Hanuman

by Vanamali

  Hearing this, Hanuman immediately concluded that the two brothers were incarcerated in Ahi-Mahiravanas’ dungeon. With the proverbial speed of wind, he reached the netherworld known as Patala, which was the residence of the asuras. There he saw a huge fortress. He was wondering how to enter. He decided to make himself tiny so that he could squeeze in through some small door. Just then some ladies came outside and he heard them talk about the two handsome humans who had been brought there to be given as a sacrifice to Kaali. Hanuman was determined to find out where his Lord had been incarcerated.

  As he went around the fortress, he suddenly found a door guarded by a handsome young monkey. He went to him and asked him to allow him to enter.

  “Who are you, and why have you come here?” asked the young monkey.

  “I have come to rescue my master Lord Rama and his brother, who have been stolen by your masters, the Ahi-Mahiravanas.”

  “You’ll have to fight with me before you can enter. But beware, I am Makaradwaja, son of Hanuman, and you won’t find it easy to beat me!”

  Hanuman burst out laughing when he heard this. “What a stupid monkey you are to tell such stories. I am Hanuman, and I am an eternal celibate. I have neither wife nor child.”

  When he heard this, the young monkey threw himself at Hanuman’s feet and asked him to bless him. “Blessed is my life, now that I have seen you,” he said.

  Hanuman shook him off and said, “You must be a rakshasa kept by Ahiravana in order to hinder me. Now stand up and tell me where they have been hidden. If not, I’ll kill you.”

  Makaradwaja begged him to listen to the story of his birth, which had been told to him by the sage Narada.

  “At that time when you were returning through the air after having found Sita, a drop of your perspiration fell into the sea and was swallowed by a crocodile that became pregnant with your seed. The crocodile was caught in a fish net and brought to the court of my masters. They cut open its stomach and I came out of it. They decided to adopt me and made me the guardian of their gate. That is why my name is Makaradwaja [part crocodile, part monkey].”

  “This is certainly a wondrous tale,” Hanuman said. “I suppose if this was told to you by the celestial sage Narada, it must be true. I am indeed very happy to meet you, but I have no time to lose, so tell me where your master has kept the two princes. Did you know that he has captured Rama and Lakshmana and brought them here?”

  “I didn’t know who they were, but I know that he brought two hermits who were unconscious and has kept them under custody to be taken to the temple. They will be offered as sacrifices to Kaali tomorrow morning.”

  “I must rescue them immediately,” said Hanuman.

  “Father, forgive me, but if you want to enter the fortress, you will have to fight me and tie me up so that my master will not suspect me of having betrayed him. I am as loyal to my master as you are to yours,” said the monkey fearlessly.

  Then followed a fight between father and son in which Hanuman defeated Makaradwaja and tied him up before proceeding to the temple where Rama and Lakshmana were to be sacrificed. The boy told him that before he could kill his masters, he would have to put out five lamps that were placed in five different directions in the temple. Apparently their life force was kept in these lamps, and they could never be killed just by cutting off their heads.

  Hanuman thanked him and took the form of a bee, getting into the fortress through the keyhole. He then went to the Kaali temple and hid himself in a small monkey form that was inside the idol of Kaali.

  The temple was slowly starting to fill with people coming with different types of offerings to the goddess. The brothers now came with the two unconscious princes and threw them at Kaali’s feet. They were slowly starting to recover from their swoon. The demons beseeched the goddess to accept this final offering of two humans so that she would be pleased to grant all their wishes. Hanuman was furious when he saw this and started eating all the things that were kept in front of the idol, much to the astonishment of all those present.

  “She must like us very much,” they thought. “We’ve never seen her eat all these sweets before.” They ordered more sweets to be brought, all of which were consumed by Hanuman as fast as they were brought.

  The two demons then said in pious tones, “Now we will offer you the blood of these two humans.” So saying, one demon grabbed Rama by his topknot and the other grabbed Lakshmana. They prepared to chop off their heads. At that moment Hanuman, pretending to be the goddess, spoke from inside the idol.

  “Leave everything here and go out. Let the temple be cleared of all people. I will eat these humans by myself.”

  The brothers were amazed at Kaali’s words. But they immediately cleared the temple and went out, closing the door.

  Hanuman directly came out of the idol and bowed to Rama and Lakshmana, who had almost recovered from their swoon. Very soon they became fully conscious. They were astonished to see where they were. Hanuman bowed low to Rama and told him the whole story briefly, since time was passing and the monkeys would be awaiting his return anxiously.

  As he came out of the door of the temple, the brothers who were waiting saw him and realized that they had been neatly tricked. They pounced on him. Hanuman kept the two princes down and started to fight with the demon brothers. But however much he tried, he could not put them down. Rama and Lakshmana now came forward, for they had fully recovered, and started to help Hanuman. But the brothers seemed invincible. With every blow they appeared to grow stronger. They laughed in scorn to see the bewildered look on Hanuman’s face. Then suddenly he remembered his son’s words. He told Rama and Lakshmana to keep them at bay and ran back to the temple. He looked around and saw the five lamps as described by Makaradwaja. He immediately assumed his panchamukha (five-faced) form and put out all five lamps simultaneously. Of these five faces, there were the three incarnations of Vishnu—Varaha (boar), Narasimha (half-man, half-lion), and Hayagriva (horse-faced). The fourth face was that of Garuda, Vishnu’s eagle vehicle, and the fifth was his own face. Having extinguished these five lamps simultaneously, he ran out and killed Ahiravana and his brother easily. He also killed all the other demons who tried to stop him.

  Another story about the invulnerability of the brothers is described in a different way. Every time Rama, Lakshmana, and Hanuman killed the brothers, they revived and start fighting again. Hanuman was puzzled and flew to the city, determined to discover the reason for their apparent immortality. He found the Naga princess who was Mahiravana’s queen, and she promised to tell him the secret of his invincibility on condition that Rama agree to marry her. Hanuman agreed but placed a counter-condition—that Rama would be relieved of this obligation if the cot on which they sat were to collapse beneath him. The princess then revealed the secret of her husband’s immortality. She told him that he owed his existence to seven large bees that were kept in a hive thirty leagues away and that produced nectar that kept the two demons alive. Hanuman flew to the spot and killed six of the bees. He spared the seventh on condition that it go to the princess’s room and hollow out the leg of her bedstead. He then returned to help Rama and Lakshmana and killed the demons in no time. Hanuman told Rama the whole secret. Rama went to the princess’s room, but just as he sat down on her bed, the frame gave way. He then blessed her to become his wife in another age—the Dwapara Yuga.

  Hanuman now took Rama and Lakshmana on his shoulders and started to fly back. When they passed the bound figure of Makaradwaja, Rama asked him who it was. Hanuman said that he was a monkey who professed to be his son. Rama insisted on going down and freeing him. He also anointed him as king of Patala and told him to reign according to the law of righteousness so that the Vedic dharma that the demons had destroyed would once again be established.

  Makaradwaja fell at Rama’s feet and at his father’s feet and got their blessings.

  Hanuman now returned to Lanka with Rama and Lakshmana and revived the hopes of the monkeys, who had been waiting anxiously f
or their return.

  O Hero! Ghosts and demons can never come near one

  Who utters your name!

  SRI HANUMAN CHALISA BY TULSIDAS

  Aum Sri Hanumathe Namaha!

  Aum Satyasandaaya Namaha!

  25

  Rudrasya-Soonu

  Fight to the Finish

  Sa tena shylena brisham raraja shylopamo gandavahatmajasthu,

  Sahasradharena sa pavakena chakrena khe vishnurivarpitena.

  Coursing through the air with the peak,

  The son of the wind god, who resembled a mountain,

  Looked like Lord Vishnu carrying his flaming discus with a thousand edges.

  VALMIKI RAMAYANA, YUDDHA KANDA

  Ravana was rejoicing in the thought that the Kosala brothers must now have been given as a sacrifice to Kaali by his sons when he heard the commotion outside the fortress. He climbed up the battlements to see what was happening and saw Rama and Lakshmana being feted in the midst of the vanaras. He just couldn’t believe this. One by one, fate was depriving him of all his friends and hopes. But he revived himself and decided to send the last of his generals to the battlefield. The next day he sent his crack regiment of carefully chosen men, famed for their valor, to the battlefield. With them went his remaining commanders—Mahodara, Mahaparswa, and Virupaksha. They were all thought to be invincible warriors.

  Armed with all the best weapons of their time, the ill-fated army gathered at the western gate at break of day. Their fires threw off dark smoke. Carrion birds hovered over the sky and jackals barked and howled. Clouds of ash floated over the city of Lanka. Outside the golden walls there was an explosion as Indrajit’s enchanted grove went up in flames. The west gate opened, and the drawbridge dropped with a thunderous sound. The sentinels on the walls beheld the bears and apes were watching them, but the rakshasas were not afraid and drew out their swords with a grating noise. The two armies met with a terrible clash, and blood flowed like a river. Now Rama told the monkeys to stand aside and tackled them single-handed, as he had fought the army at Janasthana. The army could hardly be seen due to the shower of arrows that engulfed them. Then Rama took up the weapon called the gandharva and created a kind of illusion by which many hundreds of Ramas could be seen on all sides. Within an hour he had totally reduced Ravana’s crack regiment to nothing.

  In the meantime, Ravana’s three wonderful commanders were having a hand-to-hand battle with Sugriva and Angada. After some hard fighting, Virupaksha and Mahodara were killed by Sugriva and Mahaparswa was killed by Angada.

  There was a loud wail in the whole of Lanka, set up by the wives of the deceased. They blamed Ravana’s sister Shurpanekha for being the sole cause of all their troubles, as it was she who had convinced her brother to kidnap Sita. Every house in Lanka was sunk in sorrow. Those houses, from which at one time only the sound of music and revelry were heard, now reverberated with the shuddering sounds of moans and sobs.

  Ravana was filled with gloom and foreboding when he heard this news. He consulted the court astrologers who studied his horoscope and decreed that the alignment of celestial bodies was not in his favor. As mentioned, Indian astrology is governed by nine planets known as the navagrahas. Ravana thought that by changing the alignment of these heavenly bodies, he would be able to alter his destiny. Mounting his flying chariot, he rose to the skies, captured the nine planets, herded them to his capital, and bound them in chains. He then began a series of rituals that, if successful, would force the planets to realign themselves in his favor.

  Vibhishana, who was always alert, saw the fumes rising out of the yajnashala (place of sacrifice) where the yaga was being conducted and warned Hanuman to try to stop it. He led Hanuman and a band of monkeys through a secret passage to Ravana’s sacrificial hall. They found the ten-headed one sitting beside the altar with eyes shut, mouthing mantras. The monkeys let out a piercing war cry and rushed into the hall, creating havoc. They stamped out the ceremonial fire, kicked the utensils around, and wiped out the occult diagrams drawn on the ground. Ravana was in deep meditation and remained unperturbed by all this commotion.

  “We must stop him at all costs,” said Vibhishana, “or else he will succeed in changing the course of his destiny.”

  Hanuman now came up with a plan. He told the monkeys to go into the inner apartments and frighten Ravana’s wives. Undeterred, the monkeys attacked his queens and concubines, pulling their hair, scratching their faces, and tearing their clothes.

  They ran to the yajnashala, crying to Ravana to help them. Still, Ravana did not open his eyes. The monkeys now gathered around Mandodari. They bared their teeth, beat their chests, and growled menacingly. Hearing her pitiful cries, Ravana opened his eyes and rushed to her defense. With Ravana out of the way, Hanuman ran to the sacrificial hall and liberated the nine planets that had been held captive. For having successfully aborted Ravana’s attempts to subvert fate, Hanuman won the eternal gratitude of the planets (grihas). Because of this, Hanuman is believed to exercise considerable power over them. He is worshipped by those whose planets are placed in unfavorable positions.

  On the eve of his death, the desperate Ravana made one final attempt to gain victory. He went to his guru and asked him to prescribe some means by which he would be victorious in the battle that would follow on the night of the new moon. The guru advised him to perform another yaga to the goddess Kaali, which would make him invincible, but he warned him not to antagonize her for she was capable of saving anyone who prayed to her. He assembled a large number of Brahmins who had been kept as prisoners and who were deeply learned in all forms of tantric rituals. He commanded them to invoke the most violent form of the goddess as Kaali. If she were on his side, victory was assured. The Brahmins were to recite a certain hymn to the goddess a thousand times, bracketing each recitation with an appropriate offering in the fire, followed by a request to the goddess expressing Ravana’s desire.

  Vibhishana learned of this scheme and informed Hanuman, who instantly took the form of a Brahmin and went to help the others who were preparing various things for the ritual. The Brahmins were impressed by him, since they didn’t normally get this type of service from the inhabitants of Lanka. In return for his services, they offered him a boon. Hanuman pretended to be dismayed and professed that he wanted nothing except to serve them. But they were insistent that he be given something for his devotion, so he innocently asked them to change one syllable in the final mantra they were reciting to procure the favor of the goddess. The Brahmins instantly realized the grave implication of his request, since with the changing of that one syllable, the entire meaning of the mantra changed and instead of asking her to help them, they would be asking her to hinder them! They glanced meaningfully at each other, but since they were bound by their oath, they decided to carry on as the little Brahmin wished.

  The night-long ritual commenced, but since they were saying the wrong mantra, the goddess refused to manifest herself as expected after the recitation of the thousand and first mantra. The priests looked around but found that the helpful young Brahmin had disappeared. Ravana lost his temper with them and wanted to know where they had failed. They replied that the goddess was angry with him for all his adharmic (unrighteous) acts and had therefore refused to comply with his wishes.

  Ravana was furious when he heard this unpalatable truth and rushed at them with sword upraised to kill all of them, but his wife Mandodari caught his hand and stopped him from this heinous crime.

  She begged him to make a truce. “What have the Brahmins done? They have only told the truth. All your brothers, our sons, our friends, ministers, and commanders have died. Will you not stop this outrage until the last of your people have died? What have we left to live for? As for myself, I don’t want to live after the death of my beloved sons! Will you not listen to reason at least now?”

  She begged and pleaded, but Ravana had gone too far to back out now, and he simply waved her off. He thought of another strategy by which he could still vanqui
sh the Kosala brothers. “What Mandodari said is true. All my closest and dearest ones have left me. Tomorrow I will have to face my enemies alone. However, I have never bowed my head before anyone so far and I shall not do so now!”

  Mandodari now asked all his wives to undertake a long vow of fasting and complete chastity and keep an all-night vigil so that the goddess would protect their husband. Jambavan heard of this and knew that any vow would come to naught if the women committed adultery even by thought, if not by deed. So he told Hanuman to fly past their palace window in his most handsome form. Ravana’s wives noticed him and admired his lithe limbs and graceful movements, and a passing thought came to their minds that they would like to be clasped in his strong arms! This mental infidelity detracted from the power of their vow to protect Ravana, and thus he became vulnerable to Rama’s arrows.

  After the disruption of his yaga, in which he had made a desperate attempt to change the positions of his ill-fated planets, Ravana began to realize the powerful truth that one cannot really change one’s destiny. That night as he sadly approached his bedroom, the fascinating Mandodari, daughter of Mayan, the maker of illusions, approached him and softly wound her arms round his neck.