Shri Hanuman Chalisa is composed of 40 verses that extol the virtues of Lord Hanuman.
Hanuman Chalisa Chaupai 32 in English with Meaning & Analysis
Hanuman Chalisa Chaupai 32 Serving God
राम रसायन
तुम्हरे पासा ।
सदा रह्रो
रघुपित के दासा
Ram rasayan
tumhare pasa.
Sada raho
Raghupati ke dasa.
Ram’s chemistry
Is known to you.
May you forever be
Servant of the lord of the Raghu clan (Ram).
Hanuman Chalisa Chaupai 32 Meaning in English
If there is one thing that Hanuman wants, it is to serve Ram. One day, Hanuman asked Sita why she marked her forehead with a red dot. She told him that it was a sign of her love for Ram. Hanuman concluded that the colour red indicates the chemistry (rasayan) between devotee and deity. Hanuman wondered how much red colour he would need to indicate his love for Ram, since he was a mere monkey, and a servant, far lower in stature to Sita, the consort of Ram.
He finally decided to colour his entire body with red powder, which is why Hanuman images are coloured red in temples dedicated to him, it is believed. Deities associated with the Goddess, such as Ganesha (her son) and Hanuman (her guard), are typically coloured red, a colour usually associated with the Goddess.
Hanuman used to serve Ram diligently, so much so that no one else had the pleasure of taking care of Ram’s needs. Exasperated, one day Ram’s brothers and Sita and other members of the Raghu clan decided to make a list of all of Ram’s needs and divide the chores amongst them.
Hanuman was left with nothing to do. Hanuman did not mind, after all, he realized that everyone needs the pleasure of taking care of Ram. But he was keen to do something for Ram. He noticed that the list did not have one task: snapping fingers when one yawns.
The people of Ayodhya believed that if you did not snap your fingers while yawning, disease-causing spirits entered the body. Surely, the act of snapping fingers while Ram yawned could be outsourced to him, thought Hanuman.
Better a monkey do this menial task than Ram himself, or anyone else in the family, for that matter. So Hanuman kept following Ram everywhere, to everyone’s annoyance, carefully waiting for the moment Ram would yawn so that he could click his fingers. But at night, he could not enter Ram’s private chambers.
He waited at the door, wondering how he would know when Ram yawned inside. Rather than wait for Ram to yawn, Hanuman thought of snapping his fingers continuously – that way, whenever Ram happened to yawn at night, he wouldn’t miss it. Unfortunately, his plan had a disastrous impact-every time he snapped his fingers Ram would start yawning inside, so that his devotee’s chores did not go waste. All night, Hanuman kept snapping his fingers, and Ram, instead of sleeping, kept yawning. When the reason for this was discovered, everyone laughed. They realized they could take Hanuman away from Ram, but not Ram away from Hanuman.
Stories such as these, popular in the oral tradition, seek to convey the deep bond of the relationship between Hanuman and Ram. The idea of selflessly serving Ram who seeks the welfare of the world is often used by politicial leaders who want their followers to be like Hanuman, and serve their constituency. But such a parallel is dangerous. For it assumes that leaders are Ram and followers are Hanuman, by default.
Both leaders and followers work hard to project that they are indeed hermits, seeking no personal gain from their political powers. So they shun family, property, luxury and pleasure, and are seen in public wearing white or saffron clothing. They understand that the masses equate the superficial with the psychological. We can see matter, not mind. We can see saffron costumes, not the yogic mind.
We assume that those dressed in simple clothes, who shun wine, and sex, and non-vegetarian food, must be hermits. But these are assumptions, matters of faith. Just as we can see clothes and not the mind, we can see wealth not power. A leader or follower may not care for wealth, but they often seek power. This hunger for power manifests in the desire to control people, dominate people, direct people and in territorial behaviour. This is seen in political parties as they fight for votes, and the power to control people through law enforcement.
This is seen in spiritual organizations where the only decision-maker is the guru. This is seen in institutions that split after the charismatic ‘hermit’ founder-leader dies. This is seen in the constant yearning for social status and respect and media attention that many ‘gurus’ crave for, even as they give elaborate, hair-splitting arguments about how desire is different from ambition, and how their business and political activities are actually manifestations of dharma.
Power is Durga, who rides a lion. Durga is as seductive as Lakshmi but far more insidious. Even those who seek Saraswati, scholars, experts and artists, and who insist they don’t care for Lakshmi, eventually use their knowledge and skill and art to dominate, argue, direct, control and assert authority. These are all signs that the aham is thriving and the atma is eclipsed.
When the atma shines, we don’t crave wealth, power or knowledge, as we are wealthy, powerful and knowledgeable, like Ram and Hanuman, we are happy in the palace as well as in the forest. When the atma shines, the other matters more than the self. And it is the other who decides who is a leader. Ram does not want to be the leader. Hanuman, however, wants to follow Ram. To realize this is to realize Ram’s chemistry (rasayan).
Hanuman Chalisa Chaupai 32 Meaning in English
rama rasayana tumhare pasal
sada raho raghupati ke dasa ||32||
You have the treasure of the holy name of Rama,
And may you remain in service of Rama eternally. (32)
The King of Kashi was very confused after meeting Narada Muni. Why would he give him such a strange instruction? Usually saints teach you to be very respectful to one and all, but this saint was teaching exactly the opposite. “I guess that is why they say that one can never decipher the minds of pure devotees!” With this argument he pacified his reeling mind. He didn’t have the audacity to argue in front of the saint. He decided to act immediately, lest his mind presented more arguments that challenged the saint’s instruction.
The journey from Kashi to Ayodhya was long but the king sweetened the journey with remembrance of Lord Rama’s adventures. The more he recalled the great adventures of Lord Rama in Lanka, the more excited he became about the meeting. The arduous journey passed in a jiffy, absorbed in divine remembrance. Soon he was inside the royal palace of Ayodhya, right in the exalted presence of Lord Rama.
As soon as he saw his worshippable Supreme Lord, he immediately fell flat on the ground, offering his respectful obeisance. He was so absorbed in looking at his divine master that everything else and everyone else in the vicinity ceased to exist. Without even realizing it, he was following Narada’s instructions to the last letter. He stood with his hands folded in supplication looking at the divine form of Lord Rama. Tears flowed from his eyes and his lips quivered in great joy.
Suddenly he was shaken out of his meditation by a shrill voice. Someone was furious. He broke his line of vision to see a sage furiously walking towards the Lord from a distance, shouting while pointing fingers at the king of Kashi. What had he done to attract this kind of wrath from the sage? He had walked in only a few minutes back. Then he realized what the anger was about.
It was about his following Narada’s instructions. Of course, no one knew that he was only following Narada’s instructions. Everyone including the angry sage Vishwamitra had concluded that he was simply arrogant and disrespectful. Though he had offered respects to Lord Rama, he had completely ignored and been disrespectful to all the exalted sages present in that assembly. Though many others would have been also offended, they all chose to remain quiet.
But Vishwamitra wasn’t the one to stay quiet when a gross error was committed in his presence. He demanded justice from Lord Rama for the impudence of the king of Kashi. Rama was in a fix. Though he understood the mood of the king, he had to also appease his guru. He extracted three arrows from his quiver and held it out for all to see.
He then declared that with these three arrows, he would behead the king of Kashi by sunset that day. Those words immediately pacified Vishwamitra who stopped speaking and smirked with satisfaction at the devastated king. While Vishwamitra returned to his asana peacefully, the king of Kashi fled like a madman.
A minute back, he was staring at Lord Rama with so much love and now all he wanted was to run as far away as possible from Him before sunset. Though in panic, he wondered why Rama had given him time till sunset when He could have finished him off immediately.
And why did He choose three arrows when every single arrow of His never failed the mark? Of course now wasn’t the time to think about confusing actions of great personalities. He had to first go and seek help from the same person whose very instructions had got him in this trouble to begin with.
Instead of empathizing with him, Narada Muni laughed aloud. In fact, he told him that this was exactly what he had expected. The king of Kashi wondered why Narada was being so sadistic in spite of being aware of his sorry plight. Narada said that the only person who could help him in this situation was Anjana, Hanuman’s mother.
If he convinced her that his life was in danger, without mentioning who was trying to kill him, she would ask her son to help. That seemed like a good suggestion. The desperate king immediately ran to Anjana and fell at her feet, begging her to save his life. The compassionate mother immediately called her supremely powerful son Hanuman and instructed him to save the king’s life from whoever was attempting to kill him. Hanuman promised his mother all help and spoke to the king.
Hanuman wanted to know the details of the whole story that led him to the death threat. When the king of Kashi explained everything and concluded that the person who had vowed to kill him by sunset was none other than Lord Rama, Hanuman was in a fix. On one hand, he had vowed to his mother to save the king and on the other hand was his loyalty to Lord Rama.
For the first time in his life, he was in a situation where he had to stand up against Rama. He repented committing to his mother before understanding the complete problem. If only his mother had known that it was Rama that Hanuman had to stand against, she wouldn’t have even recommended this mission. Anyway, it was too late now. Hanuman had to find a solution somehow.
The only solution that he had was the holy name of Lord Rama and that, he was convinced, was the solution to all problems of life, rama rasayana tumhare pasa Touching the king of Kashi on his shoulder, Hanuman suggested that he stand neck-deep in the waters of the Sarayu river and incessantly chant the name of Lord Rama.
As directed by Hanuman, the king of Kashi desperately began to chant the name of Lord Rama while Hanuman sat on the riverbank doing the same. With the ticking of time, the desperation of the king grew and so did the loudness of his chanting. By sunset, he was crying out the name of Lord Rama intensely.
Exactly at sunset, a loud thunderous sound was heard followed by a whooshing sound that increased by the second. The first arrow of Lord Rama had been released. Rama had directed the arrow to sever the head of the king of Kashi wherever he may be at that moment. The arrow flawlessly made its way towards the Sarayu river. The king of Kashi increasingly became aware of his approaching death. His intensity of chanting Rama’s name also increased.
Just when the arrow was about to hit the neck of the king, it stopped. Less than an inch away from the neck! The king opened his eyes and swallowed a lump of bile that had gathered in his throat. He realized that the arrow had been held by the powerful hand of Hanuman, just an inch before it penetrated into his throat. Hanuman took the arrow away and broke it into two and threw it into the river. As the two pieces of the arrow floated away with the current of the river, the king of Kashi took a deep breath.
Before long, a second thunderous sound was heard with the release of the second arrow by Lord Rama. Immediately, the king of Kashi began chanting Rama’s name intensely. This time he was well aware of Hanuman’s presence right next to him. Though his mind was more peaceful with that awareness, his heart refused to stop beating intensely.
Which heart wouldn’t beat so furiously when well aware that Rama’s arrow was speeding towards his throat? As soon as the second arrow reached its marked destination, Hanuman’s ever alert hands managed to catch it just in the nick of time yet again, saving the king’s life. The broken arrow was soon floating away.
In a few minutes, the third arrow also met the same fate. The king was thrilled that all three arrows were gone and he was still very much alive. He began to dance inside the water in great joy, thanking Hanuman profusely. Just as the private celebration of the king was on, a huge crowd gathered on the banks of the river. Soon Lord Rama himself was standing there with his hands on his hips, severely angry at Hanuman for thwarting his attempts thrice.
Rama demanded to know from Hanuman how he dared to stop the arrows of his master. Had his loyalty changed? With great humility, Hanuman explained to the Lord and to everyone assembled there that it was his duty to save Lord Rama’s devotee and especially one who chanted his name. Since the king of Kashi was so intensely chanting the names of Rama, he was duty bound to save his life from any sort of danger. Even if that danger came from Lord Rama himself. Rama couldn’t refute the argument. Now he was in a fix! How could he fulfil his vow to Vishwamitra without disagreeing with Hanuman?
Narada Muni was watching the scene with great interest. This was exactly what he wanted the world to understand. The holy name of Rama was even more powerful than Rama himself and that Hanuman would always protect those chanting the holy names of Lord Rama. Now since that was established, he silently signalled the king to run and offer obeisance to Sage Vishwamitra. The king promptly fell at the feet of the great sage and begged forgiveness for his disrespectfulness.
The sage forgave him instantly and instructed Rama to let the king live, thus solving the dilemma of the Lord for good. The king was immensely grateful to Hanuman for giving him the right direction and saving his life so dramatically. Finally Rama smiled at Hanuman.
This servant of his was so special that he somehow knew how to win over his master’s heart by hook or by crook, rama rasayana tumhare pasa /sada raho raghupati ke dasa Hanuman leaps across the ocean, constantly remembering his master Lord Rama.
He remembers that he is the Lord’s arrow. The arrow travels swiftly in air not because of its own power but because of the bow and the power of the arms that holds the bow. Similarly, Hanuman believed that it was not his capability that took him across the ocean but the power of the arms that shot him. He was simply the arrow that reached the target because of the skills of the shooter. He gave all credit of success to his master Rama’s shelter, sada raho raghupati ke dasa.