Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah!
Om Sri Hanumate Namah!
Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya!
Om Namo Bhagavate Chidanandaya!
Om Namo Bhagavate Krishnanandaya!

Namaste!

The Life and Glory of Hanuman
by Sri Swami Krishnananda

(Spoken on Hanuman Jayanti, April 15th, 1984)

The life of Hanuman is the life of a superman, and unless we can understand what a superman is, we cannot appreciate the dignity and the exploits of this epic celebrity. The Ramayana of Valmiki is the main text which gives us the details of the life of this mastermind. The importance of this superhuman person can be assessed from half a verse in Valmiki's Ramayana where he says svayam nava vyakaranarthavetta brahma bhavatyapi te prasadat. Hanuman has been chosen as the next Brahma in the coming cycle of creation. It is surprising indeed that in the whole of creation God could not find a better person than Hanuman to be elected for this great post of the Creator for the next cycle. Master of the eight powers of yoga was Hanuman, and that is enough to explain the meaning of his exploits.

Tradition tells us that Hanuman was born of a superhuman lady, Anjana, of celestial descent. Incidentally, it appears that when some messengers came to Anjana and told her of the terrific exploits of Hanuman and praised him saying, “Great indeed is your son, Mother,” she retorted, it seems, “Great indeed is my son? Look!” and she pressed her nipple, from which milk jetted forth with such strength that it dashed against a distant mountain and broke a cliff off of it. “Such milk this man has drunk, and you are telling me he's a great man?” This is what Hanuman's mother said when the messengers extolled the glories of this marvellous hero in the war of the Ramayana.

We are told that as a child Hanuman rose to the skies to catch the sun. Thinking that the sun was a bright and delicious fruit, he wanted to eat it, and he rose up to the skies to grab it and swallow it. The story goes that Indra, the ruler of the heavens, was startled at this adventure of a mortal trying to ascend to the heavens and grab the solar orb, so it appears that, with his weapon called Vajra, he gave such a blow on the chin of this little boy that his chin lengthened a little bit, protruding forward, and he fell down unconscious. Chin is called hanu in Sanskrit, and one who has a pronounced and a projected chin is called Hanuman.

Read complete article

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2nd April is Sri Hanuman Jayanthi.

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The following article was recently posted at Sri Swami Krishnanandaji's site:

• Renunciation Is an Act of Consciousness

Yours in the service of Gurudev,

Pannirselvam

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The following books were recently reprinted and released during Sri Ramanavami on March 27th:

ES19 Bliss Divine by Sri Swami Sivananda

ES13 The Bhagavad Gita (Hardbound) by Sri Swami Sivananda

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BOOK SYNOPSIS

Hindu Gods and Goddesses
by Sri Swami Sivananda

GOD is one, but His aspects are many. The different aspects of God constitute the Hindu Pantheon.

The naturally pious Hindu delights in his Deities. He delights in singing the Lord’s glories, in chanting His Mantras, in visiting His temples, in worshipping His Murtis. These devotional practices expand his heart, enlarge his vision, aid him powerfully in his Sadhana, and ultimately lead him to the highest goal of his spiritual endeavour, viz., God-realisation.

The conception of the names and forms of various Deities in Hindu mythology is grand, sublime, unique. Every detail connected with every Hindu god and goddess has its inner meaning, its esoteric significance.

Swami Sivananda writes for the readers. His style is simple. His approach is direct. He writes with intense devotion and Prem.

We have great pleasure in releasing this beautiful book for the benefit of all those who want to understand Hinduism better. May God illumine the hearts of all and bring peace on earth.

For more information, please see: Hindu Gods and Goddesses

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SPECIAL CONCESSION

The discount on publications is as follows:

20% on Orders Above Rs. 300/-
30% on Orders Above Rs. 3,000/-
40% on Orders Above Rs. 25,000/-

Please visit our online bookstore for further details:
https://www.dlshq.org/presta/

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PURIFYING THE TELEPHONE: A telephone was installed in the Ashram post office for public use. The postmaster desired that the Master should speak on the phone first before he allowed the public to do so.

The Master thereupon went to the post office for the purpose. A call had already been booked to Sri Pannalalji, a great devotee of Amritsar. Due to certain obstructions, the Master could not hear Pannalalji. Instead of merely uttering ‘hallo, hallo’ and waiting silently for the response, the Master sang his Jaya Ganesha and other Kirtans, in the hope that he would get a response in the meantime.

At the end of his Kirtan, the Master said, “Absolutely no response! I have only purified the telephone wires through the Kirtan!”

Everyone burst into laughter!

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“Sri Rama Himself said to Hanuman, “I am greatly indebted to you, O mighty hero. You did marvellous, superhuman deeds. You do not want anything in return. Sugriva has his kingdom restored to him. Angada has been made the crown prince. Vibhishana has become king of Lanka. But you have not asked for anything at any time. You threw away the precious garland of pearls given to you by Sita. How can I repay My debt of gratitude to you? I will always remain deeply indebted to you. I give you the boon of everlasting life. All will honour and worship you like Myself. Your idol will be placed at the door of My temple and you will be worshipped and honoured first. Whenever My stories are recited or glories sung, your glory will be sung before Mine. You will be able to do anything, even that which I will not be able to!” – Sri Swami Sivananda

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