But this column is not about politics. It is about the greatly beloved deity, Hanuman himself. I may be excused if I have a personal interest in this matter, since my name, Pavan Kumar, stands for Hanumanji. It was given to me by my parents as I was born on Hanuman Jayanti, which coincided that year with Chhoti Diwali. There were many suggestions that for this reason I should be named ‘Deepak’, but ultimately Pavan Kumar prevailed.

Hanuman is one of the central and most loved characters of the Ramayana. Son of Kesari and Anjana, he is known by many names, including Mahavira, Kesarinandan, Pavansuta, Anjaniputra, Bajrangbali, Anjaneya, and Pavan Kumar. According to belief, he is the son of the wind, hence Pavansuta. He is also regarded as the son of fire, Anjaniputra.

Foreigners, understandably but ignorantly, refer to him as the ‘monkey god’. However, it requires the Hindu imagination to see the divine in all things, including the animal world. In portraying divinity, Hinduism often uses the construct of discordant juxtaposition. For instance, Kali the Goddess, may appear to be grotesque to the foreign eye, but it serves the purpose of pole-vaulting the routine imagination to a new level of insight, a state of mind best attuned to realising the supra-human powers of the divine. Other key gods in the Hindu pantheon are conceived in the same idiom. Revered Lord Ganesh is depicted as half-human and half-elephant. This can be derisively dismissed as the primitive ‘elephant god’, but in reality, it is a means to drive home the point that conventional human categories cannot apply to visualising the Absolute, which is beyond these categories.

Beyond their appearance, it is far more important to understand what these deities stand for. Ganesh stands for Vighneshvara, the remover of obstacles, the lord of intellect and learning, and is identified with the mantra ‘Om’. Hanuman is worshipped for being the eternal symbol of devotion to Ram. But he is also endowed with many other qualities. He is the quintessential brahmachari or celibate, in eternal control over his senses, a yogi incarnate, and a symbol of great strength and valour, with the mace or gada as his weapon. He is the embodiment of knowledge and scholarship—gyan, guna, saagar, the ocean of jnana and of all auspicious qualities. According to Tulsidas, he is learned in Vedantic philosophy, a master of the Vedas, a poet, a polymath, a grammarian, a singer and a musician par excellence. He is also the remover of dangers, the sankata mochan.

In Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas, Hanuman says the following to Ravana:

Rama naama bin giraa na soha

Dekhu bichari tyaga mada moha

Basan hina nahin soha surari

Saba Bhushan bhushita bara nari

In these lines, Hanuman advises Ravana to give up his hubris and pride, and accept the servitude of Ram. No amount of boastful talk by Ravana is to any avail, just as a woman adorned with jewellery but without clothes is still considered naked. Here, Hanuman is the sage, giving counsel to Ravana, displaying both his devotion to Ram, and his virtues as a scholar and yogi.

Hanuman’s bhakti for Ram has become an inevitable part of his iconography. After Ram defeats Ravana, and returns victorious to Ayodhya, he wishes to give Hanuman a gift by which he could remember him. Hanuman refuses to accept this gift, saying that it is redundant, since Ram and Sita were enshrined forever in his heart. As proof of this, he tears open his chest to reveal his heart, which shows an image of Ram and Sita. Ram then wants to bless Hanuman with immortality, but again Hanuman refuses, asking only for a place at the feet of Ram so that he could worship him.

Such an example of unparalleled devotion, has inspired generations of Hindus. Millions chant the Hanuman Chalisa every day, and go to a Hanuman temple especially on Tuesdays, which is considered his day of worship.

It would be instructive for the members of Bajrang Dal to understand the essence of Hanuman a little more. They will then also imbibe his sagacity, humility, wisdom, and strive to become gyan guna saagar. They can then display far more credibly their devotion for Ram by following the values that Maryada Purushottam Ram—the focus of Hanumanji’s eternal devotion—stands for.

Pavan K Varma is author, diplomat, and former Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha)

Just Like That is a weekly column where Varma shares nuggets from the world of history, culture, literature, and personal reminiscences with HT Premium readers

The views expressed are personal