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Epitome of devotion religion

CHENNAI

CHENNAI: The Ramayana of Valmiki is revered as the Veda itself for it describes the life of the Lord when He incarnated in the world in human form to reinstate Dharma. The 24-syllable Gayatri mantra is the most sacred of all the Vedic mantras and the sage composed this epic in 24,000 verses beginning every 1000th verse with a syllable of the Gayatri. Each of the seven cantos is named after the place or event which is central to that canto except the Sundarakanda, which is named after Hanuman, who is the hero in this section.

There is an interesting aside to the naming of this canto. When Valmiki recited his creation to Hanuman after completing it, this sterling devotee objected to his name in the canto “Hanumath kanda”as he did not want prominence, said Damal Sri Ramakrishnan and Srimathi Perundevi Seshadri in their discourse. The sage in order to pacify him changed it then to Sundarakanda. Hanuman sat with tears of joy coursing down his cheeks listening to the entire narration approvingly, and finally the sage told him that he had indeed had his way for Sundara was Hanuman’s name. He did not believe it and Valmiki then directed him to his mother. To his consternation, of all days that day Anjana endearingly called him Sundara when he went to ask her, and there was no need for further corroboration.

To this day his unalloyed devotion to Rama and Sita, and his role in reuniting them have become central to the narration of the Ramayana because Hanuman is the archetype of devotion for man to emulate, and in spiritual tradition he is the venerated Acharya (preceptor) who united the individual soul, Jiva (Sita), with the Supreme Being (Rama).

The spiritual significance of his mission to locate Sita for which he was selected by his kinsmen for his physical prowess, sanguinity, sharp intellect and above all his consummate devotion, can be seen in the exchange of Rama’s signet ring (divine grace) and Sita’s Choodamani (ornament worn on the head signifying supplication on the part of the Jiva) entrusted by them to him. Yet, he was so self-effacing that he had to be reminded of his strength when there was a discussion as to who should go to Lanka.

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