Hanuman

This is the fourth edition of the Mahāvīrī commentary by Svāmī Rāmabhadracārya on the Hanumān-Cālīsā. Originally authored in one day in the year 1983, this commentary in Hindi was acclaimed as the ‘best explanation of the Hanumān-Cālīsā’ by Dr. Ram Chandra Prasad in his dual-language translation of the Rāmacaritamānasa (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-81-208-0443-2, p. 849, footnote 1). The commentary offers meanings of specific words, translation, and commentary on all the 43 verses of the Hanumān-Cālīsā. The fourth edition is newly typeset in LuaLaTeX using Chanakya Sanskrit and Charis SIL fonts, and comes with three appendices: a hemistich index, a word index, and the Āratī of Lord Hanumān. There are some minor changes compared to the third edition of the book.

All versions of the Ramayana are unanimous in reiterating Sita Ji's fidelity and devotion towards Rama even in times of extreme adversity. For example, when Shri Rama is preparing to go to exile in the forest all alone, she addresses him thus: "O son of an illustrious monarch, a father, a mother, a brother, a son or a daughter-in-law, all enjoy the fruit of their karma individually and receive what is their due. It is only the wife who actually shares the fortunes of her husband. When you depart this day for the dense forests which are difficult to penetrate, I shall walk ahead of you crushing under my feet, all the thorns that lie on your way."

While Mahabharata's Bhagvad-Gita is taken as a philosophical guide, Ramayana's Sundara Kãnda is sought for spiritual solace; many believe that reading it or hearing it recited would remove all hurdles and usher in good tidings! Miracles apart, it's in the nature of this great epic to inculcate fortitude and generate hope in man for it’s a depiction of how Hanuman goes about his errand against all odds.

Besides, it portrays how Seetha, on the verge of self-immolation, overcomes despair to see life in a new light? With rhythm of its verse and the flow of the narrative this sloka to sloka transcreation of the canto beautiful of Valmiki's adi kavya - the foremost poetical composition in the world, Hanuman's Odyssey that paves the way for Rama to rescue his kidnapped wife is bound to charm the readers and listeners alike.

Interestingly, as the following verse illustrates, it was the forerunner of the magic realism of our times – “Gripped she then him by shadow / Cast which Hanuman coast to coast, Recalled he in dismay then / What Sugreev said at outset / That one fiend had aptitude / To grip its prey by mere shadow.”

On a personal note, my paternal grandfather, Bulusu Thimmaiah-garu, like many in his time, was a life-long practitioner of Sundara Kãnda parayana (the epic’s daily recital in part or full), whose spirituality could have providentially guided me in this, rather an effortless, trans-creative endeavour.

This translation of Sundara Kãnda of Valmiki Ramayana,
Dedicated to Childhood friends,  Nittala Rama Rao, who envisaged that I transcreate in English this momentous episode of the adi kavya and Erramilli Rohini Kumar, who, besides encouraging me to undertake the challenge, came  up with  the book jacket besides Katlin Darnall of the World Public Library for the enriching editing,
comprises of the Cantos -

1 - Hurdles in Skies
2 - City in Clouds
3 - Prelude to Entry
4 - Foray into Fort
5 - Life in Lanka
6 - Precincts to Beat
7 - Palace in the Plane
8 - Pushpak’s Prowess
9 - Harem at Night
10 - Women in Want
11 - Qualms of Celibate
12 - At Wits End
13 - Errand in the Bend
14 - Garden of Grief
15 - Withered Flower
16 - She is Seetha
17 - Guards all Hideous
18 - Ravan on Heat
19 - Dame in Despair
20 - Womanizer at Work
21 - Steadfast in Love
22 - Deadline to Death
23 - Guards that Pander
24 - Carrot and Stick
25 - Hapless Soul   
26 - Wandering Thoughts
27 - Dream of a Nightmare
28 - On the Verge
29 - Good Tidings
30 - Hanuman’s Dilemma
31 - Rama’s Ballad
32 - Is it True?
33 - Genesis of Exile
34 - Swings in Mood
35 - Winning the Trust
36 - More of the Same
37 - Aborted Move
38 - Story to Tell
39 - Doubts to the Fore
40 - Repeats the Dose
41 - Rampage in the Park
42 - Panic in the Town
43 -Itching for Fight
44 -Takes on Prahastha’s Son
45 - Marshals in the Mire
46 - Generals in the Dumps
47 - Akshay’s Life on Line
48 - It takes Indrajit
49 - Ravan’s Darbar
50 - Cause of Loss
51 - Advice to Deliver
52 -Placates the Sibling
53 - Tail on Fire
54 - Arson to Hurt 
55 - What of Seetha?
56 - Havoc of a Take-off
57 - Flight sans Hassles
58 - Odyssey in a Nutshell
59 - Pep Talk to Peers
60 - Angad on Rebound
61 - Eying the Madhuvan
62 - Orgy in the Garden
63 - Sugreev’s Reading
64 - Return of the Platoon
65 - News in Brief
66 - Tears in Torrents
67 - Hanuman’s Replay
68 - Times of Hope
with a peep into Yuddha Kanda
1. Embrace of a Gift
2.  Coronation and After

All versions of the Ramayana are unanimous in reiterating Sita Ji's fidelity and devotion towards Rama even in times of extreme adversity. For example, when Shri Rama is preparing to go to exile in the forest all alone, she addresses him thus: "O son of an illustrious monarch, a father, a mother, a brother, a son or a daughter-in-law, all enjoy the fruit of their karma individually and receive what is their due. It is only the wife who actually shares the fortunes of her husband. When you depart this day for the dense forests which are difficult to penetrate, I shall walk ahead of you crushing under my feet, all the thorns that lie on your way."

Hanuman in Various Southeast Asian texts and Places DR Uday Dokras There exist non-Indian versions of the Ramayana, such as the Thai Ramakien. According to these versions of the Ramayana, Macchanu is the son of Hanuman borne by Suvannamaccha, daughter of Ravana. Another legend says that a demigod named Matsyaraja (also known as Makardhwaja or Matsyagarbha) claimed to be his son. Matsyaraja's birth is explained as follows: a fish (matsya) was impregnated by the drops of Hanuman's sweat, while he was bathing in the ocean.

A short piece exploring the connection between the figure of the Hindu god Hanuman and the tradition of wrestling in South Asia. This piece was published in the catalogue for the exhibition Arts of Fighting in Asia organized by the Quai Branly Museum.
Complete citation: Agarwal, Saumya. “Hanuman and the Indian Martial Art of Kushti.” In Arts of Fighting in Asia: Mythology, Kung Fu and Samurai, edited by Julien Rousseau and Stephane du Mesnildot. Paris: Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, 2021: 46-51.

RESUME DE L'OUVRAGE Cet ouvrage est une monographie du temple de Sankat Mocan. Celui-ci, dédié au dieu-singe Hanuman, est situé à Bénarès (Inde du Nord) où il fut fondé par le poète-saint Tulsidas, apôtre du courant dévotionnel de la bhakti. La dévotion que l'on vient rendre à Hanuman en ce temple se veut une communication individuelle et émotionnelle directe avec le divin. Il demeure pourtant que le temple, lieu par excellence de la mise en relation entre hommes et dieux, offre au dévot un certain nombre de services ou de supports, d'incitations à la dévotion, et à une dévotion spécifique. Le temple de Sankat Mocan, en tant que lieu saint de la bhakti, mais aussi dans ses caractéristiques distinctives, se définit largement en termes d'atmosphères : on s'y rend pour expérimenter l'atmosphère du divin, puissante, efficace et identifiable ; on y reconnaît une « atmosphère de paix » extrêmement valorisée, et présentée comme unique. Cette atmosphère est ici analysée du point de vue local sous trois perspectives principales : atmosphère idéalisée, d'abord, échappant à l'action directe des dévots ordinaires, atmosphère influant sur les acteurs et sur leur dévotion, ensuite, atmosphère résultant de l'action des dévots, enfin.

The specialized human-rhesus society at Jakhoo is a situation in which the monkey and human participants are oriented toward one another in such a way as to make it possible for the monkeys to exert a measure of power over humans. This power does not rely upon language games nor upon the possession of an imagination that can be infected by ideology (not that this is absolutely outside the capacities of macaques), but upon the constructive sediment of affective relationships. For this reason, it would be incorrect to assert that that the monkeys have been trained intentionally or unintentionally by the humans of Jakhoo; nor would it be accurate to portray "monkey temples" like Jakhoo as instances in a process of domestication or domination. At Jakhoo, the interpellative movements go both ways — monkeys are afforded social and material space in human worlds and humans are afforded roles in monkey worlds. The particular forms of power that monkeys ply are products of the affective labor of monkeys and humans who are predisposed for their own reasons to be amenable to one another’s presences in the particular landscape of Jakhoo.

The Ramayana in Southeast Asia: Cambodia The recent digitisation of the Mewar Ramayana has enabled the 'virtual' reunification of this 17th-century masterpiece, bringing together paintings from the manuscript held across continents in different locations. Originally composed in India in Sanskrit over two and half thousand years ago by Valmiki, the Ramayana is also one of the most popular masterworks throughout Southeast Asia. This is reflected not only in the literary traditions, but also in the performing and fine arts, as well as in architecture and modern design. The epic tells the story of Rama, his brother Lakshmana and Rama's wife Sita, who was kidnapped by the demon king Ravana. The main part of the epic is about the fight between Ravana and Rama, who wants to get his wife back. In this battle, Rama is supported by his brother and a monkey chief, Hanuman, with his armies.