The Hanuman Chalisa:

 Introduction & Explanation of first verses

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The Hanuman Chalisa is a prayer that many young Hindus will at least have heard of, if not be familiar with. Chances are that it may be sung in your own home or by somebody that you know. This article explains the background to the Hanuman Chalisa and provides an insight into the many layers of meaning – mystical, ethical and devotional – contained in the prayer, by focusing on the first two verses of this (43 verse) prayer.

The Hanuman Chalisa was written by the famous 16th century sage, Goswami Tulsidas. Tulsidas lived at a time when Sanskrit learning was on the decline in India, and he rewrote the ancient Ramayana in the common dialect of the people, once again making the story of Rama and Sita accessible to the people.

Out of all the personalities in the Ramayana, Hanuman occupies a crucial position. He is the embodiment of auspiciousness, courage, devotion, eloquence, physical prowess and victory. It was only through Him that Sita and Rama could be reunited. Sita represents the Earth, the field, Mother Nature, creativity, abundance.

Rama is the spiritual potential, which has been lost from creation. Hanuman represents the forces and teachings that can reunite the creation and spirit. It is through the lessons that we find in His character that the realm of divinity can transpire itself in our society.

The Hanuman Chalisa was written by Goswami Tulsidas to be a beautiful prayer and song, yet also to contain in itself the entire message of the life and character of Hanuman.

A Brief Insight into the Meaning of Verse 1

Shree Guru Charan Saroj Raj, Nij Man Mukur Sudhaari, Barnau Raghuvar Bimal Jasu, Jo dayaku Phal Chaari
With the dust of the Guru’s lotus feet, I first clean the mirror of my heart and then I narrate the glory of Shree Raghuvar, the giver of the 4 fold attainments of life

“With the dust of the Guru’s lotus feet, I first clean the mirror of my heart”

The Guru is the one who takes us towards the Truth. The symbol of a lotus is used a lot in Hinduism. The reason for this is that it is a flower that grows in murky water, yet grows as a clean and beautiful flower, bringing beauty to the surroundings.

Similarly, a real Guru, who can take us towards realisation of the Truth, is like a lotus, in that whatever the environment and circumstances they are in, the Guru will remain unaffected by any negativity, and will bring beauty and light to their surroundings.

The ‘dust of the Guru’s lotus feet’, stands for and symbolises the qualities that such a Guru has built his/her life upon – principles such as compassion, presence of mind, fearlessness and truthfulness.

Hence, to clean our hearts with the dust of the Guru’s lotus feet means to clean out the accumulated junk and negativity within us (cleaning our hearts), by recognising and honouring the principles which great teachers have built their lives upon (the dust of the Guru’s lotus feet).

“and then I narrate the glory of Shree Raghuvar”

Raghuvar means a person descended from the lineage of Raghu (a forefather of Ram). Usually the title Raghuvar is used to refer to Ram. However, here it is apparently talking about Hanuman.

In the Ramayana when Hanuman located Sita in Lanka, she was filled with emotion and called him son. Rama also called Hanuman son, in emotional times, like when Hanuman saved Laxman’s life after Laxman fell unconscious in battle. Referring to Hanuman as Raghuvar is to describe the extent to which Rama and Sita held him as dear.

It shows that a person who always keeps their minds focused on God and expends all their energy in God’s service is extremely dear to God.

“the giver of the four fold-attainments of life”

All goals in life can be put under 4 broad categories: Arth (livelihood and wealth); Kama (pleasure and enjoyment); Dharma (duties, good conduct, religion); Moksha (liberation).

The reason why Hanuman is the giver of all four of these is because He is the embodiment of devotion and determination. These are essential keys to achieving any goal in any of these spheres.

We can achieve great things in any sphere of life provided that the goal is approached with strong devotion and determination.

A Brief Insight into the Meaning of Verse 2

Buddhi heen Tannu Jaanike, Sumirow Pavan Kumar, Bal Buddi Vidya Dehu Mohi, Harahu Kalesh Bikaar
Knowing myself to be ignorant, I remember you, the Son of Pavan. O Lord! Bestow on me strength, wisdom and knowledge, and take away my miseries and vicious qualities

Prayer is a simple form of yoga. Not in the sense of physical yoga, which itself is only a part of yoga, called “Hatha Yoga.” In the West, this physical yoga is considered as the sole meaning of yoga, which is unfortunate because it often prevents people from grasping the true scope of the tradition that they practice. Of course, so far Hindus have been too lazy in promoting yoga as a larger and integrated tradition (hopefully this will soon change).

Properly understood, yoga refers to a far greater range of spiritual practices that are designed to take us towards unity with the Divine.

The message of the second verse is how to offer a prayer successfully. Why do we pray? It is usually because we recognise a higher power than ourselves at work around us and wish to acknowledge that force, and align ourselves with it.

Just like a single computer, no matter how powerful it is, has a limited capacity to store information, but when it is connected to the internet suddenly a new world has opened up to it, far beyond what we would have thought possible – in the same way, a mind, if aligned with the Divine, has an entire new capability, power and vision opened up to it.

The first and foremost point of this verse is contained in the first phrase:

“KNOWING MYSELF TO BE IGNORANT.” This says that a person must keep an attitude or state of mind which feels that “I know very little, I have so much more to learn.” If this state of mind is maintained, then a person will keep on growing and unfolding, whereas if a person keeps an “I know it all” attitude, it will be hard to learn or experience anything worthwhile. However much one knows, keeping an attitude of humility will always allow the mind to remain receptive to new knowledge, thus allowing it to develop further.

The point is made stronger by the actual choice of words that Tulsidas uses to express this – “Buddhi heen tannu janike.” “Tannu” means “myself.” But there are several ways to say myself, and he chooses quite an unusual word.

“Tan”- in Hindi related dialects, is a word referring to the body. The significance of using “tannu” in the phrase “Knowing myself to be ignorant” affirms that the source of the ignorance is our identification with the physical body – our material self. “I still identify myself with my physical body (tan), which is always changing. I know there is an inner self beyond that, but in ignorance, I can’t see it, but by your grace, please change that.” It is an acknowledgement that my true self is not the physical body, yet I am still identifying with it as I go about my life.

Filling our mind with the divine, speaking the qualities and greatness of divinity, asking for things that can make us dynamic, are the other points contained in this verse, about making an effective prayer.

Subconscious reinforcement

The prayers within Hinduism are written in a mystical form and contain various layers of meanings and symbolism. The importance in knowing the meanings behind a prayer we say regularly is to do with the subconscious mind. When we know the meanings, they become stored in our memories. When we say the verses, even though we are not consciously remembering all of the meanings, the subconscious mind is reinforcing these messages into our character. It is in the same way that we pick up so much from our surroundings, without consciously trying to, which is also a subconscious process. The action of the subconscious mind while praying and meditating is explained in depth in various scriptures, particularly the Patanjali’s Yogasutras.

Saying a prayer hence becomes a stream of clear water purifying our consciousness.

Insight into Verse 3

Jai Hanuman gyan gun sagar
Jai Kapis tihun lok ujagar 
Victory to Thee, O Hanuman, Ocean of wisdom and virtue, victory to the Lord of monkeys who is well known in all the three worlds.

This is a seemingly simple devotional verse in praise of Hanuman, but the arrangement and choice of words are crafted by the poet to give deeper dimensions of meanings and suggestions.

“Victory to Thee, O Hanuman, Ocean of wisdom and virtue”

Hanuman is a personality with immense knowledge (gyan). This was apparent to all who met him. When Hanuman met Rama and Lakshmana for the first time on the outskirts of Kishkinda, Rama commented to Lakshman that Hanuman is a true man of knowledge. Just by the way he spoke and conducted himself, it could be seen that he is a knower of the Vedas. In this world it’s easy to convince impressionable people that you have great knowledge. But when a divine being like Rama is the one who acknowledges someone’s wisdom, it is a sign of true knowledge.

However knowledge alone is not sufficient to earn our admiration and reverence. Therefore in the very next word we hear an even more important reason why Hanuman is so revered, this being his qualities/values (guna).

In the world, there are and have been many clever people with great knowledge in one or another field. This does not necessarily make a person great, especially if they are lacking essential qualities, like compassion, humility, bravery etc. Without such qualities, knowledge alone is dry and is likely to be a source of ego rather than a constructive force in the world. So Tulsidas’s praise of Hanuman’s knowledge(gyan) goes hand in hand with his qualities (guna).

“Victory to the King of Monkeys who is well known in all the three worlds”

Kapis is translated as “King of Monkeys”. One may wonder at this. Hanuman wasn’t after all a king. Sugriva and Bali were kings, but not Hanuman. But true leadership is measured by influence over people’s hearts and minds. In this measure, it was Hanuman who was king. Just as in the explanation of verse 1 it was explained that Hanuman is referred to as Raghuvar (kin of Rama), even though he is not a blood relative of Lord Rama, in the same way Hanuman is the King without being the actual monarch.

Kapis has another underlying meaning, relating to its Sanskrit route. The word can be divided into the roots “Ka” and “Pi”. “Pi” means “to drink”. “Ka” means joy, specifically the joy arising from spiritual illumination. Hence Kapis can also means “One who drinks the joy of spiritual illumination”. It is by such individuals – who rule people’s hearts without wielding political authority and who live in the joy of spiritual knowledge because of whom the three worlds are illumined (tihun lok ujagar).

Insight into Verse 4

Rama doot atulit bal dhama
Anjani-putra Pavan sut nama
You are the divine messenger of Rama and repository of immeasurable strength, and are also known as Anjaniputra and known as the son of the wind – Pavanputra.

“You are the divine messenger of Rama and repository of immeasurable strength”

“Rama doot” means “Rama’s messenger” or “Rama’s servant”. In life, a person generally prefers to be introduced as the family member or associate of the person he or she admires the most, or who is closest to them self. Hanuman could introduce himself in many ways, but he preferred to introduce himself just as Rama’s messenger. When he first met Sita and she asked him who he was, he said with humility, “Mother I am the servant of Ramachandraji.” In Lanka, Ravana asked him who the hell he was who had just come and wreaked havoc in his kingdom. Hanuman replied “By whose drop of power you have wielded power over the entire earth, I am His servant”.

To be a messenger of the Lord is a position of great responsibility – it means to do His work upon Earth. It is more than just being a devotee. Making oneself a servant of Rama, being proud of it, and taking responsibility to do His work is a key to developing immeasurable strength – because the strength flows from the a higher source than oneself.

Hanuman’s strength wasn’t manifest when he was just a servant of Sugriva (King of Kishkinda), even though he was a dutiful servant of the latter. It is when he came into the service of Rama that his immeasurable strength was witnessed. This shows that one’s full potential is manifested by being in the service of the right cause and right master – a message which is highly relevant today.

“and are also known as the son of Anjani and known as the son of the Pavan”

Anjani-putra means “Son of Anjani”. Anjani was Hanuman’s mother. Although to Hanuman it was his relationship with Lord Rama that was most important to him, rather than his family, he was still a dutiful family member, and in fact brought great honour upon his mother through his great deeds. The same should be the case for any person who is in service of a great divine cause which they believe in. The cause is worthy of first loyalty, but one’s mother should also be made proud and be honoured.

Hanuman is also known as the son of Pavan Devata (the Deity of Wind), one of the divine celestial powers which upholds the functioning of the world. Pavan Devata is the life force or life breath (praana) of the world. Spiritual commentaries of the Ramayana have described Hanuman as the subtle life force which links Spirit (Rama), with Sita (Nature).