Reciting the Hanuman Chalisa Lyrics is a practice that unites Hanuman devotees in their devotion to the Lord.
Hanuman Chalisa Chaupai 29 in English with Meaning & Analysis
Hanuman Chalisa Chaupai 29 Four Eras
चारों जुग
परताप तुम्हारा ।
है परसिद्ध
जगत उजियारा ।
Chaaron jug
partap tumhara
Hai persidh
jagat ujiyara.
Across four eras
Spans your glory.
Your fame
radiates through the world.
Hanuman Chalisa Chaupai 29 Meaning in English
As mentioned earlier, Hindus believe that the world goes through cycles of birth and death, just as all living creatures go through cycles of birth of death. The ‘world’ here refers more to human culture, an organization or a system, rather than nature.
The lifespan of a world is called kalpa. It has four quarters (yuga, or jug, referred to in this verse): childhood, youth, maturity and old age known as Krita, Treta, Dvapara, and Kali, respectively. Ram lives in the Treta, hence he is called Treta ke Thakur. Krishna lives in the Dvapara, hence the name Dvapara ke Thakur. Hanuman lives across the four ages, hence he is also called Chiranjivi, the immortal one.
As Ram dies and returns to Vaikuntha at the end of the Treta yuga and Hanuman outlives him, greater emphasis is placed on the worship of Hanuman. People believe he still wanders the earth, and seek him out. There are legends that describe him living in the Himalayan region in a valley where there is a banana (kadali) grove (vana).
During ritual readings of the Ramayana, a seat is placed specially for Hanuman, so that when he comes he has a place to sit and enjoy what he enjoys most-the story of his beloved Ram. Stories, and even photos, of his sightings are not uncommon. Some say he is the legendary Yeti or Big Foot of the mountains. For the believer, this is true; for the sceptic, it is simply the power of faith.
Since he is immortal, Hanuman plays an important role in both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. In the Ramayana, he serves one avatar of Vishnu (Ram), and in the Mahabharata he helps another avatar of Vishnu (Krishna) enlighten the Pandava princes. He teaches the arrogant Bhima humility by taking the form of an old monkey and asking the mighty prince to lift his tail. A similar encounter takes place between Hanuman and Arjuna.
When Arjuna wonders why Ram did not build a bridge of arrows across the sea to Lanka, Hanuman, again in the form of an old monkey, replies saying such a bridge would not have been able to bear the weight of the monkey army. Arjuna tries to disprove this by building a bridge across a river using his own arrows, but the bridge breaks as soon as Hanuman steps on it.
Then Krishna advises Arjuna to chant Ram’s name while shooting his arrows. This time the bridge does not break. Arjuna realizes that it is not just the material strength of arrows, or stones, that creates the bridge; it is also the grace of Ram’s name.
A humbled Arjuna asks Harniman to sit atop his chariot during the war against the Kauravas. Arjuna declares his flag to be kapi-dhvaja, as it displays the image of a monkey, a symbol of the restless mind which can transform into Hanurnan when it has faith in Ram.
Hanuman Chalisa Chaupai 29 Analysis in English
charo juga para tapa tumhara
hai parasiddha jagata ujiyyara ll29||
Your glory spreads in all four yugas,
Your fame radiates across the universe. (29)
There are seven chiranjivis, granted the boon to live forever: Ashwathhama, Vyas, Kripacharya, Markandeya, Bali, Vibhishan, and Hanuman. Their divine attainments have made them immortal unlike others who are destined to die. Hanuman is one of the greatest personalities in all the four yugas and anyone taking his refuge, is freed from all troubles. Immortality has two forms of body and of name. Hanuman has immortality of body as well as of name, active to carry out the job allotted by his Lord.
At one point in his life, Jambavan began to experience a weird type of dream that kept repeating every single night. The dream was about a group of four people shooting arrows at him and eventually stabbing him to death. At this point in his life, Jambavan was really old. He had been alive for more than a yuga now. He was bom at the beginning of Satya yuga and it was already a long way into the Treta yuga now.
Being the son of Brahma and having lived through such a long life span, Jambavan was the most experienced person on the earth. In fact, he had been a witness to so many events, like the incarnations of the Supreme Lord as Vamana avatar, Parashuram avatar and now was about to be a part of Rama avatar. While awaiting the beginning of Rama lila, he was already a part of Hanuman lila. Living in Kishkinda, Jambavan considered Kesari and Anjana to be like his own children, and Hanuman to be like his grandchild.
When Jambavan began getting the weird disturbing dreams, he lost himself in thoughts. Hanuman guessed that something serious was troubling Jambavan. Jambavan had been seriously praying to his father Brahma, seeking direction and clarity from the creator of the world. His father’s gentle voice revealed to him that it was time to wind up his life on earthly realms in this body and move on to another destination where yet another adventure awaited him. Brahma explained that his end would come while desperately trying to save an innocent girl who was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. Now that Jambavan knew all the details, he felt less anxious. It was a noble way to die!
Believing his father’s words, Jambavan mentally prepared himself for the inevitable. Leaving behind a message for Anjana, Kesari, and Hanuman, he quietly departed in the middle of the night. When Hanuman received the message of Jambavan’s departure, he was terribly shaken up. He refused to accept that Jambavan was going to die soon. He decided to defy even death itself to bring Jambavan back to Kishkinda. Taking permission from his parents, Hanuman departed to look out for Jambavan.
Meanwhile, Jambavan had ventured far into the forest where Kaal purush appeared to him in the form of a sage. Kaal purush is the time factor that decides everyone’s destiny. He is only visible in the beginning and at the end of one’s life. When he appears he either gives life or takes life. Disguised as a sage, Kaal purush invited Jambavan to his ashram where he claimed that a young girl needed his help. Jambavan immediately understood that it was a call of destiny, directing him towards his death. He followed him silently, deeper into the forest. After an intense search, Hanuman reached the place where Jambavan had met the sage.
When Hanuman studied the footprints, he was in for a shock. The footprints of Jambavan went in one direction and right next to him he saw another print embedded on the ground! Print of a snake slithering right next to him. Hanuman clearly knew what that meant. Print of a serpent slithering parallelly implied imminent death. This scary thought impelled Hanuman to speed up and catch up with Jambavan. Though Kaal purush tried his best to prevent Hanuman from meeting Jambavan, he wasn’t successful in his attempts.
Hanuman began to explain to Jambavan that it was important for him to stay back in this world as Rama was about to make his way to Kishkinda and he had a very important role in Rama lila. Especially with the experience that he had, surely his assistance would be crucial for the new incarnation of the Lord. On Hanuman’s insistence, Jambavan actually contemplated returning but Kaal purush, disguised as a sage requested him to at least visit his ashram. Jambavan agreed and together the three of them reached the ashram.
Kaal purush suggested that Jambavan take a bath in the lake close by so that he felt fresh. In spite of Hanuman warning him, Jambavan left to go to the lakeside. As soon as he reached there, he heard a girl crying out for help. He ran towards the direction of the voice and saw three men, armed with weapons, chasing a traumatized young girl. The girl was dressed like an ascetic. When she saw Jambavan, she ran towards him and begged him to save her.
She informed him that she had deeply desired to only have Lord Vishnu as her husband, but these men were forcing her to marry a mortal. Jambavan assured her of his protection and turned around to face the armed men. When he tried to reason with the men, they were hardly interested in a discussion. Instead, they began shooting arrows at him and injured him severely. Jambavan was startled to realize that this was the exact scene he had seen in his dreams repeatedly. He immediately called Hanuman for help. Jambavan mentally prepared himself for the inevitable and focused his mind on the Supreme Lord.
When Hanuman reached the scene, he thrashed the men and drove them away; and fell on his knees holding the bleeding Jambavan. Precisely at that time, Yamaraj arrived on his buffalo to take away the soul of Jambavan to his next destination. Recognizing the expansion of Lord Shiva, Yamaraj offered his respects to Hanuman. When Hanuman refused to let go of Jambavan, Yamaraj was disturbed. How could anyone change the will of destiny? Not wanting to upset Hanuman and yet wanting to follow his call of duty, Yamaraj put a condition.
He briefed Hanuman that he had to cross the eight gross layers and three subtle layers of the material world in order to reach Yamaloka. Within that time frame, if Hanuman could manage to convince Lord Brahma to let Jambavan live, then he would abide by that. If he failed, then Hanuman would have to just give up and accept the will of providence. Hanuman agreed to that condition and immediately prepared to leave for Brahmaloka. He requested the girl whose life Jambavan had saved, to take care of his body while he completed his mission.
The girl, feeling guilty, promised to not move an inch from there till Jambavan was revived. She felt so responsible for all that had happened that she wanted to do something at least to set things right for him. Hanuman travelled at the speed of wind and reached Brahmaloka, begging Lord Brahma to allow Jambavan to live. Lord Brahma flatly denied since he had no rights to change the laws of nature. Hanuman pleaded with every god for help but none could. After all his efforts, with no one responding, Hanuman got furious.
His Rudra form took over and he began to dance in great anger. The tandava dance that is done by Lord Shiva during the time of annihilation could be seen at that time. Everyone including the gods trembled in fear. Lord Vishnu personally intervened, pacified Hanuman and explained to Lord Brahma that sometimes the laws of nature have to be tweaked to accommodate some important exceptions that are beneficial for the betterment of society and that ensure greater good. With that grant by Lord Vishnu, Lord Brahma ordered Yamaraj to return Jambavan.
Yamaraj released Jambavan’s soul and he got his life back. Hanuman embraced Jambavan in great joy. Lord Vishnu explained to Jambavan how Hanuman was so eager for his revival that they had to change the laws of the world to fulfil his desire. Of course, Lord Vishnu had a special relationship with Jambavan from the previous yuga.
Lord Vishnu blessed that Jambavan would be alive for all four yugas and would participate in the pastimes of the Lord in each of the yugas. He would wind up his time on earth after helping Kalki annihilate the universe. Jambavan expressed his gratitude in being allowed to serve in the Supreme Lord’s eternal pastimes. Lord Vishnu also blessed the young girl desirous of marrying him, that she would get fulfilment of that desire in Dwapar yuga; when she would be born as Jambavati, the daughter of Jambavan.
She was very happy to know that she would be reborn as the daughter of Jambavan who had protected her like a father. Once all the gods vanished, Jambavan expressed his gratitude to Hanuman for saving his life and allowing him few more yugas of service to the Lord. Jambavan glorified Hanuman’s greatness to influence the world across yugas. The happy duo returned to Kishkinda and waited in great anticipation for Rama lila to begin, charo juga para tapa tumhara / hai parasiddha jagata ujiyyara.