Lord Shree Hanuman

Dedication and devotion to anything help obtain positive results and success is a wide saying and experience. And the same is implemented in Bhakti Marg, pure devotion to the lord without any kind of expectation or selfishness has always given one more than what is asked for. This path has led all in the right direction even the mightiest Lord Bajrangbali Hanuman is said to regain his path in life through his devotion to Lord Ram the incarnation of Bhagavan Shri Hari Vishnu.

Let’s get a look into the how and why of Hanumanji’s life and his journey on the path of Bhakti Marg being the mightiest praisable god himself.

The Birth of Shri Bajrangbali Hanuman

The whole legend of Shri Hanuman’s birth is said to be linked with Bhagavan Shiv having the desire to serve his favorite Sri Hari Vishnu and stay with him in the mortal world as his devotee. Hanuman was born to Anjani a cursed Apsara who married the Vanar King Kesari, through the blessing of lord Varun when she was praying to lord Shiva to grant her child. Thus, he is also called as Anjaneya God.

One story portrays Hanuman being born to Shiv and Parvati and lord Shiv asks her to entrust the child to Anjana and Kesari through the hands of Vayudev, and the epic Ramayan mentions another event for the birth. While King Dashrath of Ayodhya was performing rituals for the birth of their heir, for which he received sacred pudding, at the same time Anjana was praying. With the divine ordinance, a kite took a bite of it and moved across the forest, and a drop of it was delivered to Anjana who was praying. And with the divine orchestrate was born the incarnation of Mahadev hence called ‘ Shivansh’.

He was called Anjaniputra, Anajneya, and Anjani suta as the son of Anjana or Kesarinanadan, and Kesarisuta denoting the son of Kesari, and was named Maruti, being the son of Maruth another name for Vaayu Dev. The name Hanuman was later renowned after his encounter with Lord Indra. Since he was born with the grace of Lord Pavan he is also known as Pavanputra Hanuman or Vayuputra Hanuman, there are many such interesting episodes behind his name there are said to be Hanuman 108 names, from which we would look into some. Shri Hanuman enacted several remarkable events rendering the ‘Thribhuvan’ i.e. the three worlds speechless with his antics and glories, and as he moved through people’s life he started gaining different denominations.

Tale of Pawanputra Hanuman and Entitled Names

Hanumanji was said to be legendary when it comes to mischief as he was of flickering nature, one such tale is of his childhood. He was sleeping in his cradle and saw the sun through a mango tree and thought it was big shining mango. So the naive Anjaniputra took a leap towards the Surya dev and tried eating it, being a Shivansh he had insurmountable powers. Seeing that some child is about to eat Suryadev he uses his Vajrastra the most powerful weapon on Pawanputra Hanuman and little Anjaneya fell, seeing his Godson about to die, Vaayu Dev was enraged and halted the flow of air on earth which started creating chaos and death of the beings and hence the Gods intervened. Seeing Vaayu Dev furious over his son’s death Indra Dev realized his mistake and asked for his forgiveness. And then Lord Shiva brought him back to life along with that all the gods graced the kid with numerous boons to satiate lord Varun’s anger. Among these Lord Brahma blessed him to be ‘Amar’ stating that if his death would hurt Varun Dev so much so he granted Hanuman Ji to never leave the Earth hence named ‘Cheeranjevi’ meaning one who will live forever the immortal being and be able to cast away fears, getting the name Sankat Mochan Hanuman. Since his jaw was disfigured with the Vajra hence he came to be known as ‘Baal Hanuman’ where Hanu means jaw. Another boon he received was from Surya Dev stating he can change his form from as big as he wants to as small as he wishes, hence the name Mahakaya, the gigantic being. Along with all of this, Shri Hanuman is known as Baal Brahmachari or Ajeevan Brahmachari as he has followed asceticism all his life

His name Bajrangbali is said to be related to the incident of being struck by Indra Dev with Vajra and was blessed to be as strong as Vajra, the strongest weapon. So the term Bajra is another word for vajra and ang means the body and Bali means the strongest hence the name Bajrangabali Hanuman. Another story for being called Bajrangbali is due to his action of painting his whole body with sindoor. Once he asked Mata Sita what is most liked by Lord Rama and Sita stated that the Sindoor she applied on her forehead gives immense happiness to Lord Rama. So the pure-hearted devotee applied the sindoor which is also called Bajrang to his body and him being the strongest being was named Bajrangbali

Since Baal Hanuman was blessed with numerous blessings he become invincible and the strongest alive hence being called Mahabali Hanuman, or Mahavira the most valiant. Even so, with all the powers and ignorance young age led him to create chaos all over and prank many Rishi and Sages, and being fed up with all the antics of They cursed him to forget all his powers and later be reminded by a knowledgeable person, which was done by Jambavant the Bear King during their search for Goddess Sita.

Hanuman was the biggest devotee of Lord Ram, their first meet is said to be when Ram was distressed and searching for his beloved wife Sita. They met at Rishyamuk Mountain where God Bajranbali was residing with Kishkinda’s king Sugriv who was overthrown by his brother amidst a misunderstanding over previous events. When Hanuman Ji came face to face with Lord Ram he disguised himself as a Brahmin to test the two warriors approaching them. When he realized it was his Isht deva Prabhu Shree Ram he apologized and vowed to assist and serve him for a lifetime.

In the quest of searching Mata Sita, the Vanarsena ended up at the last land on the south coast, getting a clue about the missing beloved of Shri Ram. To verify the same it was essential to follow the trail crossing the vast sea, and the only person who could achieve this was Mahabali Hanuman. However, he had forgotten his powers and here Jambavant the Great Bear King reminded him of his powers, and fighting the sea monster he reached Ashok Vatika the place Sita was kept captive, and introduced himself as ‘Ramdoot’ e. messenger of Shri Ram, giving her the gods message and providing her relief from the grief and assuring her that she would be saved from the abduction, so being denoted as ‘Sitashokvinanshnayaka’. Later when he was identified by the demon and taken to Lankapati and they tried to burn his tail Shri Hanuman ji set Lanka ablaze.

Hanuman Ji was the lord of Vanar as he was the strongest and blessed among all hence identified as Kapeeshwara, and as he was the one leading the Vanar Sena during the war against Ravan he was called Kapisenanayaka. Bajrangbali showcased his valor and strength along with courage throughout the wartime and later assisted Ram after his return to Ayodhya.

Later during the war between Ram and Ravan, he supported them throughout, right from bringing them back from the capture of Ahiravana from Pataal to saving Laxmana’s life when he was severely injured from the enemy’s attack Bajranbali Hanuman brought Sanjeevani herb along with the whole mountain hence is denoted as ‘Sanjeevananagahtre’ as he could not tell the difference between herb and normal plant, he was then renowned as Lakshmana Prandatre.

Shree Hanuman Ji Worship and Festival Celebration

Hanuman is denoted as Sankat Mochan so there is a belief that he would ward off any kind of evil spirit. So many devotedly follow Hanuman Chalisa a sacred text that describes the story of mightly God Bajrangbali praises him, and mentions the benefits of reciting the same.

As Shri Hanumanji has followed asceticism all his life hence it’s a belief that his followers should also follow the same path. Certain ordinances are said to be followed if you are a devotee of Pawanputra Hanuman like, Girls should avoid doing pooja for Bajrangbali Bhagwan and is to be praised on Tuesday and Saturday as he can protect his Bhakts from the infamous Shani Dev Prokop. The most celebrated festivals include Hanuman Jayanti where followers carry procession and have celebrations in Hanuman temples. Devotional songs, Hanuman Aarti, Hanuman Mantra, and Hanuman Bhajans are recited praying to the god.

Some even believe that service to Lord Ram is service to Sankat Mochan Shri Bajrangbali, as serving his master would please him even more. Today the most staunch follower of Bajrangbali or Mahabali Hanuman is the Kushti players who invoke the blessing of power by chanting Jai Shree Bajrangbali before starting their practice to grant them strength.