Why Hanumanji Is the Favorite of Lord Rama

Do You Know Why Hanumanji Is the Most Favourite of Lord Rama?

In Bhagavad Gita, Lord says –
अद्वेष्टा सर्वभूतानां मैत्रः करुण एव च।
निर्ममो निरहङ्कारः समदुःखसुखः क्षमी
सन्तुष्टः सततं योगी यतात्मा दृढनिश्चयः।
मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धिर्यो मद्भक्तः स मे प्रियः

Bhagawan says what kind of bhakta is his most favourite.

We see all kinds of devotees – at various levels.

There are four kinds of bhaktas –

Jijnasu bhaktas – They are the ones doing all kinds of talking, trying to establish that their God is the greatest. Vishnu is greater than Shiva, Shiva is greater than Vishnu.

They are the ones going around and giving advice to others – which is the best sadhana, why it is the best. And giving all kinds of authoritative opinions – they can tell you about energies, awareness, realization. Everything. They are at times very convincing and also very interesting.

Artharthee bhaktas – They are always looking for something from God. Wealth, health, properties. They keep on asking for something or the other.

Aartha bhaktas – They cry. That’s what they go to God for. They go to God only when they are in trouble.

Then the Jnani bhaktas – of whom Bhagawan is talking about here. His favourite kind of bhaktas. Their characteristics.

You will find all of these in Hanumanji. That’s how he became Lord Rama’s favourite.

अद्वेष्टा – No enmity towards anyone, no hatred towards anyone.

When do you dislike a person or even hate a person?
When that person becomes an obstacle in your path.
When that person becomes an impediment in achieving your desires.

But Hanumanji has no desires, no personal desires. Whatever work he is doing, he is simply executing the Lord’s will. He doesn’t have a desire or a goal or an agenda of his own.

And he knows that the Lord is guiding him at every step, both from outside and inside.

So he doesn’t have hatred towards anyone, enmity towards anyone.

That makes him friend of everyone – मैत्रः

Not only that he has no enmity, he is friendly towards everyone.

Absence of enmity can be passive also. There are people who don’t hate anyone, but also don’t love anyone.

Hanumanji is not like that. His mind is not dry. He is friendly.

And he has karuna. He is also kind towards everyone – करुण एव च

Then निर्ममः – He doesn’t have this concept of 'mine' – this is mine, these people are mine. Only those who take my name loudly are mine. Only those who come to me are mine. Only those who worship me are mine. No, not like that. His kindness and friendliness are common for all.

Whether you want it or not, he will help you. He will protect you.

When there is a country and its army, it is meant to protect only the citizens of that country. He has no such limitations. He doesn’t recognize borders and boundaries.

His love is for everyone, his kindness is for everyone, his protection is for everyone.

His lack of mamata, mamatvam is not without reason. He doesn’t belong to himself.

Normally we think that – this is my body, this is my mind, these are my likes, these are my dislikes.

He doesn’t have anything of this sort.

Because for him – his body is only an instrument in the hands of Lord Rama.
His mind is completely controlled by the Lord.

Whatever ideas, prompts that the Lord wants to put there, he can put, and Hanumanji will act accordingly. So, his body and mind, they are not his.

They belong to the Lord.

How can he have mamata, that these are mine, these are not mine? He himself doesn’t belong to him. Then how can something belong to him?

Whoever the Lord loves, he also loves. Whoever the Lord wants to help, he helps. He doesn’t have a choice of his own.

When mamata is not there, then निरहङ्कारः is natural. There are no achievements, nothing to be proud of.

Physical strength – not mine, the Lord has given. Siddhis, power – everything belongs to the Lord.

What is there to be proud of, when they are not mine?

Ahankara is not just pride or arrogance. It is total absence of 'I' and 'mine'.

समदुःखसुखः – The ultimate state of the yogi.

Same attitude towards both pleasure and pain.

When you are living, when you have a body – both pleasure and pain will be there.

When you say taking them alike does not mean you are insensitive, you are callous, you don’t feel them.

As long as the body is there, events of pleasure will be there, pain will be there. You will feel them also. Both physical pleasure and physical pain. Both mental pleasure and mental pain.

If you put a sweet in a yogi’s mouth and a common man’s mouth – both will be able to taste its sweetness. If you bend their fingers, both will feel the pain.

There is a difference.

Common man will long for pleasure, look for pleasure, try to avoid pain.

Yogi will not do that.

He will look at both of them as natural.

He will feel them, but he will not try to maximize pleasure and minimize pain.

And when all these qualities are there, patience, tolerance is natural – क्षमी

Hanumanji has this yoga bhava – सन्तुष्टः सततं योगी

Yoga bhava gives him happiness. It is not happiness that comes out of pleasure. That is temporary.

When pleasure is gone, happiness is also gone.

Pleasure of good food is only till it is there in your mouth, or maybe a little more time in the memory. Then it is gone. After some time, when you are hungry again, where is that pleasure?

But Hanumanji’s santushti is permanent because it is based on yoga bhava, equanimity.

यतात्मा – He is fully in control of himself. Why? Because he has accepted that it is the Lord who is controlling him, and he cannot go wrong. He can never go astray.

His control is not self-control. He doesn’t have to take effort to control himself, restrain himself.

That the Lord will do.

Why should he be worried?

दृढनिश्चयः – What is his conviction? That there is nothing other than firm bhakti upon the lotus feet.

There is nothing else that is worth the time and effort.

This conviction is Hanumanji’s asset.

मय्यर्पितमनोबुद्धि – Mind is surrendered to the Lord: 'You do what you want with it.'

Mind produces emotions, prompts for actions.

Hanumanji was not sitting in Gandhamadana and meditating all the time, trying to control his mind.

He was fully in action. Flying across the sea, setting Lanka on fire, killing demons, bringing a whole mountain of herbs for Lakshmana.

Mind has to work.

Even a robot would need prompts for actions.

Emotions strengthen action. Passion strengthens quality, effort.

When Hanumanji set Lanka on fire, he did it deliberately. It needs anger, it needs rage, it needs courage. It is an aggressive act.

But the difference is that these emotions were not his own. The Lord put them in his mind.

That is the difference.

He didn’t act on his own. He didn’t do it because tomorrow he will be called a hero.

This thought was never there in his mind.

He did all that because Lord Rama put all those emotions and thoughts in his mind, which was fully under his control, surrendered to him.

Also the buddhi. Buddhi was also surrendered to the Lord.

What is buddhi? Decision-making. To do or not to do. Discretion.

Hanumanji’s decisions were not his decisions. They were the Lord’s decisions.

And as Bhagawan says in Gita – यो मद्भक्तः स मे प्रियः

This is the kind of bhakta whom I like.

And Hanumanji was 100% such a bhakta.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi