🙏Jai Shree Hanuman🙏

हनुमान  जयंती  के  पावन  अवसर  पर  आप सभी को हार्दिक शुभकामनाये  🙏

May Lord Hanuman bless your life with happiness, peace, and prosperity. Wish you all a very Happy Hanuman Jayanti 🙏

So, today is the pious occasion of Hanuman Jayanti celebrated on Chaitra Poornima to mark the birth of one of our most revered and worshiped Bhagawan.  Like millions of Hanuman Bhakts, I am also an ardent devotee of Hanuman Ji. So much so that Hanuman Ji is my go-to God in times of any crisis, and even otherwise, my day is not complete without reciting Hanuman Chalisa. But, this was not always the case.

My Hanuman Ji Upasana started sometime in 2005. I was introduced to Hanuman Chalisa by Sharada Kaki, who is my Father-in -law’s Kaki. It was during the time we had just shifted to Hyderabad from Bengaluru because of Sreedhar’s job. We had set up a new home, and I was slowly and surely getting into the habit of daily puja. My write-up, “A New Dawn,” will give some insight into my journey as a sadhaka.

Sharada Kaki visited us at our Banjara Hills home when she attended her granddaughter’s wedding reception in Hyderabad. While everyone was busy talking about my artifact collection and home decor, Sharada Kaki quietly went and prayed at my Mandir. The next day when the wedding party went sightseeing, she stayed back and slowly picked up the topic. At that time, my Pooja Mandir had only two photos-one of Ganapati, Satya Sai Baba, and two idols of Ganapati and Lakshmi. She said, “Every home Pooja Mandir must and should have one Pratima of Hanuman Ji’. She asked me to go and get a photo frame of Hanuman Ji and a booklet of Hanuman Chalisa. When I hesitated to go immediately, She forced me and assured me, saying, “Don’t worry about the little one (my son); he will be fine. I am here, and Padma (my maid) is also there, in any case. You go and get it.”

That evening, She installed Hanuman Ji in our Mandir, and we both chanted the Chalisa (I for the first time) after lighting the lamp. She left the next day, not before asking me to chant Hanuman Chalisa every day. It is not just this incident. She has always been very loving and caring towards me. Not that we often met, but I could feel the good vibes and blessings from her. Even though not educated in a way, she was a  great combination of worldly knowledge and godly wisdom.  Unfortunately, we lost her last year due to old age. That love and warmth exuded by her will be missed by all of us. 

I am eternally grateful to our Sharada Kaki for initiating me into this blissful, powerful Chalisa chanting. That day when we both chanted, Chalisa will always be cherished. Surprisingly, I had not asked her my usual “Whats, Hows, and Why.” hehe… But later read up all the information which I can lay my hands on. 

     

Hanuman Chalisa  painted on a single sheet

 Personally, for me, reciting Hanuman Chalisa has always been a very positive, uplifting, and energizing experience. As the well-known story goes, that Goswami Tulasi Das wrote Hanuman Chalisa when he was imprisoned for 40 days by Akbar. Hanuman Chalisa, written in Awadhi, praises the qualities of Hanuman Ji in 40 chaupais (Verses). So when we chant this great prayer, we don’t chant to praise Hanuman Ji because he doesn’t need that. But it is for us to imbibe and inculcate all the exemplary virtues of the greatest Ram Bhakta. Hanuman Ji symbolically stands for pure devotion, complete surrender, absence of ego or the lower self, purity of thought, bravery, service, magnanimity, intelligence, and innocent playfulness. Born as vanara, symbolically represents the lower self in a human. Through sheer steadfast devotion towards Shri Rama, becoming one with Shri Rama, Hanuman Ji has overcome all the obstacles and reached the pedestal, where he is revered and worshiped much like Shri Rama himself. Our goal is to attain that state (to kill the animal instincts and become one with the Bhagawan) by namasmarana (remembering) and chanting Hanuman Chalisa or any other Hanuman shloka. All this is at a higher spiritual level, and easier said than done. I’m too small a being to even talk about it…..

But even at a physical, materialistic level, I have experienced and heard people talk about the power and efficacy of Hanuman Sadhana. Be it the astrological remedies, healing of rare medical ailments, or any other wish fulfillments, Hanuman Ji has always answered the bhakta’s pleas and prayers. One has to experience it to believe. It’s not for nothing that Hanuman Chalisa was the most requested song on Alexa for 2019…

Today, on this pious occasion of Hanuman Jayanti, my only prayer to Vayu Putra Hanuman is to again bless and heal mankind with the sanjeevani. In extreme conditions, it is the faith that heals and wins…..

Bolo Siyavar Ramchandra Ji  Ki Jai

Pawan Putra Hanuman Ji Ki Jai

Kalyani Sreedhar Kakade

Text Copyright: This Adbhut life!