Mythological Superheroes: 7. Hanuman

Lord Hanuman is one of the foremost devotees of Lord Rama. He remained a Brahmachari (unmarried) throughout and is counted as one of the seven immortals in our tradition. His other names include Anjaneya, Kesarinandana, Vaayuputra, Bajrang Bali, Maaruthi, Raamadootha etc. He is the first-ever superhero of the world with his mighty physical strength, heroic deeds and valor. But more than all those aspects, it is his qualities such as humility, power of speech and unquestionable devotion towards Lord Rama, that gave him a place among Gods. He symbolizes surrender, devotion and the absence of ego. Hanuman worship transcends India and can be observed in several countries like Srilanka, Cambodia, Phillipines, Thailand etc. 

The narrative of Lord Hanuman is well-known. So let’s dwell into his qualities that stand apart. This is a good way to instill these qualities in our children who are already fascinated by a real-life character like Hanuman. 

1. His Physical Prowess

Being the mind-born son of Lord Vaayu (the Wind God), Hanuman possessed great physical strength even in his childhood. When he was a toddler, he saw a rising red colored sun. Mistaking it for a ripe fruit, he flew up to swallow it, only to be stopped by Lord Indra with his thunderbolt. It hit Hanuman on his jaw causing disfigurement. ‘Hanu’ in Sanskrit means ‘jaw’ and thus he got the name ‘Hanuman’. Lord Vaayu became angry because of his son’s injury and stopped his circulation. This led the Gods to intervene. They resuscitated Hanuman and gave him a lot of boons. Because of these wishes Hanuman began to possess unique powers and strength.

Hanuman – Picture by BSP Pratinidhi

His flight across the ocean to Lanka in search of Goddess Sita, his slaying of numerous demons who attacked him in Lanka, his carrying of the entire Sanjeevani Parvata to cure Lakshmana are examples of his superior physical strength.

2. His Intellect

There were indeed other beings on earth who probably had similar physical strength. But what set apart him from others was his infinite wisdom and quick thinking. He is called ‘buddhimathaam varishtam‘, the best among the wise. There are several instances in Ramayana where his wisdom comes to the fore. It is for this reason that Lord Rama felt Hanuman had the best chances to discover Sita and handed him over his ring to show to Sita.

While crossing the ocean, he had to do some quick thinking to get out of the clutches of Surasa, a heavenly damsel. Due to her boon, no one can escape from passing through her mouth. Hanuman then assumed a huge form that made the damsel to broaden her mouth to a huge size. Abruptly, Hanuman shrunk himself to a small size and quickly entered and exited her mouth, thus validating her boon and escaping unharmed. Surasa then praised Hanuman’s wisdom and wished him well. 

On another occasion, when Lakshmana’s life was in danger, he set out to the Himalayas to find the Sanjeevani herbs. Unable to pick the right ones, he decided the best way is to bring the entire Sanjeevani mountain in order to save time. That proved very prudent later.

Sanjeevi Anjaneya, Hosanadu, Karnataka

3. His Verbal Skills

Hanuman is the considered the best among the orators as well. Though he spoke very less, he possessed extraordinary gift of the gab. That was why Sugriva sent him to meet Rama and Laksmana when they met for the first time at Rishyamuka mountain. Lord Hanuman got his first chance to meet Sri Rama. Through his eloquent speech Hanuman arranged an everlasting friendship between Lord Rama and Sugriva.

Hanuman meets Sita

Again in Sundarakanda, he spoke with such eloquence to Goddess Sita that she finally accepted him to be the messenger from Lord Rama and entrusted her head-ornament (Chudamani) to be given to Lord Rama. It was a challenging ask for Lord Hanuman to convince Sita who was afraid of all the demonesses and of Ravana who possessed shape-shifting abilities. Hanuman turned out to be capable messenger.

He also conducted himself very well in the court of Ravana when he was captured. He quoted Manusmriti and other scriptures and explained to Ravana the misdeed he had committed. Though Ravana didn’t pay heed to him, he discharged his duties very well and returned to Rama announcing ‘Drishtaa Sita‘ (‘Found Sita’ – If you note the order the words, Hanuman didn’t want to start the sentence with ‘Sita’ which might give a second of grievance to Lord Rama on what Hanuman was going to say. Instead, he started the sentence with ‘Found’. Goes on to show his verbal abilities indeed!)

4. His Self-control

Hanuman dedicated himself to a life of ‘Brahmacharya‘ (celibacy). Though he had all qualities that made him desirable to women, he chose to remain dedicated to the service of his Lord Sri Rama. That’s why he was never perturbed by various women during his search of Lanka for Goddess Sita. Due to his ability to control his senses and mind, he came to be known as Jitendriya (the one who won over his senses)

5. His Humility

It is quite natural for anyone who possesses such outstanding qualities to feel a little pride. Not the case with Hanuman. He remained humble in spite of his extra-ordinary powers and did not act in vain at any point of time. Though he had the power to vanquish any demon all by himself, he acted on the orders of his king Sugriva and Lord Rama.

One instance where is humility comes out is in Sundarakanda. When Sita wonders how Rama and the Vaanara Sena (army of monkeys) can come and save her, he replied thus, ‘Mother, it is customary that in an army, the weakest is sent as a messenger. If I, the weakest of all of them, can fly over the ocean and meet you, imagine how strong the army of Lord Rama will be. There is no doubt that Lord Rama will come and rescue you after killing all the demons’.

6. His Single-Minded devotion

The above qualities however are not the reasons for the Lord to make Hanuman his foremost disciple. Lord Hanuman is elevated to the stature of God due his endless devotion to Lord Rama and his name (Rama Nama). The most pleasurable activity for Lord Hanuman is to chant the name of his Lord endlessly and to listen to Ramayana wherever it is chanted. It is for this reason that when we have a Ramayana chanting at home, custom dictates that an additional chair/asana is kept so that Lord Hanuman can listen to the same. He was so engrossed with chanting his Lord’s name that he refused to accompany him to Vaikunta when the incarnation duration of Ramavatara was over. Such was his single-minded devotion to his Lord’s name.

manojavam maaruta tulya vegam
jitendriyam buddhimataam varishttam |
vaataatmajam vaanara yuthamukhyam
shriraamadutam shirasa namaami |

Meaning:
I salute Sri Hanuman who is swift as the mind and fast as the wind, who is the master of all senses and the best among the wise, who is the son of the Wind God and chief among the Vanaras and who was also the messenger of Sri Rama.

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Author Details

Rangarajan has been blogging for over 12 years now on various topics. With Thedal, he becomes one with the universe and he is hoping that his search will help him discover the eternal truth.  Please join him as he traverses through the universe across temples, philosophies and science!

1 thought on “Mythological Superheroes: 7. Hanuman”

  1. Hi Ranga,

    A superhero post after long! Enjoyed reading your post on Hanuman!
    The pictures complement the post beautifully.

    I had read about Hanumanji’s sharp intellect & presence of mind but was not aware about his verbal skills. Thanks.

    One more incident to showcase his intelligence & presence of mind is when in Lanka he extends his tail before he allows it to be set alight and then he shrinks himself to escape the bonds and jumps to set Lanka on fire.

    Congrats on your 100th post! 👏👏

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