brain. There is no such thing as random collisions, for the regularities that are seen in nature, such as the exact timings of the lunar cycles, sunrises and sunsets, the calendar year, and the properties of various elements cannot occur through chance. There is a person managing all of these intelligently designed functions, and the Vedas accurately identify Him: Krishna.

“I envy no one, nor am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all. But whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me, and I am also a friend to him.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 9.29)

The misuse of freewill lands the jiva soul in the material world. When the jiva wants out, when it wants to return to the spiritual land, the Supreme Lord tosses aside His vow of neutrality and directly takes an interest in a small section of the affairs of the inferior world. Usually the workings of matter and sense gratification are portrayed in a negative light, as they should be. But when the same material elements are used to advance the cause of Krishna consciousness, the purification of thoughts, words and deeds, they take on a divine nature, which is Krishna’s exclusive property. Everything certainly emanates from God, but material nature is put in the charge of various elevated living entities.

Shri Rama came to earth to enact pastimes and attract the minds of the jiva souls wanting the highest type of liberation, eternal association with the personal form of the Lord in the spiritual world. As God, Rama had free will to annihilate the whole world and scare everyone into surrendering. But such an act would violate the rules of the game; it would break the concept of independence of emotion and desire. Rama is only interested in arousing the loving sentiments that naturally exist inside of every living entity. Therefore He takes to pleasurable activities designed to attract those who want to be attached to spirit.

“Being fearless under Your protection, O intelligent one, I wish to see all the rivers, mountains and lakes of the forest.” (Sita Devi speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya Kand, 27.16)

As part of His pastimes, Rama roamed the forests of India with His beautiful wife Sita Devi and His younger brother Lakshmana. When the Lord enjoys, He doesn’t do so alone. He has eternally liberated associates who join Him in the execution of His pastimes. Sita Devi and Lakshmana are not of this world, for their activities even validate this fact. One cannot hear Sita Devi’s kind words of wisdom and loving sentiments and take her to be an ordinary woman, princess, or daughter. Lakshmana and Rama’s other brothers were similarly spotless in character.

The Lord’s transcendental entourage is not limited to only His relatives. His dealings with Shri Hanuman and the other Vanaras shows the universal brotherhood shared amongst all forms of life who are dedicated to God. As part of His pastimes, Rama had to take up the rescue of Sita, who was one day kidnapped from the forest by a demon named Ravana. As an actor playing a coveted role, Shri Rama gave the impression of an ordinary human being from time to time. Assuming the spiritual dress of a warrior prince, Rama didn’t display celestial powers or strengths on a regular basis. He fought His enemy with a simple bow and arrow, aided by the chanting of mantras imparted to Him by the venerable Vishvamitra Muni. To help find Sita, Rama enlisted the help of a band of Vanaras, monkey-like humans, living in the forest of Kishkindha. Their lead warrior was a pious individual named Hanuman.

The monkey-king Sugriva vouched for Hanuman’s abilities. Assigning Hanuman with the task of finding Sita, Sugriva offered him the highest praise. Prior to the departure of the monkey host, Shri Rama gave Hanuman His ring. The ring was inscribed with Rama’s name, and it was to serve as a token of identification for Sita. Sita had never met Hanuman up to that point, so the ring would signal to her that Hanuman was a friend of Rama. Hanuman then kindly bowed his head to the Lord and went off on his search along with the other monkeys.

In the above referenced quote, Lord Rama is praising Hanuman, extolling his virtues and telling him to let all his transcendental qualities loose. Hanuman was extraordinarily strong, pious, brave, resolute and intelligent. Shri Rama here is telling him to tap into all of his abilities and to hold nothing back in the quest to find Sita. Rama boldly declares that He depends fully on Hanuman’s abilities, as he is the best of the monkeys [hari vara].

When a conditioned living entity becomes free from the effects of material nature, their body and mind fuse into an entity that is completely spiritual. The natural knowledge, spiritual strength and bliss that belong to the soul shine through all corners of the body. Shri Hanuman, an eternally liberated soul, has nothing to do with material nature or illusion. Lord Rama, knowing this, asked Hanuman to use all of his spiritual strengths for the highest cause. Rama’s faith and words of wisdom speak to the greatness of Hanuman and the mindset required for achieving liberation. We may not be as strong as Shri Hanuman, but by remembering his example and exerting ourselves fully for the right cause, we can similarly be in the good graces of the Lord.

Hanumanji is often depicted with Sita and Rama residing within his heart. In the state where one’s only desire is to be in the Lord’s company at all times, there is never any denial of service or withholding of love and affection. Sita, Rama and Lakshmana are always with Hanuman, irrespective of time, place, circumstance, or any other change in outward condition. Hanuman would go on to find Sita, return information of her whereabouts to Sugriva and Rama, and help the Lord defeat Ravana and rescue the divine princess. To this day, Hanuman is worshiped by millions around the world for his bravery, dedication, unselfishness and pious nature. He possesses every quality required for the execution of devotional service, or bhakti-yoga.

There are certainly many other types of yoga, but they all culminate with bhakti. Loving devotion to the Lord is the highest practice in both the spiritual and material worlds. In fact, any place that bhakti-yoga is performed properly can be considered the spiritual world. By following the example of Hanuman and other great Vaishnavas, we can turn our present miserable condition into a positive one. Goswami Tulsidas immortalized Hanumanji in his famous poem, the Hanuman Chalisa. If we remember all the great servants of the Lord and ask them for their help, success in our yoga practice will be guaranteed. Wherever we are and whatever situation we find ourselves in, we can always remember the Lord, His pastimes, His associates and His names by chanting “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. The love the Lord feels for His devotees, especially Hanuman, unlocks the mystery of life, our reason for living. Hanuman lives every day to the fullest by thinking of Sita and Rama, and by always thinking of Hanuman, we can do no wrong.

The Moon and The Stars

“Then taking with him the leading monkeys of great strength, that monkey, the brave son of the wind-god, looked like the moon of pure orb in the sky after the parting of the clouds, brightened by a cluster of stars. (Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kand, 44.16)

sa tat prakarṣan hariṇām mahat balam

babhūva vīraḥ pavanātmajaḥ kapiḥ |

gata aṃbude vyomni viśuddha maṇḍalaḥ

śaśī iva nakṣatra gaṇopaśobhitaḥ

The sight of the glowing moon in the sky accompanied by bright stars is a thing of beauty. The brilliance of the scene reaches true perfection when the clouds have parted, allowing for the natural radiance of the celestial bodies to shine down to earth. This most beautiful occurrence of nature best compares to the wonderful beauty and glow that radiated off of Shri Hanuman, who was accompanied by his Vanara associates, when he embarked on a special task, the locating of a lost princess. Since the assigned duty involved service to the one person who is more worthy of our service than anyone else, the inner light of devotion and love shone through in these great personalities.

Shri Hanuman is one of the most celebrated divine figures in the world. Though he has the outward appearance of a Vanara, which is a monkey-like human, he possesses not a single defect. The Vanara form of body is certainly not perfect, and neither is the human form. Any material body has limitations, so what really counts is what one makes of their current condition. There is the famous saying that if life gives you lemons, make lemonade. From the material point of view, Hanuman certainly was handed a lemon of a body. A monkey is known for its insatiable appetite for intoxication and sex life. When these two activities are at the forefront of consciousness, intelligence naturally suffers. Hanuman lived with a band of other Vanaras in the forest of Kishkindha on the top of a mountain many thousands of years ago. The monkeys themselves would often point to the deficiencies borne of their race when making mistakes. An example of this was seen with Sugriva, the king of the Vanaras at the time, and the mistake he made of not repaying a favor owed to the Most Favorable.

The monkeys lived on Mount Rishyamukha for a reason. Sugriva had a brother named Vali, and the two had become mortal enemies. On one occasion, Vali was engaged in a fight which led him into a cave. Vali told Sugriva to wait outside the cave for him to return. After a short while, Sugriva heard the sound of someone dying. The voice sounded quite similar to Vali’s, but Sugriva decided to wait outside the cave anyway. After a long while had passed, Sugriva finally decided to leave. He made sure to close up the hole in the cave to keep Vali’s killer from escaping.

Not surprisingly, Vali had actually come out victorious, and when he saw that the cave was closed up, he became irate. He accused Sugriva of hatching a scheme to kill him and take over the kingdom. Thus a fight ensued, and since Sugriva was inferior in fighting ability, he was driven out of the kingdom. Sugriva surely would have died were it not for a curse a sage had previously laid upon Vali. This curse kept Mount Rishyamukha off-limits to Vali, thus making it an ideal sanctuary for Sugriva and his associates.

While residing there, Sugriva was once visited by Lord Rama, the Supreme Personality of Godhead in human form. The incarnation of God is certainly a wonderful benediction provided to the conditioned living entities. The Vedic assertion, one based on information passed down from the highest authority figures, is that the spirit souls residing in the material world are here due to their desire to imitate the Supreme Lord. This viewpoint is affirmed in the behavior exhibited by the conditioned souls. It is our natural penchant to think that we are God in varying magnitudes. The husband thinks he is the supreme controller of the house, the businessman of his company, the mayor of his town, the president of his country, etc. Even the social welfare worker thinks they are God in the sense that they believe they can successfully redistribute income amongst society at large. The welfare workers feel that through the proper efforts of government action and charitable giving poverty can be eliminated. A similar mentality is adopted by those who wish to eradicate other unpalatable conditions, such as diseases, abuse against the innocent, and environmental destruction.

While the intentions of the champions of each of the aforementioned causes may or may not be noble, there is an inherent ignorance that serves as the catalyst for action. We may have certain control over a particular field of activity, but there is no way we can control the behavior of the millions of entities in the universe. Moreover, nature is much more powerful than we are. Yet the mindset of “I am God” continues perpetually even when faced with defeat, chaos, despair and disappointment. To allow the conditioned living entities who are trying to imitate Supreme Spirit to understand their true purpose in life, God often comes to earth in the guise of an ordinary human being. The Divine appearance, known as the coming of an avatara, allows the conditioned soul to take up their natural engagement, loving service to God. Devotional service didn’t become a “natural” occupation at any point in time. It has always existed and will continue to exist in the future; such is the meaning of dharma, or an essential characteristic. Dharma never changes. The law codes provided by the Vedas are as good today as they were millions of years ago.

The “I am God” mentality is the cause of the flawed notion that somehow man today is more evolved and thus requires a new set of law codes. To those following this model, the Vedas have become outdated. They are viewed as scriptures providing rules and regulations that don’t make sense anymore.  But in actuality, not only are the pearls of Vedic wisdom timeless in their effectiveness, but they are even explained in ways that never become outdated.  For example, the Mahabharata and other famous Vedic texts go into great detail about how society should be managed by government, including with respect to the issue of taxes. In today’s world, taxes are a hot-button issue. If you are in favor of low taxes, you gain the good graces of the producers, but then the vulture-like competitors, those purely driven by envy, will hate you. They will accuse the low-tax advocates of siding with rich businessmen who are exploiting the common man. The vulture believes that an entity should be taxed very highly as a form of punishment and as a way of transferring wealth back to the proper owners.

Though this issue is insignificant in the bigger picture, the Vedas don’t gloss over it.  Rather, Vedic tenets call for taxes to be set at a certain amount; a fixed measure that is rarely to be raised. The typical tax rate listed is one sixth of a producer’s income. This number wasn’t just hatched up on a whim or imposed as a way to benefit a certain class of men. Rather, there is logical reasoning behind it. The purpose of a government is to spend money on necessary expenditures, the primary of which involve protecting the innocent. If the government doesn’t protect innocent life and property, who will? In order to spend money, the government needs a source of income, i.e. taxes. But if you tax a person or business too much, they will lose their incentive to produce. For example, if we were to raise the tax rate to one hundred percent for a given year, the amount of tax revenue collected would actually be zero. The intended result would be a huge windfall in tax dollars, but since the money is essentially being confiscated, there would be absolutely no production. The Mahabharata uses the analogy of milking a cow to describe how to properly tax. If all of a cow’s milk is taken, there will be none left for the calves; hence there will be starvation. Yet if the cow is allowed to roam freely and have enough milk to give to its dependents, it will produce a seemingly endless supply of milk for the owner. When taxation is described in these terms, the tenets can be universally understood, in any era. The principles of taxation and good governance don’t change based on time, circumstance, or which political party currently holds office.

Just as the ancient law codes of the Vedas have the same efficacy today as they did in the past, the natural disposition of the soul remains the same regardless of time or circumstance. There are certainly differences in the makeup and behavior of society at particular times. In some eras, man is generally pious, while in others he is not. Therefore the incarnation tailors its appearance to fit the mood of the time. During the Treta Yuga, society was quite deferent to dharma and law codes, so the Lord appeared as an extremely pious and chivalrous prince named Rama. Ironically enough, the Lord had also previously appeared in the guise of a warrior, who was named Parashurama, yet His demeanor was quite different. Parashurama dealt with a degraded kshatriya order by killing them twenty-one times over.

Rama had a different demeanor, one that was appealing to the people of the time. Yet His life was not without mishap and misfortune. God can never suffer in any way, but during His time on earth, the divine power known as Yogamaya comes and gives Him a helping hand. This energy is supremely powerful and works under the direct supervision of the Lord. Yogamaya gives the appearance of inflicting ordinary suffering and calamity, but since her effects relate to the Supreme Lord and the devotees, there is really no discomfort to the incarnation, who is always aloof from the effects of material nature.

Yogamaya’s workings led to Rama’s exile from the kingdom of Ayodhya. Forced to roam the forests as a recluse for fourteen years, Rama took with Him His younger brother Lakshmana and wife Sita Devi. The illusory energy operating directly under God’s orders would work her magic again when Sita would be kidnapped from the forest by a Rakshasa demon named Ravana. Rama and Lakshmana, in their search for Sita, eventually made their way to Kishkindha. Rama met up with Sugriva through Hanuman’s efforts. The Lord agreed to help Sugriva defeat Vali in return for his help in finding Sita. Rama held up His end of the bargain, but Sugriva got lost in the enjoyments of regal life. When a good period of time had passed since Rama’s help was offered, Lakshmana angrily approached Sugriva to find out what was going on. Sugriva apologized and blamed his monkey nature for his transgression.

After regaining sight of the task at hand, Sugriva dispatched his enormous army of monkeys around the world to find Sita. Hanuman was his chief minister, so Sugriva knew that if anyone would be able to find Sita, it would be Hanuman. After Sugriva extolled the heroic monkey’s virtues, Shri Rama did the same and then gave him His ring to give to Sita. In the above referenced passage from the Ramayana, Hanuman and the Vanaras are embarking on their journey. Hanuman is described as being exquisitely beautiful, like the bright moon in the cloudless sky accompanied by multitudes of stars.

The more pure a devotee becomes, the more their natural luster shines through. Hanuman and the Vanaras, though possessing outward appearances that seemed wild and uncivilized, were engaged in pure devotional service. They were given a task by God Himself, and they took the completion of their assigned mission to be their life and soul. Since their motives were pure, their dharma, or essential characteristic, came to the forefront as they began their task. In a similar manner, if we adopt our proper life’s engagement, that of returning to the spiritual world by linking our consciousness with the Divine’s interests, we too can shine bright. Though dharma never changes, the exact methods of practicing it can vary due to changes in effectiveness. The end-result, thinking of God at the time of death, is the same, but the exact roadmap for achieving this result can vary based on time and circumstance. In the current age, the recommended process for rekindling God consciousness is the chanting of the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”.

Chanting certainly seems like a simple, child-like process. The effects, however, are anything but inferior. As a result of regularly saying the Lord’s names with love and dedication, our natural proclivity towards service to the Supreme Spirit will eventually come out. The cloud of ignorance currently shields our natural inner-beauty. Through chanting and devotional service in general, the clouds of nescience can part. When they do, the Supreme Lord will appreciate us in the same way that He was endeared to the Vanaras and Hanuman for their selfless dedication, bravery, sincerity and singularity of purpose.

Starting a New Task

“Thereupon taking the ring and placing it on his head, with folded hands, that foremost and best of monkeys, praised Rama’s lotus feet and then departed.” (Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kand, 44.15)

sa tat gṛhya hariśreṣṭhaḥ sthāpya mūrdhni kṛtāñjaliḥ |

vanditvā caraṇau caiva prasthitaḥ plavagarṣabhaḥ

Shri Hanuman’s exemplary behavior in this scene shows the proper way to start any new task. The more important the mission, the greater the impetus for surrendering fully to the Supreme Loveable Object, the only entity worthy of our obeisances. Humble submission to the most worthy recipient reminds the performer that success in the mission is not determined strictly by their own effort. Rather, the underlying cause to every event in nature is the hand of the most powerful and original person: God. We may take the impetus for action, but the results are determined by the nature around us, which is under the control of the divine energy. Just as the soul is the driving force behind the activities of the body, the giant soul is the spark behind the complex and unimaginable inner workings of nature. Not only should every task begin with the offering of obeisances to God, but the same level of spiritual consciousness should be active throughout the performance of said tasks. Following this model, the performer is doubly benefitted.

“This material nature is working under My direction, O son of Kunti, and it is producing all moving and unmoving beings. By its rule this manifestation is created and annihilated again and again.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 9.10)

The obvious benefit to performing a task correctly is the realization of the desired result. For example, if we put in long hours at the library and study very rigorously, the likely result is that we will perform well on exams and thus earn a high mark in the class. If we put great effort into building a home, the resulting fruit will be an aesthetically pleasing and peaceful dwelling. Regardless of the complexity or simplicity of the task, the importance of first invoking the names of God and surrendering ourselves fully to Him does not diminish. Goswami Tulsidas, a famous Vaishnava poet, states that following this pattern of behavior will allow us to reap the greatest rewards in life. The desired fruit is not as important as the procedures laid down to procure them because, as we all know, nothing lasts forever. What goes up must come down. Therefore the fruits of our labor will be flickering in two areas. The enjoyment derived from the reward will certainly be short-lived, a fact evidenced by the many different engagements taken up in the course of one’s lifetime. If the fruits of action provided unending bliss, there would be no need to take to new activities in the hopes of acquiring new rewards.

The fruits of labor are also flickering in the duration of their existence. A nice house can last for several decades, but eventually the structure will start to decay and eventually collapse on its own. The current dwelling of the soul, the body, is destined for destruction at the time of death. No object is given more attention than the body, which is a sort of tree that gets watered on a daily basis. The desired fruits come through the enjoyments resulting from engagements in various activities like eating, sleeping, mating and defending.

Since the fruits of action are temporary, as are the enjoyments derived from them, it is more important to go after permanent rewards. By invoking the holy name of God and paying homage to His lotus feet prior to undertaking any important activity, we not only increase the chances of success in the endeavor, but we also ensure that our consciousness will be altered. If we think of the Supreme Lord prior to taking an important examination, when we succeed, we will not only reap the reward of a passing grade, but also that of remembering God. Vishno-smaranam, or remembering Lord Vishnu, throughout a single endeavor increases the likelihood of remembering God again in the future. While the enjoyment from the passing grade on the exam may not last very long, the change in consciousness from the material to the spiritual world can lead to the greatest boon imaginable: liberation.

“Anyone who quits his body, at the end of life, remembering Me, attains immediately to My nature; and there is no doubt of this.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 8.5)

Those who think of the Supreme Lord at the time of quitting the body no longer have to suffer through birth and death, a reward which also marks the end of fruitive activity. Without the need to associate with karma, one no longer has to work hard for fruits that are unseen and flickering in nature. In the spiritual world, the soul assumes a spiritual body and thus engages full-time in service to the Lord. Transcendental service is not categorized as karma because there are no perishable results that come from it. Moreover, service to the Supreme Spirit is the natural engagement of the liberated soul. Surrender brings about true bliss because it is our constitutional position to be completely dedicated to the one person who will not let us down.

Offering obeisances directly to the Supreme Lord, His authorized deity form, or His representative is a practice adopted by those who are serious about spiritual life. Often times the practice of prostration in spiritual life is shunned by others who are unfamiliar with its purpose. The issue boils down to love, which, when practiced purely, involves complete surrender. The optimal loving relationship between a man and a woman involves complete surrender by both parties, which involves the shedding of all inhibitions and the voluntary relinquishing of control over one’s emotions. When we are surrendered to our senses or to our own well-being, we are essentially in charge of our emotions. Happiness and sadness are determined by the activities that we take up and the mindset that results. In a loving relationship, responsibility for one’s happiness and sadness is handed over to the other party, the object of affection. No one forces us to make this transfer of ownership; we voluntarily give it up.

It is certainly an important step to put someone else in charge of our emotions. So why do we do it? As with any other activity in life, the intended result is pleasure. By loosening our inhibitions and becoming completely vulnerable to our paramour, there is a potential for tremendous bliss. The ideal resulting happiness culminates in the act of making love. It is for this reason that sexual relations in their purified form are referred to as love. In the absence of emotional exchange, the act is no different than animal sex, where the impetus for action is the raw desire to satisfy the demands of the genitals.

So the key ingredient to love is surrender. Issues arise, however, when surrender doesn’t bring palatable results. Indeed, the act of making love doesn’t last very long, so afterwards both parties are left in a state of uncertainty. “Does she still love me? Is she happy with my service to her? What if she leaves me? What will I do?” If the emotional needs of just one party in a loving relationship aren’t met to the proper level of satisfaction, anger, resentment and hatred can result. When the negative emotions become predominant, the loving relationship quickly dissolves, and the parties are left to return to their previous guarded states. Additionally, both individuals will think twice before voluntarily giving up control over their emotions to someone else again.

The flaw in the mundane loving relationship traces directly to fallibility. Love is certainly a natural emotion, as is the desire to surrender fully. Problems arise when the objects of affection are themselves fallible. If we surrender to someone who is incapable of handling the responsibility of our emotions, we will certainly meet frustration. The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, tell us that the natural characteristic of the soul is that of a lover. Every single life form, from the insignificant ant to the resident of the heavenly planets, is a lover at heart. The essential characteristic, or dharma, involves a loveable object as well. That person is the Supreme Lord, the Supreme Soul who resides eternally alongside the individual spirit soul.

The Supreme Soul is so powerful that He can act as the complementary lover to every single soul in existence. The qualitative makeup between the individual soul and the Supreme Soul is the same, but one entity is superior and the other is inferior. One is meant to serve, while the other is meant to be served. This is the natural order of things. When the server thinks itself to be the served, or if the server decides to offer its service to another server, the resulting condition is unpalatable and not ideal. True bliss and harmony come when the individual soul takes to its dharma, or natural characteristic, by serving the Supreme Lord.

By offering obeisances to the Supreme Lord or one of His authorized representatives, one can slowly but surely come to understand the Supreme Loveable Object’s fixed position. The more fully one surrenders, the more vulnerable they become. The more vulnerable they become, the more the Supreme Lord takes charge for their spiritual well-being. When the served is always remembered by the server, the resulting condition is that of perfect yoga. When one is in perfect yoga at the time of death, the nescience that caused the server to think itself supreme is forever removed.

No matter how strong we are and no matter how big or small the task, we should always offer our obeisances to the Lord first and remember that success in any venture comes through His effort. The great authorities on spirituality and bhakti-yoga, or devotional service, follow this model of behavior. One such devotee is Shri Hanuman. A long time ago, the Supreme Lord incarnated on earth in human form. The Supreme Lord, as the energetic spiritual fire, can never become subject to the forces that He creates. Since He is always worthy of service, when He assumes a body of a human being, the natural order of things is not altered. There is no difference between the Lord’s body and His soul; both aspects are identically spiritual.

Lord Rama was a warrior prince, so He naturally took to protecting the innocent. As mentioned before, the dharma of the individual soul is to serve the Supreme Soul. Keeping this in mind, Rama also created situations which allowed other sincere souls to offer Him their service. One such situation involved the finding of the Lord’s wife, Sita Devi. A demon named Ravana had taken her to his island kingdom of Lanka. Rama was residing in the forest at the time with His younger brother Lakshmana. Due to orders given by His father, Rama was not allowed to go back to His kingdom and collect His army. Not to worry though, as He enlisted the help of a band of Vanaras living in the forest of Kishkindha.

The leader of the Vanaras was Sugriva, and his chief warrior was Hanuman, a divine figure and pure devotee of Rama. Lord Rama knew that Hanuman would be the one to find Sita, so the Lord gave him a ring to deliver to her. The ring had Rama’s name inscribed on it, thus it would be recognizable to Sita. In the above referenced passage from the Ramayana, we see that Hanuman offered his obeisances to Lord Rama before embarking on his journey. Just prior to this, Sugriva had extolled the virtues of Hanuman, listing all of his wonderful capabilities and strengths. Lord Rama concurred with Sugriva’s assessment, so Hanuman essentially had both of their blessings.

Since Hanuman possessed amazing strength, courage and firmness of resolution, success in the venture was guaranteed. Rama was actually overjoyed simply by thinking of Hanuman going to search for Sita, for the Lord knew that success was to come very quickly. Yet as endowed with divine prowess as Hanuman was, he still made sure to offer obeisances to Rama and invoke His good name prior to starting his task. Through his behavior, Hanuman showed that he was always God conscious, not letting a second go by without remembering the lotus feet of his dear Lord.

Not surprisingly, Hanuman would be successful in executing his tasks. Sita would eventually be rescued through his noble efforts. For his undying devotion, dedication and adherence to piety, Hanuman is viewed as one of the greatest Vaishnavas, a humble and dear servant of Shri Rama. We can certainly never equal his heroic feats, but we can learn a great deal from the example he set. He proved that the most important activity in life is to always remember the Lord. Doing so ensures success in any effort that involves devotional service. In our struggle to purify our consciousness, we should always remember Hanuman and his behavior towards Shri Rama. Before taking up any task, small or large, the Supreme Lord, the guru, and the great devotees, all liberated figures in their own right, should always be offered obeisances, either personally or at least within the mind.

Keys To Success

“O hero, your determination and sterling prowess, coupled with Sugriva’s words, tell Me certainly of success.” (Lord Rama speaking to Hanuman, Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kand, 44.14)

vyavasāyaḥ ca te vīra sattva yuktaḥ ca vikramaḥ |

sugrīvasya ca saṃdeśaḥ siddhim kathayati iva me

Herein we get a concise list of the qualities of a faithful servant of the Supreme Lord. Every individual, in every sphere of life, is serving something or someone. Though we are all servants, not all objects of service are equal. The nature of the serviced entity determines the praiseworthiness of the individual performing the service. Those who are slaves to their senses and those who view the immediate satisfaction of the tongue and genitals to be the primary engagement in life are certainly viewed as low class. As we climb higher up the chain of pious individuals, we see that the objects of service shift from the personal self to the downtrodden, friends, family and fellow countrymen. The most praiseworthy individual, however, is he who serves that one entity who is eternally worthy of service and whose influence crosses all boundaries and barriers created by sense perception. That all-pervading entity is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and since He is the most deserving of our humble service, He also in turn provides the greatest amount of pleasure to the praiseworthy individuals dedicated to such noble activity.

Though eligibility for admission into the sublime engagement of service to the Supreme Divine Entity is not restricted to anyone, the successful shift in focus towards satisfying the interests of Supreme Spirit is rarely seen. In the conditioned state, constitutional proclivities are depressed to the point that individuals become wholly unaware of the true nature of the soul. To return to the natural state of liberation from the material elements, certain qualities and attributes must be adopted and exhibited. When these attributes are properly identified, they can be utilized for the highest purpose. The chances of success in the purpose-driven life of devotion to God increase with the rise in magnitude of the secured prerequisite qualities. From the above referenced statement, we see that in order to be successful in spiritual life, determination, a high level of prowess and the recommendation of a superior are required. Shri Hanuman, the faithful servant of Lord Rama, possessed all of these qualities; thus the Supreme Lord was sure of his success in performing one of the most difficult tasks in history, that of finding an abducted princess.

In the Treta Yuga, the second time period of creation, the Supreme Personality of Godhead descended to earth in the form of a prince named Rama. God is indeed a person; otherwise He would be inferior to human beings. If human beings, considered the most advanced species, have hands, legs, arms and a brain, the Lord can certainly possess similar features. Since He is the original person, adi-purusham, His transcendental attributes are not limiting in any way. He can walk with His hands, eat with His legs, see with His ears, etc. The length and breadth of His features are also unlimited. There is no way to properly measure His height or the reach of His arms. To allow the individual souls to gain an understanding of His transcendental form, the Lord comes to earth and assumes various guises that resemble material bodies. These forms are considered guises because the Lord can never associate with matter. With the conditioned souls, there is a difference between body and spirit; thus the first instruction taught to aspiring students of the Vedas is aham brahmasmi. Individuality comes from Brahman, or spirit. The body is transforming at every second, though these changes aren’t necessarily perceptible unless we make comparisons of states between sufficient time intervals. Throughout the development of the body, the soul remains intact. When we go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning, our body has changed. When we wake up, we may feel a tad bit slimmer, our breath will emit a foul odor and our hair will be disheveled. In the eyes of time, we have also gotten one day older. Yet our identity hasn’t changed at all. Moreover, the demarcation of a day is merely an interval of time, a measurement which is understood relatively. If we were to stay awake all night instead of sleeping, the next morning we can still say that we have lived another day, even though there is no point of turnover according to the mind. The soul’s condition remains the same regardless of what time interval we apply to it. The term “life” represents a variable duration of time, a measurement of the time elapsed from when the soul enters a material body to when it exits the same form.

Though the individual soul is eternal, due to its free will and independence, it can remain tied to bodies that are ever changing. For the Supreme Lord, there is no such defect. There is no difference between His personal body and spirit. As such, anyone who associates with the Lord in any of His non-different forms becomes spiritually benefitted, a fact the select individuals given the benediction of having Rama’s personal association and the opportunity to serve Him during the Treta Yuga can attest to. One such exalted individual is Shri Hanuman, a divine figure who roamed the earth in the form of a Vanara, or human-like monkey. Rama’s beloved wife, Sita Devi, had been kidnapped by a Rakshasa demon named Ravana. Lord Rama, being the all-powerful Personality of Godhead, easily could have rescued Sita by Himself, but to allow others an opportunity to serve Him, He enlisted the help of a group of Vanaras living in the forest of Kishkindha.

The question may arise as to why Rama, as God, would need monkeys to help Him. The greatest happiness comes from service; hence the serving attitude exhibited by all human beings. The purer the object of service, the more concrete and substantial the happiness that results. No one is purer than Shri Rama, the Supreme Pure, so anyone who offers Him service will be engaging in the highest occupational duty. The soul has several essential characteristics. It is eternal, blissful and knowledgeable. These qualities remain unchanged, but in the conditioned state, the soul accepts a body which partially shields its self-illuminating energy. In order for the true position of the soul to become the predominant guiding force within the body, a certain set of activities must be taken up. When activities are adopted that lead to the further clouding of the soul’s qualities, the engagement is deemed conditional. When actions lead to the shedding of the covering of the self-illuminating soul, they are deemed constitutional. Therefore constitutional activities should be accepted and conditional activities renounced.

The foremost constitutional activity, or one’s dharma, is service to the Supreme Lord. Therefore Rama’s enlisting the help of the Vanaras was an act of mercy more than anything else. The leader of the Vanaras was King Sugriva, who had millions of monkey soldiers that were ready, willing and able to help Rama. Sugriva divided this army into groups and sent them to the corners of the earth to find Sita. Prior to their departure, Sugriva specifically addressed Hanuman, his chief warrior, and informed him that he was the most capable in the upcoming endeavor. After hearing Hanuman’s praises from Sugriva, Rama pondered the matter over in His own mind. The Lord didn’t have to think for very long. He knew exactly what Hanuman was capable of, so He rightly concluded that success was already achieved. Knowing that Hanuman would find Sita, the Lord gave him a ring inscribed with His name on it to give to the princess.

After handing Hanuman the ring, Shri Rama uttered the above referenced words. We see that Rama is predicting success for Hanuman based on several qualities possessed by the divine figure. Since Hanuman is determined, when he takes up a task, he will see it to its completion. Determination was required for Hanuman’s task because Sita’s captor certainly didn’t want to be found. Ravana lived on the island kingdom of Lanka, which was far away from any mainland. It would require a great effort for even one person to reach the island safely. And then whoever would touch the mainland would have to deal with Ravana’s army of defenders. Therefore the warrior tasked with finding Sita would need to be very determined and perseverant.

Shri Rama states that Hanuman also has sterling prowess, or a pure ability or influence specific to the task. This quality couples with the requirement of determination previously mentioned. Ravana was a Rakshasa, and thus a master of illusion. He was also very powerful in battle, so whoever would find Sita would have to deal with a formidable opposing force consisting of many great fighters. Since Hanuman was firm in resolution and possessing of great prowess, he would be able to handle such onslaughts without meeting defeat.

Shri Rama also refers to Hanuman as a great hero, or warrior. It is certainly nice to be perseverant and highly capable, but these attributes lose their relevance if one is faint of heart. Ravana lived in a very opulent kingdom guarded by thousands of powerful demons. One look at such opulence would be enough to turn away even the bravest of warriors. Success in finding Sita would require great courage.

As if these qualities weren’t enough to foretell success, Lord Rama also mentions that Sugriva has fully vouched for Hanuman’s abilities. Sugriva was the king of the monkeys living in Kishkindha, so his praises of Hanuman had the weight of authority behind them. The chief deputy for any leader is one who has proven themselves on previous occasions. For the most important tasks, we’ll always turn to those we have the most confidence in. Additionally, Hanuman had displayed all of these wonderful qualities in Rama’s presence. Lord Rama and His younger brother Lakshmana formed an alliance with Sugriva through Hanuman’s efforts. Through personal dealings, Rama was intimately acquainted with Hanuman’s character.

Not surprisingly, in his subsequent search for Sita, Hanuman would have to make use of all the attributes mentioned by Rama. Hanuman would have to leap across an expansive ocean, fight many demons, show courage in battle and remain extremely resolute. When he first infiltrated Lanka, he was a little despondent upon seeing the great opulence of the kingdom. He thought to himself that maybe he wouldn’t be able to successfully give Rama’s ring to Sita and leave the kingdom alive. Yet after pondering the matter over, Hanuman decided to fight on, for that was the only way to make Rama happy. Of course Hanuman never fails in his service to the Lord, so he was eventually able to succeed in his mission by finding Sita, relaying information to her, setting fire to Lanka and returning to Sugriva and Rama with information of Sita’s whereabouts.

From Rama’s judgment of Hanuman, we see that the Supreme Lord is keenly aware of who will be able to successfully serve Him and who won’t. We certainly can never possess the necessary attributes to the same degree as Hanuman, but we don’t have to in order to return to the spiritual world. Moreover, Shri Hanuman is so kind and benevolent that he will help any sincere soul who is willing to go the extra mile for Rama. The key to success in devotional service is to be courageous, capable and resolute. In this age, the simplest and most effective way to serve the Lord is to regularly chant His names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. Everyone is capable in this regard. Courage should also be shown in chanting this mantra; one should not worry about the constraints of time, circumstance and the opinions of others. Our dedication to performing devotional service, and chanting in particular, should be strong. Devotional service is performed perfectly when it is unmotivated and uninterrupted.

“I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him.” (Gautamiya Tantra)

We also need the blessings of a representative of the Lord, a spiritual master. Sugriva was Rama’s trusted ally. Since Sugriva recommended Hanuman, the Supreme Lord knew that success was guaranteed. Following in this tradition, all important activities in devotional service begin with obeisances to the guru. This is done not only to show respect to the spiritual master who has given us so much, but also to kindly ask him to recommend us for service to the Personality of Godhead. When vegetarian food in the mode of goodness, flowers, water, etc. are offered to a deity or picture of the Lord, the items are actually first presented to the spiritual master, who in turn offers them to his spiritual master, and so on. Eventually the offering reaches Bhagavan and becomes purified and then returned to us as prasadam. The recommendation of the guru is certainly a requirement, as we are not advised to directly approach the Supreme Lord. In the conditioned state, wherein material activities are adopted, it is difficult to decipher who is worthy of worship and who isn’t. When our judgment remains clouded, we have no way of even finding God, let alone offering service to Him. The bona fide guru knows God’s names, forms and address, so if he is pleased with our service, he will kindly help us in our sincere devotional efforts.

Though we can learn from Hanuman’s activities and his qualities exhibited in the execution of devotional service, the greatest benefit to hearing of his dealings with Rama is the pleasure that it brings to the ears. Hanuman, a pure and devoted servant of Rama, is completely spiritual; there is no difference between his body and spirit. He is a powerhouse of devotional energy. Therefore anyone who remembers Hanuman, utters his name, or hears about his interactions with Shri Rama will have some of that spiritual energy manifest in their own heart. Hanuman, as the gatekeeper to Rama’s kingdom, vouches for anyone who exudes the mindset and behavior necessary for divine love. Just as Hanuman’s service to Rama never goes in vain, the kind aid he offers the devotees looking for a way out of the ocean of nescience always leads to an advancement of consciousness.

Coming From Rama

“By this symbol, O best of the monkeys, the daughter of Janaka will be able, without any fear, to properly understand that you have come from My presence.” (Lord Rama speaking to Hanuman, Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kand, 44.13)

anena tvām hariśreṣṭha cihnena janakāatmajā |

mat sakāśāt anuprāptam anudvignā anupaśyati

Sita Devi, the daughter of King Janaka, found herself in a very troubling situation, forced to live as a prisoner in the kingdom of Lanka. Ravana, a ghastly demon and king of the city at the time, had forcibly taken the beautiful and chaste princess away from her husband and brought her back to his kingdom to become his chief queen. Sita, however, had different plans. No amount of sweet words, wealth, exhibitions of strength or threats could divert her attention from the lotus feet of her dear husband, Shri Rama, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. To alleviate the princess’ distresses and give her hope and belief in an eventual rescue, Rama sent His greatest servant, dearmost friend and ever well-wisher, Shri Hanuman, to find Sita and give her a message. Knowing that His wife would be suspicious of anyone who approached her due to her precarious situation, Rama gave Hanuman a ring with His name inscribed on it. This way Sita would be able to tell that Hanuman was indeed the Lord’s messenger and that he came in peace. From this one kind act, which was facilitated through Rama’s pure devotee, we can find the way out of the troublesome situation we currently find ourselves in. The name of the Lord carried by the pure devotee is our only means of salvation.

“For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.20)

Why do we need saving? Contrary to the “you only get one life” opinion posited by spiritual leaders and mental speculators, the soul, the basic functional unit of life, is eternal. The individual spiritual spark inherits its qualities from the Supreme Lord. Since God is undying and unborn, so are His tiny fragmental sparks. As individuals emanating from the gigantic powerhouse of spiritual energy, we have never taken birth, nor will we ever die. What we currently refer to as birth and death are simply the events of taking on and discarding outward forms. The body is actually changing and being replaced all the time. The form we had as a child is completely different from the body we possess as adults. Yet throughout this change, which is so subtle that it goes unnoticed by the occupant, identity does not change. The truth of the soul’s eternality is substantiated simply by our own observations. Reincarnation has an aura of mysticism attached to it, but it is actually a very simple concept to understand. Even amongst those who believe that man only gets one life on earth, there is still the belief in the afterlife. Thus such followers are essentially validating the idea of the soul never dying. If the soul never dies, then it certainly never takes birth. If there are present and future lives, there certainly must be previous ones as well.

“That which does not take birth does not die; death is meant for that which has been created, and that which is not created has no death.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Teachings of Queen Kunti, Ch 23)

The Vedas, the ancient system of spiritual wisdom emanating from India, state that a soul’s previous lives involved different bodies. Based on the work we performed and the desires we had at the time of our previous death, our present body was crafted. The cycle continues perpetually until desires change from the material realm to the spiritual realm. “You get what you want” is the simplest way to describe how the plight of the soul takes shape. If we desire enjoyment, there is no reason for our leaving the material world. The so-called enjoyment that takes place while in a material body continues life after life. If one behaves piously but still has an attachment to their senses, they ascend to various heavenly planets in the afterlife, where they reside for a set number of years. Upon expiry of their pious credits, the same individuals return to the material world and continue in the system of karma. Similarly, the sinful go to the hellish planets for a fixed duration and then return again to the material world.

Those with a little intelligence, those who understand the differences between body and soul, will eventually realize that the repetitious cycle of birth and death represents misery rather than enjoyment. If something is destined to be destroyed, the associated experiences cannot be considered superior. Due to the impending destruction of the outer covering of the soul, the activities of material life cannot be considered the highest engagement. Since the soul is ever-existing, in order for it to enjoy eternally, it must assume a body which is undying and not subject to decay. Those who realize this fact and are fortunate enough to have the association of the saintly class then take to devotional service, or bhakti-yoga. The spiritual realm is the one place where birth and death do not take place. Therefore, anyone who ascends to the transcendental realm never has to worry about falling back down to the material world.

“From the highest planet in the material world down to the lowest, all are places of misery wherein repeated birth and death take place. But one who attains to My abode, O son of Kunti, never takes birth again.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 8.16)

Due to our conditioned state, we can’t just come up with the path that will lead us to the spiritual world on our own. Rather, we need someone to help us, someone who knows the Truth themselves. Since the soul is tied at the hip to the Supreme Lord, the only viable spiritual discipline is that which involves service to Him. Though there are different names for the Supreme Object of Pleasure, the Vedas provide the most complete and inclusive name: Krishna, which is a Sanskrit word that means all-attractive. Krishna is also known by the name of Rama, which means one who gives transcendental pleasure. Since God is flawless and absolute, His names inherit the same qualities. Therefore the path to salvation, the quintessential act of bhakti, is the regular chanting of the Supreme Divine Entity’s names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”.

In order to chant the transcendental names properly and understand the bona fide religious practices recommended for the current time and circumstance, guidance is required from one who is a friend of Krishna’s; a feature that automatically makes such an individual a well-wishing friend to the world. Yet it is often difficult to recognize who is a friend and who isn’t in terms of their relation to helping us achieve ultimate liberation from the cycle of birth and death. There are the karmis; those who take to cause and effect activities aimed at achieving a favorable material condition. Most everyone is a karmi by default; they take to certain activities, with a general adherence to socially acceptable forms of piety and virtue, in the hopes of having enough wealth and sense enjoyment, or bhukti. Under strict adherence to karma, there is really no spirituality involved or any worship of a god. Seeing the immediately visible results of cause and effect, fruitive workers take complete shelter of the laws of karma, thinking them to be unrelated to spirituality.

The karmis can be ruled out as spiritually-enlightening friends since they will be forced to suffer through reincarnation. As mentioned before, anyone who desires a material body will be gladly given one by the higher authorities. What’s interesting to note, however, is that even spiritually inclined leaders and so-called religionists often fail to act as friends. Religion is often adopted to advance a personal cause or to receive some personal benediction. One person wants material opulence, another wants many disciples and a good reputation, another wants to achieve powers associated with yoga practice, while another is looking for the cessation of all undesirable conditions. While each of these spiritualists may be well-intentioned and sincere in their beliefs, their ultimate conclusions fall short of service to God. Service to Krishna is not merely a way out of distress, but rather a way towards Supreme Pleasure. Not only is this pleasure desirable, but it is constitutional. It is the inherent nature of the soul to be blissful, full of knowledge and in constant association with Krishna through various transcendental mellows, or rasas. Unless the religiously inclined take the ultimate conclusion to be service to the original personality of Godhead, any spiritual practices adopted can at best be considered second class.

The sincere souls who are looking to reconnect with Krishna surely find themselves in a precarious condition, as even spiritual leaders, those who seem like they would be friends, turn out to be interested in their own agendas divorced of devotional service. Such a precarious condition would seem to indicate that all hope is lost. Yet from studying a notable incident described in one of the oldest books in history, we can learn how to weed out the pretenders and accurately identify the best friends of humanity as it pertains to spiritual life. Many thousands of years ago, the Supreme Personality of Godhead descended to earth in His form of Lord Rama, the pious and handsome prince of Ayodhya. On one occasion, Rama’s wife, Sita Devi, was kidnapped from the forest of Dandaka by a demon named Ravana. Not knowing where she was, Rama enlisted the help of a band of monkeys living in the forest of Kishkindha. Their king was Sugriva and his chief assistant was Shri Hanuman, who is described as being the best of the monkeys, hari-shreshtha.  The Sanskrit terms “vanara”, “hari”, and “kapi”, which all can translate to “monkey”, are used to describe these celestial figures who roamed the earth in monkey-like forms as Rama’s dear friends.

Sugriva had a massive army of monkeys, so he divided them up and dispatched them to the corners of the earth to search for Sita. After providing the marching orders, Sugriva turned to Hanuman and offered him nice praise. Sugriva knew that only Hanuman would be able to find Sita and live to tell about it. Sugriva’s direct address of Hanuman was important because the mission didn’t call for Sita’s rescue or the slaying of her captor. These tasks were reserved for Rama, her beloved husband. In order to take on her captor in a fair fight, Rama needed to know where she was first. In reality, Shri Rama knew everything, for He is the Supersoul residing within everyone’s heart. Yet to allow His sincere devotees a chance to serve Him, Rama feigned ignorance.

After hearing Sugriva’s words of praise describing Hanuman, Shri Rama Himself contemplated Hanuman’s attributes and abilities. Deciding that Hanuman would certainly be successful in the mission, Rama gave him a ring with His name inscribed in it. In the above referenced statement, Rama is handing the ring to Hanuman and explaining its significance. Rama’s alliance with Sugriva and the Vanaras came about after Sita’s kidnapping, so she would have no way of knowing who Hanuman was. Moreover, she was stuck in a city where all the citizens abided by the orders of the Rakshasa Ravana. Even if Hanuman were to approach Sita and inform her of Rama’s intentions, she would have no reason to believe his words were genuine. Rakshasas are the masters of illusion, so they will use whatever tricks they can to cheat others. This represents one of the harmful side effects of taking shelter of the material energy. If a person’s ultimate conclusion is that material enjoyment is the topmost engagement in life, they are in essence viewing themselves as God. If everyone adopts this mindset, the resulting condition is one where everyone is competing with each other to be the supreme ruler of the perishable realm. Since it is impossible for anyone to assume this title, one which rightfully belongs to God, collisions will naturally result. These collisions then result in natural disasters, fierce competition, wars, lying, cheating, stealing, etc. The Rakshasas were completely dedicated to maya, or the illusion of material nature, so they were regular victims of such negative side effects.

Because Hanuman would be carrying a ring inscribed with the name of Rama, Sita would know for certain that he was a friend. This is indeed what would happen, as Hanuman would find Sita, show her Rama’s ring, relay information to her, return to Rama and Sugriva with information of her location, and eventually help the Lord defeat Ravana. Due to Hanuman’s sincere and noble efforts, Sita was found and rescued and everyone was happy in the end. For the conditioned souls trapped in the world where fierce competition and chaos occur regularly, finding a true friend is difficult. Yet Sita’s behavior towards Hanuman shows how to make the proper judgment. If someone is carrying the name of Rama, Krishna, Vishnu, or any other non-different form of the Lord, we can identify them as a friend. The name can be carried not only in the form of an inscription on jewelry, but also in the most potent form of the transcendental sound vibration produced by the tongue. Children born of devotee parents are sometimes named after Krishna and Rama, but unless they take to chanting the Lord’s names on a regular basis, they cannot be considered messengers of the Lord. Shri Hanuman is the eternal servant of the Lord and a powerful rescuer of fallen souls. He only has one dharma: service to Rama. He was recognized as a friend by Sita, and his well-wishing nature extends to all of humanity. By humbly submitting ourselves before such a divine figure, we will surely find our way back to Rama, from whom this entire creation emanates.

Token of Remembrance

“Thereafter, being very pleased, that chastiser of enemies [Rama] gave to him [Hanuman] a ring inscribed with His own name as a token of recognition for the king’s daughter [Sita].” (Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kand, 44.12)

dadau tasya tataḥ prītaḥ sva nāmāṃka upaśobhitam ।

aṃgulīyam abhijñānam rājaputryāḥ paraṃtapaḥ

Certain symbols and attributes help us to properly identify others. In initial meetings with our fellow man, it is difficult to correctly gauge their qualities and personality types. Just as the laws of gravity apply equally to all objects irrespective of a person’s faith or skepticism towards it, the laws of spirituality, especially as they pertain to intrinsic qualities, apply equally to all forms of life. As such, every form of living being, be it a human, animal or plant, has the same essential characteristic of being a lover of God. The predominant quality of the individual represents their dharma, something which does not change based on time, circumstance or level of understanding. Nevertheless, in the conditioned state, the predicament the living entities currently find themselves in, the foremost nature of the soul is covered by qualities consisting of matter. Material nature envelops the jiva soul in a cloud of ignorance, thus causing forgetfulness of its constitutional position. Another unpleasant side effect to this ignorance is that man is not able to properly decipher who is actually knowledgeable and who isn’t, who knows what their dharma is and who has adopted some other concocted set of law codes to live by. Yet from studying a few important incidents from history, we can gain the necessary knowledge to be able to accurately gauge who is a friend and who isn’t as it pertains to advancement in spiritual life.

“That understanding which considers irreligion to be religion and religion to be irreligion, under the spell of illusion and darkness, and strives always in the wrong direction, O Partha, is in the mode of ignorance.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 18.32)

A friend is someone who shares with us a common interest, experience or quality. Depending on the specific field of activity, the nature of our friends can vary. For instance, if we are avid moviegoers and enjoy studying and critiquing cinema, we will take a liking to others who have similar passions. If we enjoy playing and watching sports, we will make friends with those who similarly enjoy such activities. In this way, we see that friendships are formed off of common interests, likes and dislikes. It’s important to have friends because life is very difficult to manage on our own. We are similar to the Supreme Lord in quality, but our quantitative powers are vastly inferior. God can create, maintain and destroy on the grandest scale, but we cannot. For any activity, complicated or simple, we require the aid of nature and the divine intervention of the Supersoul, God’s expansion residing within the heart. The individual soul, being free to choose its activities, can certainly serve as the impetus for action, but the results of work rest in the hands of more powerful forces.

“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself to be the doer of activities, which are in actuality carried out by nature.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 3.27)

Due to the little control we have over the outcome of events, it is nice to have friends who are similar to us in quality, people who themselves have to struggle through life’s ups and downs. Yet identifying who is a friend and who isn’t is not so simple. We have to look for different signs, symbols and characteristics before we can be sure that an otherwise stranger is actually a friend. For example, if we are living in a foreign country and happen to meet someone who speaks the same language that we do, there is the likelihood that a friendship will be formed. This is true in any circle, for people with common interests will band together. Language is so important because it serves as the mode of communication and thought. If there are barriers in language, it will be difficult to share thoughts and ideas. If we happen to find someone who speaks our language, there is a relief in the sense that they will be able to understand our emotions, likes and dislikes.

The greatest friend is one who is a well-wisher to everyone; he shares an interest that is common to every single person. What interest could apply universally? As mentioned before, dharma does not change from person to person. At the core, the essential characteristic of the spirit soul is that of eternal companion of the Supreme Soul, or God. Yet most of us are unaware of this fact due to past karma and desires. The material world is a flawed replica of the spiritual world. Some of the activities and surroundings look the same, but the key distinction is that the Supreme Lord’s personal presence is absent in the material world. This is by design because only in the material world can the individual souls act on their desire to imitate the activities of the Supreme Divine Entity. The conditioned entity, through constant acceptance and rejection of different bodies, remains in the deeply flawed realm for as long as it desires to.

Though the conditioned jiva souls have a desire to imitate God, their essential characteristic, or dharma, does not change. Returning to the constitutional position is quite simple: one has to change their desires. We can’t change our desires if we aren’t aware that our current desires are flawed. Therefore we require the help of one who has already realized the essential characteristic of the spirit soul. Such a person then becomes a friend to all because they help others rise to the highest platform of knowledge.

How do we recognize such a person? Where do they live and what do they look like? When an individual realizes their true nature and acts based off this understanding, they are considered liberated. Liberation refers to the release, or moksha, from the cycle of birth and death. Release from the perpetual cycle of misery known as samsara is considered beneficial because when the individual ceases to take birth, his next life will be in the spiritual world. Due to God’s personal absence, the material world is a place full of miseries. This condition is guaranteed because no one can become the supreme controller, or ishvara, though everyone is trying to be in some way or another. One person is trying to be the ishvara of the house, another is trying to rein supreme in a community, while the greatest miscreants are trying to dominate the entire world. Competition for supreme control leads to lust, anger, greed, chaos, tumult, despair and all other inauspicious conditions.

The liberated souls attained their position through humble submission to the Supreme Divine Entity. Though there are different forms and names for this Person, His original form is that of Lord Krishna, who is also known as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. At the core, every person is a lover of Krishna. Those who have realized this fact and acted upon it are considered liberated. Such pure souls, who are known as devotees, then take to various activities based on their knowledge of the ultimate conclusion of God being Supreme. These activities, the collection of which forms the discipline known as bhakti-yoga, are performed in a specific manner, with the participants generally assuming a certain kind of dress and appearance. It is not that one is forbidden from engaging in devotional service in the absence of this appearance, but rather such signs and symbols help both the performers and those they encounter. For example, a person can engage in fighting enemies in a formal setting without donning a uniform and still be successful. But at the same time, a uniform proves beneficial because it allows fighters from the same side to understand who is a friend and who is a foe. The uniform also allows non-fighters to know that a military man is coming and to understand what their purpose is. Indications based on dress are similarly useful for police officers and the citizens they protect.

Devotees of Krishna, who is also worshiped in His form of Lord Vishnu, are known as Vaishnavas. Vaishnavas can generally be recognized by the tilaka marking on the head, tulasi beads around the neck and a simple robe for an outfit. The tilaka represents Vishnu’s lotus footprint, and the tulasi beads represent Tulasi Devi, the beloved devotee of Krishna who kindly grants bhakti to anyone who pleases her. This ensemble constitutes the basic uniform of the devotee, and it allows others to recognize who is a universal friend. Though the specific items making up the outer dress are certainly helpful in allowing others to identify devotees, the true power behind such markings is that they act as symbols of the Supreme Lord. The nature of the message one carries serves as the key determining factor in deciding whether they are a friend or a foe. Depending on the time and circumstance, the need for such identification becomes increased. The sincere devotees, those humble souls who have dedicated their lives to serving the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, require more proof than simply the outer markings on the body. They need to hear or see the name of the Lord in order to be truly won over in friendship. Such was the case with a beautiful and chaste woman who found herself in a terrifying circumstance many thousands of years ago. Her fears were allayed when she was shown a beautiful ring which had the most significant of markings on it. Due to the special engraving, the ring served as a token of remembrance, abhijnanam, allowing the princess to identify both the owner of the ring and its present bearer.

Due to His causeless mercy, the Supreme Lord doesn’t allow the conditioned souls to descend to the material world alone. Rather, He accompanies them in their journeys from body to body. The soul that represents the identity of the individual resides within the heart of the living entity. Next to this soul is the Supersoul, or God’s expansion. Problems arise due to the fact that the conditioned soul is ignorant of the existence of both of these powerful spiritual entities. When one learns to take direction from the Supersoul, all auspicious conditions are met. In order to help the conditioned entities link with the Supersoul, the same Personality of Godhead descends to earth and manifests without in a transcendental body. Such was the case many thousands of years ago when Lord Rama appeared as the eldest son of the King of Ayodhya. There is no difference between Rama and Krishna, for they are the same original Personality of Godhead.

As a pious and handsome prince, Rama had an equally beautiful and virtuous wife named Sita. Sita and Rama are always together, even in the spiritual world. Only Rama is worthy of such a wife. The Lord is often criticized by non-devotees for His treatment of Sita, but in reality His behavior towards such exalted divine figures is flawless. The miscreants are simply envious of the Supreme Lord’s ability to attract and secure such a beautiful and wonderful a person as Sita, thus they take to criticizing Him. One such perceived maltreatment was Sita’s kidnapping at the hands of a Rakshasa demon named Ravana. Aside from giving pleasure to the devotees, Rama’s self-assigned duty was to save the world from the attacks of Ravana, a deadly demon who had the intention of ruling the world. As a chivalrous king, Rama would never attack another without just cause. Therefore His excuse came in the form of Sita’s kidnapping.

Being taken back to the island kingdom of Lanka, Sita certainly found herself in a terrifying condition. Ravana tried his hardest to win her over with soft words, but a devotee gives their heart to God. Once the heart is given away in earnest, it can never be taken by another. Therefore Ravana reverted to threats of violence, giving Sita an ultimatum that if she didn’t agree to become his wife after a certain period of time, she would be killed. To make matters worse, Sita was left in a garden and harassed by female associates of Ravana day and night. In this way, she was constantly in a terrifying circumstance, taking everyone to be an enemy. The Rakshasas are masters of illusion, so even when they appear to speak soft and kind words, one would be wise to not take their entreaties at face value. Sita’s only solace were her thoughts of Rama and His activities. Through her behavior she taught everyone how to endure tough situations. Only by keeping one’s consciousness fixed at the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord can fears and worries be allayed.

Meanwhile, Rama and His younger brother Lakshmana engaged in a frantic search in the forest for Sita’s whereabouts. They were not by her side when she was kidnapped, so they didn’t know where she had been taken. Shri Rama, as the Supersoul in the heart of every living entity, certainly knew what had happened, but to show respect to the role He was playing, He feigned ignorance. This behavior also allowed Him to enlist the help of a band of sincere Vanaras, or monkey-like humans. Their chief warrior was Hanuman, a celestial figure possessing every beneficial quality and attribute. Hanuman’s commander, Sugriva, had vouched for the Vanara’s abilities, and Rama had seen Hanuman’s personal character on full display. Thus the Lord knew that Hanuman would be successful in finding Sita and returning the intelligence he gathered to both Sugriva and Himself.

But the Lord knew that Sita, wherever she was, was certainly in a precarious condition. Therefore she wouldn’t be forthcoming with information or welcoming to just any person. Hanuman, possessing the body of a monkey, wouldn’t immediately appear as a friend to Sita. After all, Rama’s alliance with Sugriva and the Vanaras was only formed after Sita had been taken away. To let Sita know that Hanuman was carrying His message, Rama handed over a ring inscribed with His name on it. The name is non-different from the Lord; it is simply the visible identifier of the sound vibration representation of the Supreme Divine Entity. Shri Rama knew that Sita would recognize this ring as belonging to Him. If Hanuman were to present the ring to her, she would have full faith in his words. She would be able to recognize Hanuman as a devotee because he would be carrying with him Rama’s holy name inscribed on a ring.

Events would play out exactly as Rama suspected. Sita would accept Hanuman as her greatest well-wisher and friend after speaking with him and seeing the ring. All would end well, as Rama and the Vanaras would eventually march to Lanka, defeat Ravana and his army, and rescue Sita. These incidents illustrate that the presence of the name of the Lord is the most important indicator in determining a person’s qualities. Those who always carry the names of the Lord found in the maha-mantra, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, can be taken to be the best friends to all living entities. Devotees always chant this mantra and thereby inform all around them that they come in peace. The miscreants, the non-devotees in false guises, and the foolish atheists will never chant the Lord’s name in earnest, so they can immediately be ruled out as being supreme well-wishers. Hanuman is still worshiped to this day for his devotion to Sita and Rama. Though he doesn’t possess the body of an ordinary human being, he is still nevertheless taken to be a great Vaishnava. He always wears the tilaka mark on his head, beads around his neck, and most importantly, he always chants the name of the Lord. Hanuman is not only Sita, Rama, and Lakshmana’s friend, but he is a friend to the world as well.

Excitable

“Then observing that monkey [Hanuman], who was the most resolute and determined in his endeavors, the highly splendorous one [Rama] realized that success in the mission was certain and thus His mind and senses became thrilled with joy.” (Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kand, 44.11)

tam samīkṣya mahātejā vyavasāyottaram harim /

kṛtārtha iva saṃhṛṣṭaḥ prahṛṣṭa indriya mānasaḥ

God is not just a man in the sky who is waiting to punish the heathens and the sinners. Rather, the Supreme Lord is a person who has definitive attributes, qualities and activities. To enhance the enjoyment felt in the performance of these engagements, the Supreme Personality, who is full of bliss and knowledge, prefers accompanying associates with whom to interact. Being the all-blissful and self-satisfied Lord, there is nothing lacking in enjoyment in the spiritual sky, for the eternally liberated associates reside in that pleasant realm alongside their beloved Lord of their life breath, prananatha. Based on these truths, we see that religion, or spirituality, essentially boils down to a relationship instead of just a final destination or ultimate palatable condition. Since the relationship resulting from purified spiritual practice trumps all other attachments and bonds, the enjoyment derived from it is potent enough to erase all miseries, fears and worries. The source of the potency of this relationship is the two way exchange of energy, where both the giver and the receiver receive tremendous transcendental pleasure. Thus our aim in life is to find a way to reenter into the sublime relationship, and by following the example of great spiritual personalities of the past, attainment of the topmost goal can be made much easier.

It is the natural tendency for the neophyte spiritualist to view God as an order supplier and an all-powerful figure. “Listen to Him or you will be punished with eternal damnation in hell. If, however, you surrender unto Him and acknowledge His supremacy, you will enjoy felicity in the eternal kingdom of heaven.” While there are certainly some truths to be found in this most vague and immature view of spirituality, the model fails to touch on key aspects of the original Divine Being’s nature and His relationship with His subordinates, the individual living entities. Though the Lord is often depicted as angry or jealous by spiritual leaders, this viewpoint actually contradicts the very idea of a supreme controller. Anger results from frustration. Jealousy is the result of feelings of inferiority, the insecurity caused by the thought that someone else is enjoying more or is happier than we are. If the Supreme Lord were subject to these two defects, He couldn’t be described as supreme. After all, if you are God, how could you be jealous of anyone? If God was jealous, it would mean that somewhere a person existed who was enjoying more than the Lord or who was more opulent. This certainly can never be the case because we know that man is mortal. No matter how much one enjoys in the present life, all activities come to an end at the time of death; a time that is rarely greeted with open arms. If the man upstairs were frustrated in any of His attempts, He could not be deemed supreme. Frustration resulting from fallibility is something experienced by ordinary man, for the greatest frustration of all is mortality. Though man tries his hardest to prolong life as much as possible, there is nothing that can be done to prevent death. In this way, all endeavors are bound to meet defeat at some point. If such frustration is experienced by the Lord as well, then there really is no difference between the two entities. If there is no difference, what need is there for religion or spiritual life?

The Vedas, being the original scriptures of the world, shed some light on these issues. Though we can never completely understand the full scope and breadth of the Supreme Lord and His multifarious energies, by carefully studying Vedic literature in a mood of humility and patience, we can gain a much better understanding of our constitutional position, our aim in life and the ultimate favorable condition. After all, it is the nature of the individual to act in their self-interest, a behavior based on the innate desire to search for happiness or at least a peaceful and pleasurable condition. Religion thus becomes that discipline which seeks to find that one condition which gives supreme pleasure. In order for pleasure to be supreme, it must be unending and free of any defects. A pleasure is considered defective if it is deficient in any aspect. For instance, the bliss felt from sex life is deficient because it doesn’t last very long and it doesn’t solve issues pertaining to the maintenance of the body, such as food, clothing and shelter. The pleasure felt from eating is similarly flawed since it only satisfies a specific aspect of regulated life.

The aim of spirituality is to find that pleasure which takes care of every issue, or problem point, in life. Vedic wisdom unequivocally states that the topmost pleasure can only come through the association of the Supreme Pleasurable Object. Not surprisingly, only one person is worthy of this title: God. Since the Lord is capable of providing the greatest enjoyment to others, He is naturally the most-attractive. Since God is the most beautiful, He is known by the name of Krishna. Just hearing that Krishna is the most attractive and the giver of transcendental pleasure is enough on the surface to get us to at least consider spiritual life, or that discipline which aims to keep one in Krishna’s association. Yet the Vedas don’t stop at this point; they go further into the explanation of precisely why Krishna is able to provide the topmost pleasure. The Lord is described as the energetic, and the living entities, the spirit souls, are described as His energy. Just as the sun is the power behind the rays of the sun, the Supreme Lord is the reservoir of spiritual power, with the tiny sparks represented by the individual spirit souls acting as the beams of energy emanating from the original powerhouse.

The rays of the sun are very potent, for they can burn the skin and cause surface temperatures to rise very rapidly. In this way, the sunrays have similar qualities to the sun itself. However, the sun’s power is infinitely greater than that of its rays. In this way, Lord Krishna, being the energetic, is vastly superior to the individual souls, the energy. The sun never loses its potency even after the associated rays exit its company and work their magic in the universe. Similarly, the spiritually energetic, being Supreme, is free to do as He pleases, as are the energy manifestations. Regardless of what the beams of energy do, Krishna’s superior position is never supplanted. The material world is created when the energy objects want to imitate the energetic. Through the desire to separate from the original source of all potencies, the natural order of things gets disrupted, as the energy can never become the energetic. The energy certainly will try every which way they can to circumvent this truth, but they will be frustrated in every attempt. No amount of renunciation, knowledge, sitting postures pertaining to yoga, or material wealth can turn the energy into the energetic.

The energetic is certainly not angered by the misguided activities of the energy. Rather, the Lord tries every which way possible to educate the energy about their true nature. Moreover, when the spiritual sparks become purified and conscious of their true position, they immediately return to the association of the energetic. When these two parties thus meet, there is love and bliss felt on both sides. The meeting of the energy with the energetic thus becomes the only bona fide spiritual goal because only through this synergy can both parties be benefitted. There are other inferior rewards of spiritual life such as ascension to various heavenly planets, a long duration of life and the merging into the giant sum total of energy. The energetic resides in His own realm, but He has an impersonal beam of energy known as Brahman which serves as the outer covering of His spiritual land. Brahman can be thought of as being similar to the outer atmosphere of the earth planet. When spaceships reenter the earth from outer space, they must pass through the topmost atmospheric layer of the earth, a task which is extremely difficult. In a similar manner, those transcendentalists who realize the futility of imitating the energetic and yet still fail to desire His direct association are allowed to enter into Brahman. Even with this reward, there is no benefit to the energy or the energetic. The energy loses its individuality when merged into Brahman, and since Brahman does not meet the standards necessary to be considered an object, it is incapable of feeling pleasure.

When the energy and the energetic unite through voluntary and loving actions, the bliss felt by both parties is unmatched. These truths passed down by the Vedas are pleasing to the ear, but in the theoretical stage they are quite difficult to imagine as being factual. Therefore the Supreme Energetic, the transcendent Lord Himself, kindly appears on earth from time to time in a spiritual form to prove that the statements of the Vedas are not merely products of rampant speculation, but rather irrefutable facts. One such appearance took place many thousands of years ago when Shri Rama took birth as the eldest son of the King of Ayodhya, Maharaja Dasharatha. Rama is considered an incarnation of Vishnu or Krishna, the transcendental forms of the energetic Lord which eternally reside in the spiritual sky. Though Rama appeared to take birth, His body was always completely spiritual. The individual living entities appear in the material world due to ignorance of their constitutional position, but for the Supreme Lord, there is no chance of delusion. He appears only out of His sweet, causeless mercy.

The Lord comes to earth primarily to deal with those who are interfering with the sincere efforts of the devotees. A devotee is someone who is trying to reassume their constitutional position through acts of loving service to the Supreme Lord. The quintessential act of the devotee is the chanting of the holy names of the Supreme Energetic, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. As mentioned before, the Lord can never get angry from frustration, but if He sees that a devotee’s efforts are being thwarted, He will personally take action to ensure that the devotional efforts continue without impediment.

“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in religious practice, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of irreligion-at that time I descend Myself.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 4.7)

In addition to dealing with the lowest of mankind, the Lord also comes to earth to personally connect with the spiritual sparks who are already purified. One such divine personality is Shri Hanuman, the most capable of Vanara warriors. Lord Rama spent many years on earth, and on one occasion He enlisted the help of a band of Vanaras, monkey-like humans, who were living in the forest of Kishkindha. Rama’s beautiful and chaste wife, the goddess of fortune herself, Sita Devi, had been kidnapped and taken away by a miscreant named Ravana. The Lord easily could have found and killed Ravana Himself, but since He was in the guise of an ordinary human being, He didn’t feel it necessary to pound His chest and show off His godly powers all the time. If the Supreme Lord performed all the difficult tasks in life for us, what would be left for us to do? Individuality manifests through activities, the most pure of which are those directed at the lotus feet of the Supreme Divine Being.

Rama used the unfortunate occasion of His wife’s abduction as an opportunity to allow the exalted Vanaras of Kishkindha to serve Him. One Vanara in particular had caught the eye of Shri Rama. This monkey was named Hanuman, and he was Sugriva’s most trusted aid. Since no one knew where Sita was, Sugriva divided up his massive army into groups, each of which was sent to a specific corner of the earth to find Sita. After the monkeys were partitioned in this way, Sugriva gave special attention to Hanuman, informing the exalted warrior that after all was said and done, he would be the one to find Sita. After hearing Sugriva extol the virtues of Hanuman, Shri Rama pondered the matter over in His mind. The Lord didn’t need to think long, for He knew all about Hanuman’s outstanding abilities and his fully potent attributes of courage, perseverance, dedication, love and strength.

From the above referenced passage, we see that Rama is absolutely thrilled at the prospect of Hanuman taking charge in the search for Sita. Rama immediately felt that success was guaranteed. The Lord’s intuition would indeed prove to be true, as Hanuman would find Sita, return the information of her whereabouts to Rama, and then help the Lord and the rest of the monkeys defeat Ravana and rescue Sita. For these and many other reasons, Hanuman is still worshiped and loved to this day. His name is synonymous with dedication and love for God.

It is interesting to note that Rama, who is the Supreme Energetic, felt exhilarated from simply thinking of Hanuman’s potential exploits. The Lord’s mind and senses were delighted, thus further proving that the Supreme Lord is a person with transcendental senses. In addition, the concept of the ideal relationship being one between the energy and the energetic is also validated. When Lord Rama, the energetic, was united with a purified emanation of His energy, Shri Hanuman, the two felt tremendous bliss. Through their interactions, the path to perfection in life becomes quite clear. We simply have to love God as much as Hanuman does and have the same eagerness for service that he showed. Not only will this lead to our benefit, but the Supreme Lord will be made extremely happy as well, which is justification enough for adopting the discipline of bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. Shri Hanuman is not only a divine figure, a granter of boons and an emblem of courage and loyalty, but he is also a most generous donor of unending pleasure to the Supreme Lovable Object.

“The form which you are seeing with your transcendental eyes cannot be understood simply by studying the Vedas, nor by undergoing serious penances, nor by charity, nor by worship. It is not by these means that one can see Me as I am.” (Lord Krishna speaking to Arjuna, Bg. 11.53)

From Hanuman’s ability to please Rama’s senses, we see that mere courage, strength, chivalry and prowess aren’t enough to gain the good graces of the Lord. Only when these qualities are engaged in the humble service of the Lord will they be put to good use. The ideal relationship, the ultimate favorable condition, is achieved by using whatever we have at our disposal for the pleasure of the Supreme Lovable Object. The topmost relationship has nothing to do with perfunctory rituals, ordinary regulations, judgment days, or tests of loyalty. Bhakti is simply about love, the transcendental variety. When practiced perfectly, devotional service is unmotivated and uninterrupted. Not only is the service provided by the purified energy unending, but so is the bliss and joy felt by the energetic. Devotional service exposes the true potential that we all have for greatness and happiness. Spiritual life is not about simply passing tests of faith or pledging allegiance through formal processes. It is about reconnecting with the energetic and feeling pleasure that is free of any defects.

If Hanuman is capable of pleasing Rama, he is surely capable of pleasing others as well. For those who worship and respect Hanuman, devotion to Rama is quickly achieved. Shri Hanuman is not selfish in this regard, for he knows that the Lord will be pleased by seeing eagerness and affection from His fragmental sparks. Hanuman, by example, teaches us how to make the best use of our energy for the ultimate cause. As such, Hanuman forever remains our hero.

We’re Not Alone

“His [Hanuman’s] capabilities being well known from his past deeds and his having been specifically chosen by his master, the mission will certainly be completed successfully.” (Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kand, 44.10)

tat evam prasthitasya asya parijñātasya karmabhiḥ / bhartrā parigṛhītasya dhruvaḥ kārya phalodayaḥ

Due to the never-ending difficulties in life, success is never guaranteed in any venture. Though we may forget it every so often, we are not alone in this world. We may choose to take up the most difficult tasks by ourselves, but this needn’t be the case. To successfully reach the finish line, the ultimate objective of life, we can rely simply on the greatest warrior, the most ardent supporter of all that is good in this world: Shri Hanuman, the beautiful divine figure of the Vedic tradition, the emblem of love, loyalty and devotion to the Lord. His merits have been battled tested on many an occasion and he has always passed with flying colors. More than just a loyal warrior, Hanuman is the bridge between the world of darkness and the realm of pure light. Those seeking the way towards ultimate freedom can steer their ship in the right direction through Hanuman’s kind mercy.

The most difficult task facing the conditioned entity mired in an endless cycle of reincarnation is the altering of consciousness to the point where a permanent pleasurable mindset can be adopted. Surely the subject matter pondered over by the brain can vary, but if we were to classify the objects of our thoughts and efforts, we’d see that there really isn’t much variation. For example, say that one day we spend all our time thinking about eating pizza. While we are at work or sitting at home watching television, we just can’t wait until lunch or dinnertime when we’ll be able to get a piping hot pizza pie or slice in front of us. Moving forward to the next day, since we satisfied our desire for pizza the previous day, our thoughts can move towards another food item. This time we can think about eating some nice Indian food, perhaps dosa or idli. Again, thoughts of enjoying sumptuous food consume our consciousness throughout the day.

On the surface it appears that there are differences in the natures of both thought processes, but in reality, there isn’t. On both days, the primary thoughts of the mind are focused on food, the eating of which results in the satisfaction of the taste buds and the stomach. In a similar manner, almost all the objects of our daily thoughts can be categorized into four basic activities: eating, sleeping, mating and defending. The Vedas, the ancient system of knowledge originating in India, declare that these are the four primal activities of the animal species. As human beings, we are supposed to have an advanced level of intelligence, a knowledge base which sees past the basic activities performed by animals. Humans are animal-like, but the heightened potential for intelligence exists for a reason. If our consciousness remains stuck on animal activities, we aren’t making the best use of our brain power.

“For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 2.20)

An advanced consciousness is one that works towards eliminating the need for eating, sleeping, mating and defending. The wise and challenging student in the classroom would at this point mention that there is one easy way to get rid of all activity: death. But nature doesn’t allow for such an easy escape. The spirit soul residing within the body is ever-existing, so it does not die when the body decays. We can think of each day as a measurement of time, a line of demarcation. Every day that we wake up is essentially a new birth, for our body, mind and consciousness have all changed from the previous day. Death represents a similar change, except that the entire outer covering of the soul gets replaced. The exact nature of the new outer covering is determined by one’s consciousness at the time of death, which is determined by the activities they performed during their lifetime. Unlike the laws of the state which are sometimes not enforced, the laws of nature are precise and completely fair. Every action has a commensurate reaction which must bear fruit at some point in the future. The more severe the original action undertaken, the greater the intensity of the reaction will be, and vice versa.

To truly transcend the base animal instincts, consciousness must be shifted towards service. Ironically enough, even the animals are engaged in a kind of service. Since the human beings are similar to animals at the beginning of life, they too have a natural inclination to serve, as divine love is characteristic of the spirit soul, which is the impetus for activity in all forms of life. In addition to being undying and unchanging, the soul has an essential property, or dharma. To allow the wandering souls to remain true to their essential characteristic, the Supreme Master instituted a set of law codes which governs mankind’s activities. Since these codes are for the soul’s benefit, they are also known as dharma. Thus dharma can mean an essential characteristic or the laws of God.

When consciousness is focused on animalistic activities, the beneficiary of the mood of service is the gross senses. In more simple terms, the individuals in this situation are only interested in serving themselves. A higher, more noble level of service involves helping other living entities, an arena where the donors derive more pleasure than from selfish pursuits. For instance, business tycoons and wealthy proprietors are lacking nothing in the area of sense gratification. They can eat what they want, go where they want and associate with whomever they want, at any time. Since money is of no concern, they have complete freedom in tending to the demands of the senses, which attack incessantly like the waves that pound the seashore. Yet it is often found that such wealthy men end up going in one of two directions. One class gets so fed up with sense gratification that they take to slowly killing themselves through drug and alcohol abuse. The other class takes to serving their fellow man through acts of charity and philanthropy. Benevolence is certainly the more healthy option, and it is more closely tied to the essential characteristic of the soul.

Yet even this type of service falls short of providing the perfect consciousness. The living entity without any knowledge of the Supreme Spirit has no idea how to properly serve their fellow man. Body consciousness gets tiring after a while, for it fails to provide any lasting happiness. Yet even when those who are fed up with serving their own interests take to pleasing others, the type of service they offer only relates to bodily demands. Essentially, such charity and philanthropy, though well intentioned, only seek to satisfy the gross senses of those being served. If such a mode of life proved inferior for the philanthropists, what guarantee is there that the same lifestyle will provide any sort of relief, temporary or otherwise, to those being helped?

“After many births and deaths, he who is actually in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 7.19)

If serving the interests of the senses is futile, and so is offering material aid to our fellow man, what are we left to do? A life dedicated to associating with matter falls short of perfection because the service is directed at the outer covering of the soul. The loving propensity is purified when it is directed at spirit, or that entity which remains aloof from the temporary changes of the body. How exactly can one go about pleasing the soul? The wonderful properties that belong to the individual spirit are actually derived from a more potent entity, a person who is known as God to most people. In the Vedic tradition, God is called by thousands of different names, each of which describes a different transcendental feature. The individual soul emanates from the spiritual spark known as the Supreme Lord, so there is a similarity in quality between the two entities. Though the qualities are similar, the exact natures are different. One entity is supreme, while the other is subordinate. When both entities are adherent to their respective positions, a peaceful, pleasurable and ideal situation is reached.

The Supreme Spirit never deviates from His position; it is impossible for Him to do so. God is always God. Therefore the onus for change rests squarely with the individual souls. Through activities of sense gratification driven by animal instincts, consciousness remains focused on the body’s needs and wants. Matter is that which is not God, so acting in its interests goes against the essential characteristic of the soul, or its dharma, because under this mindset, the individual is taken as the supreme entity. As a result, the less intelligent activities of eating, sleeping, mating and defending are given precedence by those with no knowledge of their constitutional position. One in the know, a wise individual who realizes their subordinate position, immediately takes to pleasing the Supreme Lord and relying on His mercy. When one’s thoughts and desires always follow this mode of activity, the consciousness remains purified.

Achieving the highest level of consciousness is the most difficult task, for very few entities currently residing in the perceptible world have successfully reached it. Luckily for us, many great personalities of the past not only ascended to the topmost platform of consciousness, but they also performed many great activities as a result. One such individual is Shri Hanuman, the great Vanara warrior. During the Treta Yuga, the second time period of creation, the Supreme Spirit kindly appeared on earth in the guise of a seemingly fallible, yet powerful human being. As mentioned before, God’s position never changes. Even when He appears in the form of a conditioned entity, His supremacy is still intact. Unlike with the animals, humans and all forms of living beings, there is no difference between God’s body and His spirit. He is completely spiritual and full of knowledge.

To offer a service opportunity to the sincere souls looking to please Him, the Supreme Spirit, in His form as a pious prince named Rama, put Himself into various situations where He appeared to require assistance. One such predicament involved the rescue of Rama’s wife, the kind and sweet-hearted Sita Devi. She was kidnapped by a Rakshasa demon named Ravana and taken to an island kingdom of Lanka. Since Rama didn’t know where she was, He enlisted the help of a band of Vanaras, monkey-like humans, living in the forest of Kishkindha. Their leader was Sugriva, whose chief warrior was Hanuman.

Prior to sending out his huge monkey army to search for Sita, Sugriva specifically addressed Hanuman with kind words of confidence. After hearing this praise, Shri Rama thought the matter over. In the above referenced passage, we see that Rama ultimately concluded that success in the mission was guaranteed due to the words of Sugriva and the qualities of Hanuman. Rama makes mention of the fact that the results of Hanuman’s past activities in the service of Sugriva were well known, thus proving that his abilities had been battle-tested. In the task at hand, Hanuman was actually offering service to Rama through the proxy of Sugriva. Rama’s intuitions would turn out to be correct, as Hanuman would successfully find Sita and return information of her whereabouts.

To be successful in changing consciousness for the better, the direct shelter of the Lord, or the protection of one of His proxies, His bona fide representatives, is required. To this day, Hanuman is known as the greatest devotee of Rama, so it’s not surprising to see that he is worshiped by millions around the world. Knowing that we should direct our service towards the Lord and actually doing it are two different things. The challenging spirit remains very strong in the individual who has developed a deep-rooted desire to compete with God in the areas of creation, maintenance, destruction and enjoyment. Even Krishna Himself, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is viewed to be either a mythological figure or one who is worshiped simply to further some other fabricated cause like women’s subjugation or widespread violence. Such thoughts are conjured up by the grossly foolish, those who can’t stand to see others worshiping Krishna in lieu of being perpetually miserable through allegiance to matter, illicit sex life and stiff competition for the enjoyment of material resources.

For those sincere souls living in this current age of quarrel and hypocrisy, where there is no shortage of miscreants and enemies of spirituality roaming the land, there is only one method of salvation, a singular religious practice that can be adopted in even the most adverse of conditions. This efficacious transcendental practice is the chanting of the non-different names of the Supreme Being, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”. In addition to chanting this mantra regularly, we should also seek the association and well-wishes of the divine servants of the Lord such as Shri Hanuman. Chanting, reading, hearing and other aspects of devotional service represent the beginning steps towards achieving a purified consciousness, but the ultimate objective is to keep our thoughts fixed on the Supreme Truth at the time of death. Though the task may be daunting, if we are armed with the blessings of the powerful, courageous and benevolent Shri Hanuman, success will be guaranteed.

Letter of Recommendation

“In all respects, the lord of monkeys [Sugriva] is certain about Hanuman’s ability to meet the objective, and Hanuman is even more certain of his ability to carry out the work necessary for success.” (Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kand, 44.9)

sarvathā niścita artho ayam hanūmati hari īśvaraḥ

niścita arthataraḥ ca api hanūmān kārya sādhane

When applying for a new job or entrance into a higher education establishment, letters of recommendation are often required. At the very least, these documents prove helpful towards the granting of admittance. The prospective employers and administrators certainly take into consideration a candidate’s own qualifications, but the recommendation serves as a way to support the claims of capability presented in a resume or personal interview. The recommendation is an indication that another credible entity is willing to support the candidate’s purported qualities to the point where they will write down their thoughts and descriptions of attributes on paper. Recommendations can also come from phone and face to face interviews, but the concept is still the same. In addition to the recommendation, the candidate also needs to show confidence and passion in the particular area of interest. If a candidate exudes confidence, it shows that they will settle for nothing less than the successful prosecution of the tasks handed to them. Similar principles apply in the spiritual realm, where the prospective position is that of servant in the transcendental army tasked with fighting the illusory forces of maya. In order to secure this most coveted occupation, a candidate needs to have both confidence in himself and the wholehearted recommendation from those who are already engaged in the struggle.

What is the exact nature of the conflict? In short, the aim of life is to reconnect with the Supreme Spirit. Every person, regardless of their religious persuasion, is engaged in some sort of struggle, a fight towards achieving an objective. The plight entails resistance because the desired end-result is not easily attained. If it were, then there would be no question of unhappiness, distress or frustration. Part of the allure of the desired palatable condition is its elusive nature. Because it is difficult to attain, the desired condition becomes more attractive, for it promises to bring a thrill not currently available to the person seeking it. In this regard, the desired palatable condition can vary from person to person; hence the actions undertaken and the causes they represent also differ. The desired end-goal, the favorable condition, can be deemed an individual’s dharma, or essential characteristic. The desired predominating quality then leads to activities or duties, which can also be considered a dharma.

The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, not only give us the term dharma, but they also provide information into its nature, i.e. that dharma is something that doesn’t change. Surely everyone can adopt different dharmas based on the scope of activities they engage in, but the true essence of the individual doesn’t vary based on time or circumstance. Since dharma is ever unchanging, it is described as sanatana. Therefore religion in the Vedic tradition is defined by the term sanatana-dharma. The essential characteristic of the individual soul is that of pure love for the Supreme Soul. The outer covering of the soul, the body, causes a false identification at the time of birth. Since every life form’s outer covering is different, the false identifications also vary. The soul is what counts, so it is only from this entity that we can derive our true identity.

Unlike the material elements surrounding it, the soul is always knowledgeable, full of bliss and unchanging. Since the atma inherits its qualities from its Supreme Master, the Personality of Godhead. its essential characteristic is to always be in the presence of its complementary and superior spiritual entity. While residing in a temporary covering composed of varying material elements, knowledge of the essential characteristic gets clouded, or at least forgotten. Therefore the aim of life, the eternal occupation of man, sanatana-dharma, is to take the necessary steps to reawaken one’s dormant God consciousness, a rekindling of the essential characteristic.

For the conditioned soul whose knowledge of spirituality is covered up from the time of birth, adoption of the cause of sanatana-dharma is not easy. Simply put, man is incapable of properly understanding or even conceiving of the Personality of Godhead without help from a third party. Those with a puffed up false ego will surely scoff at such a notion. “Human life is all about perception. Why should we believe something someone else tells us? We shouldn’t blindly follow anyone.” While this line of thinking seems valid, it contradicts the very essence of how knowledge is acquired. For example, as young infants we had no ability to talk, walk or even feed ourselves. Through experience we certainly learned these things, but there was education involved as well. Knowledge pertaining to reading, writing and arithmetic isn’t just acquired in a single day. Extensive education is required, and the more willing a student is to accept such instruction the faster their progress in the acquisition of knowledge will be.

“The Blessed Lord said: Many, many births both you and I have passed. I can remember all of them, but you cannot, O subduer of the enemy!” (Bhagavad-gita, 4.5)

The greatest limiting factor towards the acquisition of knowledge through simple sense perception is time. In the grand scheme of things, the average lifespan of the individual in a specific body is quite short. Since the soul is eternal, it never takes birth or dies. As such, our current life is not the only one we’ve ever had. The soul can be thought of as the greatest acrobat that jumps from one rope to another, with each rope representing a new body type. Yet with each jump, knowledge and memory are erased. This is actually by design, for there would be less enjoyment if we knew exactly how old the soul was and where it had previously been. The individual spirit souls crave freedom outside of the Divine’s association, so the enjoyment that results, which is more or less an illusion, is augmented through forgetfulness, the clean slate we start with at the time of birth.

We can certainly acquire knowledge through experience. The elderly are given respect for this very reason. They have seen all that life has to offer and its various pitfalls and shortcomings. Yet no amount of experience can teach us about the Supreme Divine Entity, who is the oldest person, purana-purusham. Moreover, from texts like the Bhagavad-gita, we understand that His memory never diminishes. He remembers every single incident pertaining to every single living entity since the beginning of time. Just this concept alone, the beginning of time, can only be understood by the Supreme Lord and no one else. The conditioned soul is incapable of thinking beyond the bounds of time and space.

The living entity has an inherent penchant for spiritual activity because the soul, in its constitutional position, is fully knowledgeable. This is a property it shares with the Supreme Soul. Yet the forces of material nature are so strong that the natural light of knowledge is covered up. It can only be uncovered through the mercy of one who is already liberated, one who has already removed the cloud of ignorance brought on by material contact. No amount of mental speculation, mathematical problem solving, rhetorical debate or experimental knowledge can remove the nescience that envelops the pure soul. We can scour the earth, dig deep into the depths of the ocean and travel far into outer space and still never even come close to understanding the glorious nature of the Supreme Absolute Truth, whose original form is that of a blissful and extremely merciful personality named Krishna.

So if we can’t discover our intrinsic knowledge on our own, it surely must be taught to us. But if someone else is teaching us this information, how can we be sure that their instructions are correct? After all, aren’t they a conditioned living entity as well? If it is impossible for the brain to conceive of God on its own, how were such teachers able to learn the Truth? The most complete available description of the spiritual realm was provided by its proprietor at the beginning of creation. The first entity who took in this information then passed it down to his disciple, who then passed it on to their disciples and so on. In this way, through the descending process, knowledge of the Supreme Absolute Truth was made available to subsequent generations. We simply have to approach a person belonging to the bona fide chain of disciplic succession and kindly pose our questions to them. Only through the descending process of knowledge gathering can the information necessary for rekindling one’s dormant God consciousness be acquired.

Knowing that the ultimate aim of life is to be eternally engaged in our true dharma, devotional service to God, is one thing, but actually successfully prosecuting this mission is another. Becoming a devotee can be compared to the process of landing a job that we must be qualified for and be accepted into. In order to secure the highly coveted transcendental post, we require both confidence in the worthiness of the mission and the recommendation of a person who is already engaged in the task. Not surprisingly, an example always helps to explain these concepts more clearly. Fortunately for us, Vedic literature is replete with instances of such principles put into action.

A long time ago, during the Treta Yuga, the Supreme Personality of Godhead decided to appear on earth in human form. Through the divine descent, the Lord kindly reinstitutes the original principles of spiritual life to the members of society at the time. Sometimes the chain of disciplic succession gets broken, so the Lord sends one of His eternally liberated associates from the spiritual world to come and reinstitute them. On special occasions, Krishna decides to appear Himself in an eternally existing, transcendental body. Such was the case with Lord Rama, who played the role of a pious prince and noble warrior.

When the Supreme Lord comes to earth, He doesn’t just go around beating His chest and forcing everyone to surrender unto Him. Since the natural constitutional position of the living entity is that of servant of the Supreme, the Lord creates opportunities for such service to be enacted. In order for the living entities to garner an interest in serving the Lord, there must be tasks that require dedication, hard work, and most importantly, love. We would be hard pressed to find a more difficult task than the finding of a kidnapped princess. Such was the mission presented before Shri Hanuman, the chief warrior to the Vanara king, Sugriva.

Lord Rama’s wife Sita Devi had gone missing while she was residing in the forest with her husband and His younger brother Lakshmana. Seemingly unaware of where Sita had gone, Rama roamed the forests looking for her with Lakshmana. Eventually the two brothers made their way to Kishkindha, which was inhabited by a race of human-like monkeys at the time. Their leader was Sugriva, who himself had been driven out of his kingdom and estranged from his wife. Agreeing to help Rama find Sita, Sugriva divided up his monkey army and ordered them to scour the corners of the earth. He gave special attention, however, to Hanuman. He praised Hanuman’s qualities and his perseverance. Sugriva entrusted the entire matter to Hanuman, because he knew that only the great warrior would be capable of actually finding Sita. Since the princess was so beautiful and chaste, her kidnapper would make sure to take her some place that would be almost impossible to find. This was indeed the case, as the Rakshasa demon Ravana had taken Sita to the island kingdom of Lanka. Sugriva knew that finding Sita would be difficult but that Hanuman was surely up to the challenge.

In the above referenced passage, Lord Rama is pondering over Hanuman’s attributes and the praises relating to his qualities put forth by Sugriva. From Rama’s thoughts, we see that Sugriva fully recommended Hanuman for the task at hand and that Hanuman himself was fully confident in his abilities. Lord Rama appreciated both of these sentiments very much. As a result, Rama agreed to allow Hanuman to engage in this most difficult task. Rama essentially gave the green light to Hanuman to take up devotional service to Him. The great warrior would indeed go on to find Sita, allay her fears, return information pertaining to her condition and location to Rama and then help Rama and the army of Vanaras take on Ravana and rescue Sita.

Aside from being a valiant and courageous warrior, Hanuman is also highly learned. As a pure devotee of the Lord, he is not only versed on all the theoretical knowledge of the Vedas, but he also practically applies them on a daily basis. Hanuman knows no other God besides Rama, and he knows no other dharma besides bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. For those souls sincerely interested in returning back to the spiritual realm, approaching an exalted divine figure such as Hanuman can never prove fruitless. If Rama’s eternal representative, the glorious and beautiful Shri Hanuman, is pleased with our sincerity and sees that we are confident in our belief of devotional service being the highest engagement in life, he will surely recommend us to Shri Rama. With Hanuman vouching for us, the Lord will surely accept our humble service.

Divine Arrangement

“Then, after hearing that the success of the mission lay with Hanuman, and knowing Hanuman very well, Raghava reflected.” (Valmiki Ramayana, Kishkindha Kand, 44.8)

Hearing from Sugriva, the great-monkey king, of Hanuman’s virtues, abilities and attributes, Shri Rama, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, pondered the idea of all hope for success resting in the efforts of a singular entity. The task at hand was quite a daunting one: the rescue of a missing princess who was taken by someone who didn’t want to be found. The criminal was both wise and powerful enough to remain hidden from sight, so discovering his hideaway location would not be easy. Moreover, after being discovered, such a miscreant surely would take whatever steps necessary to ensure that his secret location remained concealed from the purview of others. Thus the reconnaissance mission at hand required the most adept of intelligence agents, the most powerful, deliberate, wise and sincere of servants. Prior to making a final judgment, Lord Rama pondered the matter over, taking into account the various attributes possessed by Hanuman, characteristics that were known to Rama through His own dealings with the great Vanara and which had also just been extolled by Sugriva.

Who is Lord Rama? In the Vedic tradition, the Supreme Absolute Truth is described in different ways, but ultimately He is taken to be a person, or purusha. A personality is not limited to possessing a human body, but rather He can assume any type of vigraha, or form. Purusha represents the individual spiritual spark, the basis for identity. Matter, or prakriti, is dull and incapable of movement, change and even the ability to leave byproducts. Purusha is the essence of life, and since all life comes from the Almighty, it would make sense that He too is a purusha. Since His spiritual qualities transcend darkness, or ignorance, He is known as Purushottama. The Supreme Person is full of form, knowledge and bliss, and due to His causeless mercy, He kindly appears on earth in the guise of a living entity from time to time. Sometimes the Lord descends as a fish, a boar, a turtle, and even as a lion-like figure. But since we are in the human species – the most advanced of material bodies due solely to the increased potential for intelligence – we give more attention to the human-like incarnations of the Lord. Rama was one such avatara who appeared on earth many thousands of years ago.

The Supreme Absolute Truth is described as both nirguna and saguna in the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India. Nirguna means without gunas, or material qualities. Another translation for guna is “rope”, or that which binds. The living entities in the material world are pure spirit souls at the core, but since they are covered up by material qualities, they are deemed conditioned. The different gunas of goodness, passion and ignorance lead to various changes, both beneficial and harmful and subtle and visible, to the living entity. The Supreme Lord created the material world and its gunas, so He can never become subject to the forces of nature. Therefore He is described as nirguna, or without material qualities. Yet such a description doesn’t mean that He is formless. We know from Vedic information that the Absolute Truth’s hands and legs are far-reaching. His hearing and seeing abilities are also unmatched. God has a form, one that is transcendental; it transcends the modes of material nature.

Since it is impossible for the living entities in the conditioned state to conceive of the true reach and scope of the Lord’s transcendental form, the Supreme Absolute Truth kindly takes various forms in the material world. These forms are referred to as saguna since they are perceived to have qualities. It must be said that the Lord can never associate with matter. For the individual, there is a difference between matter and spirit. Spirit is Brahman, which is full of knowledge, while matter is maya, or that which is not Brahman. But since the Lord is the fountainhead of both Brahman and maya, He can never associate with anything inferior or binding. His incarnations and their deity representations are described as saguna because they appear to possess material qualities to the ordinary living entity. The individual is incapable of properly offering service to the Lord’s original spiritual body. We know from the Bhagavad-gita and other Vedic texts that the Lord’s body is infinitely large. So how can we offer our respects and obeisances to something we can’t even conceive of? Due to the kind mercy of the Supreme Spirit, He appears in His saguna forms to provide a glimpse of what His original form looks like.

The saguna manifestations, such as those of Lord Rama, Lord Krishna and Lord Vishnu that appear in the material world, also serve to remove any doubt about the transcendental form of the Lord. Nirguna, or the unmanifested aspect of the Absolute Truth is a little tricky to understand, and there is every chance of misinterpretation by those who only seek to understand this aspect of the Divine. The saguna forms, however, help to remove all doubt. Goswami Tulsidas, the beloved devotee of Shri Hari, another name for the personality of Godhead, gives a great analogy to help us understand the difference between the two aspects. Tulsidas says that nirguna is akin to the numeral representation of a number, while saguna is the representation of the same number but written out in letters and words. When doing business with banks or other parties, a person will write the amount of the transaction on the check using numerals. However, just to make sure there is no funny business, the person will also write out the same amount in words.

“For those whose minds are attached to the unmanifested, impersonal feature of the Supreme, advancement is very troublesome. To make progress in that discipline is always difficult for those who are embodied.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 12.5)

This analogy illustrates how the nirguna aspect of the Supreme Absolute Truth can be easily misunderstood. The greatest misinterpretation occurs when the living entity takes himself to be the Absolute Truth. Understanding that God has a formless aspect, the conditioned living entity can make the mistake of thinking that there is no Personality of Godhead and that each individual is God Himself. The saguna forms remove the confusion by exposing all the chicanery and trickery employed by the impersonalist philosophers who take Brahman, or the blissful light emanating from the transcendental body of the Personality of Godhead, to be the ultimate realization while ignoring the words of Bhagavan found in texts like the Bhagavad-gita. The analogy to the monetary transaction is appropriate because with numbers it is very easy to change a numeral or transpose a decimal to get a completely new number. For example, if we write a check for $1,000.00, simply adding a zero in the middle can change the value to $10,000.00. But when the same amount is written in the word form of “one thousand dollars”, it becomes much more difficult to manipulate. The string “ten thousand dollars” looks much different than “one thousand dollars”. Therefore the saguna forms are more important to worship because they give a glimpse of the Supreme Lord’s transcendental forms that exist in the spiritual world. In fact, the saguna forms are non-different from the original; that is the magic of the Supreme Lord. Indeed, those who understand the saguna form automatically realize the true nature of Brahman, just as one who knows the properties of the sun automatically gains a better understanding of the sunshine.

When the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared on earth as the pious prince named Rama, not only did mankind get to see His saguna form, but they also got to witness His joy-evoking activities. After these transcendental pastimes were enacted, devotees talked about them and wrote down their accounts in books. One of the more famous incidents from Rama’s life involved His friendship with the monkeys residing in Kishkindha. Rama’s beautiful and chaste wife, Sita Devi, had been kidnapped by a demon while she was residing in the forest with Rama and His younger brother Lakshmana. Not knowing where she had gone, Rama made His way to the Kishkindha forest, where He ended up forming an alliance with the king of Vanaras, Sugriva, who agreed to help Rama find Sita.

Since no one had any idea where the princess was, Sugriva decided to divide his massive monkey army up into teams. Each team would scour a different corner of the earth. But in the end, right before the great egress of monkeys, Sugriva took shelter of Hanuman, his chief warrior. He knew that Hanuman would be the one to find Sita, for amongst the monkeys, he had a monopoly on all the characteristics necessary to complete the task. After hearing the virtues of Hanuman, who had actually helped forge the alliance between Sugriva and Rama, the Supreme Lord pondered over the idea. He took stock of Hanuman’s attributes and the words uttered by Sugriva.

Rama didn’t have to think long. He had seen Hanuman’s attributes on display already. The Supreme Lord is antaryami, or the witness of everything, so He already knew what Hanuman was capable of. Hanuman would indeed prove himself to be more than up to the task. He would find Sita’s whereabouts, battle the attacking Rakshasas, set fire to Ravana’s city of Lanka and return the relevant information to Sugriva and Rama. Hanuman’s behavior proves that the representatives of the Lord are placed into just the right situations through Divine arrangement. The ascension of a spiritual master or pure devotee to prominence is no accident. After all, the Supreme Lord knows what He’s doing.

The conditioned living entities mired in a perpetual cycle of reincarnation fueled by material desires need guidance in life. We may have an inclination towards spiritual life, but that tendency gets thwarted if we remain in the association of those who have other interests. An individual’s primary desire in life essentially represents their dharma. Dharma is an occupational duty or an essential characteristic. Whatever condition a person deems as their ultimate favorable one will then determine the nature of their activities. Thus dharma can be relative in the eyes of the conditioned living entity. The Vedas tell us that there is really only one dharma, that of service to the Supreme. Since the living entities are eternally linked to the original Divine Entity, there is a natural inclination towards that service lying deep within the recesses of the heart.

“Whatever action is performed by a great man, common men follow in his footsteps. And whatever standards he sets by exemplary acts, all the world pursues.” (Lord Krishna, Bg. 3.21)

Society tends to work in a pack mentality. What one leader does, others will follow. Going against the grain is not an easy thing, so if we have an inclination towards rekindling our forgotten relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it may not be so easy to take the necessary steps in the beginning stages. Therefore, we require the association of a saint, someone who is fearless in their execution of devotional service. The ultimate dharma, that occupational duty that ignites the fire for performing unalloyed and uninterrupted loving service to the Supreme, is bhagavata-dharma, or devotional service. The purified saint, the bona fide representative of the Personality of Godhead, takes this dharma to be their way of life. No person can convince them otherwise. Even if the entire world is against the practice of this sublime engagement, the saint will never deviate from their service. Shri Hanuman is one such unabashed lover of Godhead.

The greatest benediction in life is to have the association of one who is dedicated to the Supreme Lord in every thought, word, and deed. If we happen to come across such a blessed soul by meeting them in person or reading their books, we should consider ourselves highly favored by the man upstairs. We should also keep in mind that such a devotee was specifically empowered by the Supreme Lord to execute their service. Hanuman’s acts of bravery exhibited in his loving service of Shri Rama were no accident. Before any definite plans were agreed upon for Sita’s rescue, the Lord carefully pondered over the matter and accurately deciphered that Hanuman would be successful in the most important of missions. For the living entities conditioned in the material world, the most difficult task is that of crossing over the ocean of nescience, going from the material world to the spiritual world. The devotee of the Lord, the fearless servant, is the via-medium, the only person who can help us cross this ocean. By always remaining in their association through following their example and instruction, all our doubts and inhibitions harbored towards the validity of the imperishable engagement of devotional service will be quickly removed, thus allowing for a peaceful return to the imperishable realm of the transcendentally and blissfully situated Supreme Lord.