As we celebrate the birth of Sri Hanuman, we devotees in Trinidad are especially happy to celebrate the Lord’s coming here in the Temple of Sri Karya Siddhi Hanuman, at the Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji’s Ashram, a.k. a. the Datta Yoga Centre, in Carapichaima.
(Excerpt from Ganapathi Swamiji-Datta’s Grace, The Caribbean Story , 1995.)
Hanuman—one of the first devotees of Dattatreya
“…Anjaneya is of Datta Sampradaya. He is one of the first devotees, like Prahalad and Parashurama. He is the first teacher of Datta’s bhajans. Hanuman was always chanting Datta/Rama’s name. (Datta is Trinity, so Vishnu also) He is Balavanta. What Rama thinks, so does Hanuman. His breath goes ‘So-ham, Ham-so, Paraham-soham. Whoever breathes, chants unknowingly Hanuman’s name. We are doing penance. This is not religion, not just Upanishad. It’s always in our body; Brahma—So Ham.”
Prana DevaHanuman
“Anjaneya is an Incarnation of Brahma. We call him Pranadevatata. He is like a judge, judging good and bad, like a leela. Brahma wants to play with Vishnu. So He comes out in the breath of Vayu and prays to Vishnu. This is Anjaneya’s story. He is the great son of Anjaneya and Vayu, the wind god. As a boy he did a lot of penance. One day, he saw the sun rise and thought it was an acorn. Anjaneya was a powerful child….He jumped to try to catch that fruit. The Sun God was afraid of little Anjaneya. He asked Indra for help. Indra took his powerful weapon, Vajra Yudha, his thunderbolt, and hurled it with yogic power.”
“Indra was always protecting the angels. The weapon hit Hanuman’s mouth and it got swollen, but it did not harm the boy too much. However, he fell down unconscious, but was not dead. Vayudeva, upset, stopped the air. He got angry with Indra. Indra was frightened and the gods also. All creation suffered without air. All angels/gods approached Anjana and begged her to help. She prayed to Vayu, then Hanuman became well again. He is a great yogi and musician.”
Mighty Hanuman fulfils desires
“Balanjaneyam Balavantam, Hanumanta Balavanta”—This is a mantra given to Hanuman by Vayudeva to give him boons. He’s like a monkey, but really has Brahma Tattva. Breath is really Anjaneya, long breath, So –Ham, Paraham-So-Ham….Unless reminded of his powers, he will not know he has them nor demonstrate them. This is the curse of the gods. So praise him and he fulfils your desires. In Ramayana the vanaras were discussing “Who will cross the ocean to go to Lanka?” There were no airplanes. So they requested Anjaneya to go and find Sita in Lanka. “How can I jump?” he thought. Then they all were praising Anjaneya as Shivarupa, very powerful! Then he remembered his power and was able to jump….”
"Hanuman became Chief Minister to King Sugriva. Whoever takes form must have karma. The body must suffer. That is why Swamiji always says, “Satsangh gives peace and kills all karmas.” Anjaneya also suffered this kind of penance…."
Hanuman’s chanting of Rama mantra
(In Ramayana, when Rama and Ravana are battling, Indrajit, Ravana’s eldest son, uses a most powerful weapon, the Brahmarastra and Lakshman falls unconscious. Rama, in distress, requests Hanuman to bring the Sanjeevani herb to save Lakshman.)
Hanuman went to the mountain to find this herb, but did not know it. So he spent three hours chanting the Rama mantra, ‘Sri Rama Jaya Rama …’and the whole mountain shook with his chanting. A little came out. ‘Vayu Deva will push you. Don’t worry,” he told the hill. Finally he succeeded in lifting out the complete hill, flew with it and then they found the life-giving Shakti herb with such a power! Lakshman was saved, and other Vanaras revived also."
"Any Avatar also wants karma, and is happy to have it while we cry, “Why this karma coming? We are afraid of it….” Sri Appaji, giving the gist of one bhajan He sings, says, ‘In luxury and comforts, you are worried about disease.’ We ask, “Why this karma is coming?" We are worried about reputation of family, income tax, great scholars also are fighting, enemies ….everybody is worried about death. Some people fear death. Only Vairagya and satsangh people are fearless. Rama was helped by Hanuman to defeat Ravana. Hanuman always wanted to be with Rama."
Service is moksha for Hanuman
"He doesn’t want moksha/Liberation, service is Moksha for him. “I will serve, that is my duty,” he always said. Anjaneya was born with the blessings of Shiva. He is the servant of Vishnu who incarnates as Rama. He will become Brahma in future…Therefore he follows the path of Datta. He is a great musicologist, always singing and healing, immersed in bliss. At the end of the battle between Rama and Ravana, everyone was very busy. Anjaneya asked Lakshman for a job. “ I want to stay here and do service to Rama.” He was told, “No. you do enough in the forest….Hanuman became very upset . He says, “It’s ok. I’ll chant. I don’t fight….I want to give some service, wash His face, pour water on His roses…whatever.” Then he starts to curse himself, “It’s my fate-- No vacancy!” One day he tells Lakshman, "Look at the list, any vacancy, small job comes up, you give me.” But nothing came up. Then chanting ‘Rama’, Hanuman gets an idea, “ When next Rama is sitting and he gets tired, and yawns, I will make a clicking sound with fingers.” So he went and sat at the Feet of Rama. “ Anytime Rama yawns, I’m here,” he thinks. Hanuman is very clever. Rama Himself gave Hanuman the idea and Lakshman wondered, “ "How come he’s always with Rama?” But Hanuman is very devoted and powerful. He’s all the elements, like Sanjeevani, formless, sitting. He has Datta powers, like Parashurama and Vibhishana.”
Forever thankful to Swami Manasa Datta, instrumental in the construction of "Trinidad Hanuman".
Trinidadian devotees are truly indebted to Swami Manasa Datta, who has since passed away and is surely in Datta's heart. He supervised the construction of our 85ft. 'Trinidad Hanuman', for two years, sacrificing even his health sometimes to ensure the completion of this massive project---all for the benefit of this entire Caribbean region, and devotees the world over! Devotees here cannot forget his enthusiasm, mental strength and ardent devotion, his vibrant singing of Pujya Sri Appaji's bhajans. We remember him with love as THDM and and are happy to recall his words, on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti:
"Jayanti means the day of re-appearance , of manifestation, of Darshan of Immortal Beings. We are passing on, taking birth again and again. However, Supreme Energy comes in different forms non-stop, for our sake. Just all the wind blows all the time, and is never tired. Only we get tired. Hanuman is our breath, so we bow to him. Our breath is never far from us. When breath fails, we die! Hanuman has various meanings. We are connected to Hanuman, therefore, like him, we are Sacred. Realising this must come out of a loving attitude, so the more love we develop for Hanuman, the more he takes care of us, and we become more like him. Through him, Sita was given courage, and Rama was helped to defeat Ravana."
"In Krita Yuga, there were plenty of Self-Realised souls, everything was pure, there were different kinds of Yajnas and oblations through Agni, Vayu and Jala, the five elements. The great Rishis propagated creation of noble souls. Whoever worships Hanuman and Rama, belong to Hanuman clan from long ago. From Krita, then Treta, then Dwapara, then Kaliyuga the present age, many saints have blessed man, until now, our Sadguru Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji. Prana must operate smoothly for us to move; our nervous system is connected to Sri Hanuman. He is an icon of spirituality, Dharma/righteousness, inner mental strength, and above all, devotion. He serves us, once we remember and praise him."
"How can we serve Him? We cannot truly serve Him how He deserves-----we have to thank him. You especially the young people, have to worship Hanuman to get blessings from Saraswati, to have a good education. Light a deya for Hanuman. He loves rote, and vada.(savoury fried doughnut made with urad dal)."
As a young baby, Hanuman was very hungry. Anjana Devi his mother gave him so many bananas but he was crying still, not satisfied. Rishi Gautam and his devout pure wife Ahalya gave birth to Anjana Devi, and envisioned the birth of Anjaneya/Hanuman. Hanuman saw the sun and in His eyes, the sun was an inch away. He leapt high in the sky , thinking it was a large fruit, and he could not eat it as it was too hot, though he tried. That time was eclipse and Rahu who was approaching the sun, was vexed, as he felt , "Who is this trying to swallow the sun? That's my duty. He called Indra for help. Indra came on his elephant and Hanuman punched his elephant which cried out in pain. Rahu was jealous of Hanuman and wanted him punished. So Indra gave Hanuman a small tap with his Vajra. Hanuman fell unconscious as he was still a baby. Vayu, the wind god, who was also Hanuman's father, was angry, and refused to blow. Then all deities blessed Hanuman, giving him many different additional powers...and Vayu revived him.... Saraswati as pure Knowledge resides in his head, Rama in his heart, Surya in his brilliant eyes. As a boy he misused his powers to do mischief, so the gods modified their blessings saying only when he is praised, he will remember them, and act. So chant his mantra, chant Hanuman Chalisa, say to him "Jaya Veera Hanuman", "Jaya Veera Hanuman", and he will give you courage and come to your rescue!"
Excerpt from Sri Appaji’s discourse during his visit to Trinidad, 2008.
" He tells us, “The Age of Hanuman is beginning. He is protecting these islands, so use the good vibrations, good energy here. Walk around Anjaneya with or without shoes as much as possible. Don’t think anybody ‘big’. Only Mother Goddess and Hanuman “big.” Develop into spiritual family with love and affection. Be happy and improve. Sadhana is very important. Sing Swamiji’s bhajans. Talk with the deities, do pooja. Sit and pray. Practice Kriya Yoga here. Reflect: that’s the real sadhana. Write ‘Jai Veera Hanuman’. Do service. You must follow, if you want Swamiji, ‘Follow the master, faith in God.’"
OM NAMO HANUMATE NAMAHA
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