Hanuman Jayanti is a significant occasion for the mass recitation of the Hanuman Chalisa Meaning.
Hanuman Chalisa Chaupai 35 in English with Meaning & Analysis
Hanuman Chalisa Chaupai 35 One is Many
और देवता
चित्त न धरई ।
हनुमत सेई
सर्ब सुख करई ॥
Aur devta
chitta na dharehi.
Hanumat se hi
sarba sukh karahi.
All other deities
Do not connect.
Hanuman alone
Gives full delight.
Hanuman Chalisa Chaupai 35 Meaning in English
This chaupai raises the question: is Hinduism polytheistic or monotheistic? For in this verse Hanuman is seen as the source of all happiness, so why bother with other deities. The other deities are not derided; they are just seen as not needed. This question of monotheism and polytheism did not matter until the rise of European Orientalist studies in the 19th century.
After having established their authority in the subcontinent, the Muslim rulers did not bother so much with this question, which is why Muslim communities and Hindu communities lived in relative harmony. But all this harmony was disrupted when European rulers kept wondering: what is true religion? In their view, polytheism was definely primitive, pagan, false, hence myth. Monotheism was true, especially one that saw Jesus as the son of God, not one that saw Muhammad as the last and final Prophet of God.
With the rise of postmodern studies in the late twentieth century, the politics underlying the word ‘myth’ was revealed and its association with falsehood and fiction discarded. Today, both polytheism and monotheism, like ideology and theology, are classified as different kinds of mythology, conceptual cultural truths, and distinguished from measurable and verifiable scientific truths. Of course, fundamentalists, and even many historians, academics and scientists, still cling to the old, outdated colonial meanings, and the binary of truth and falsehood.
Greek mythology is polytheistic while Abrahamic mythology is monotheistic. When the Roman Empire became Christian, polytheism was rejected as false religion. Hindu mythology has always been simultaneously polytheistic and monotheistic: the same God (spelt with capitalization) manifests as multiple gods (spelt without capitalization). In other words, the whole manifests as parts, and every part is an expression of the whole. The whole is limitless, and the part limited; the limitless whole is accessed through the limited part. This approach is unique to Hinduism, and remains unfathomable to most non-Hindus.
A word commonly used for Hinduism is kathenotheism, where one god is worshipped at a time, without disrespecting other gods, and that god is seen as representative of the limitless formless divine, or God. Hence the concept of ishta-devata, the One Being invoked, through whom the devotee accesses the cosmic soul (param-atma). Each deity is like a portal to the same divine entity, and each deity, despite its finite form, is the perfect embodiment of infinity.
In Hindu temples, Hanuman can be seen as an independent deity, or as a deity who is part of Ram’s entourage, just as Ganesha or Murugan can be seen as independent deities, or a deity who is part of Shiva’s family. A deity exists in an ecosystem of many deities and at the same time contains all deities within them.
Hanuman is one. But simultaneously, he is many. Through him, one accesses the hermit Shiva, the householder Vishnu, and the Goddess who embodies nature. He is a Vedic scholar as well as a potent Tantrik warrior.He is the embodiment of Bhakti. He is linked to literature and poetry, with song and music, with physical prowess as well as marital arts. He brings with him Durga (power), Saraswati (knowledge) and Lakshmi (prosperity).
For those uncomfortable with the idea of worshipping a celibate man, there are temples in India where Hanuman has a wife (in Hyderabad, for example), and also one where he wears a nose-ring to appear like the Goddess (in Ratanpur district, Chhattisgarh). So, says this verse, the most efficient way to worship infinity is through this one single deity.
Hanuman Chalisa Chaupai 35 Analysis in English
aura devata chitta na dharail
hanumata sei sarba sukha kara ||35||
Even if one does not meditate on any other god,
Only serving Hanuman makes one blissful. (35)
After the war ended with Rama’s victory, Rama asked Hanuman to inform Sita about it. Hearing the supremely good news, Sita blessed Hanuman for bringing the message to her. She declared that auspicious day as ‘Mangalvar’ (Tuesday) when Hanuman would be worshipped. However, Hanuman never accepts worship for himself but dedicates it to Lord Rama. Lord Rama, being the supreme Lord, blesses devotees of Hanuman, granting all their desires and therefore worshipping Hanuman surpasses worshipping of any other demigod.
Shukracharya, guru of the demons, instigated a demon king named Viprachit to organize a tamasic yagya. A tamasic yagya is a negative fire sacrifice that creates a high amount of inauspiciousness with exactly opposite results as compared to regular fire sacrifices. He instructed him to harass the sages who were expert in performing yagyas and force them to do a tamasic yagya using abominable ingredients such as flesh and blood.
Shukhracharya knew the science of yagyas and was well aware of the fact that the offerings of any yagya had to be personally accepted by demigods. When tamasic yagyas were commenced under the dictate of Viprachit, all the demigods began to get sick one after another.
The sun god himself was so sick that the speed of the sun cycle reduced drastically, resulting in widespread climatic changes all over the world. The rising and setting of the sun became irregular too. Since the sun cycle was disturbed, every living being on the earth naturally got disturbed and began to get sick. Different varieties of infections and diseases spread across the globe.
When this came to Hanuman’s notice, he immediately reached out to Suryadeva, his teacher and guide. But he did not respond to his calls. That was strange because his teacher had never ignored him before. Hanuman personally went all the way to meet Surya and find out the cause of all the abnormal events. As soon as he saw his teacher in that miserable sickly condition, he got his answer. Surya urged Hanuman to somehow stop the tamasic yagya instigated by Shukracharya and thereby save the universe from such an unprecedented calamity.
Since nothing was ever hidden from Surya’s vision, he shared with Hanuman the location of the tamasic yagya being conducted under the protection of the demon king Viprachit. Surya even showed him the place where the demon king had imprisoned all the sages involved in that yagya. Following the direction, Hanuman reached the prison where the sages were held captive.
He learnt from them that they were conducting the yagya under compulsion and not choice. The demon king had imprisoned all their relatives and had threatened to kill them one by one if they didn’t obey him in performance of the tamasic yagya. Not only the sages but even their relatives were imprisoned in a prison created by powerful spells that could not be penetrated by ordinary means. Hanuman first decided to tackle the root of the fear of the sages.
The next morning when the demon king and Shukracharya were busy with the tamasic yagya, Hanuman went to the mountaintop where the relatives of the sages were imprisoned. He sat facing the prison and began to chant the holy names of Lord Rama.
As soon as the holy names of the Supreme Lord began to reverberate, the spell simply collapsed and the prison disintegrated, releasing all the prisoners. Shukracharya came to know by his mystical powers that the spell had been broken and he sent the rakshasa army to handle the situation. Hanuman, who was waiting to receive the upcoming army, slaughtered each and every rakshasa using his powerful mace.
He then instructed the sages to stop performing the tamasic yagya. Shukracharya and the demon king were furious at his impudence. When the demon king attacked him, Hanuman assumed a form so big that Viprachit retreated fearfully. Hanuman was about to kill Viprachit when Shukracharya stepped in to protect his disciple.
Leaving Viprachit with a warning, Hanuman freed all the sages and requested them to begin conducting regular yagyas to restore the balance that had tilted towards gross negativity. Shukracharya helplessly watched the tamasic yagya being dissolved by Hanuman and the whole arena being demolished right in front of his eyes
Only when he returned with the sages, Hanuman realized the extent of the impact of the tamasic yagya across the world. Even after the tamasic yagya had stopped, the demigods had not cured. Most of them were still reeling under its effect. Under Hanuman’s direction, all the demigods were taken to Dhanvantari for cure. Dhanvantari examined them and concluded that only a particular quality of pearl exclusively found in Mansarovar could cure them.
In addition to the pearl, he also required a twig from the navaratna tree, which was a combination of nine different trees growing as one. A yagya should then be conducted using the twigs with the special pearls tied on them. The ashes obtained from that yagya, when mixed with waters from the Ganges, was the magical cure for the illnesses of the gods. Immediately, Hanuman left for Mansarovar to obtain the necessary ingredients for the magic potion to cure the sick demigods.
However, Shukracharya had not stopped fighting the war. By his yogic powers, he had created duplicate pearls that looked exactly like the original but without the same curative potency as the original. But Hanuman outsmarted him and found the real pearls with the help of the divine swans of Mansarovar. Bringing back the pearls along with the sticks of the navaratna tree, Hanuman ensured completion of the yagya as per the instructions of Dhanvantari. And to the delight of all demigods, all of them bounced back to health again.
After this experience, Hanuman realized that health was of paramount importance. He asked Dhanvantari for a permanent cure for all health problems. Dhanvantari told him about the treasure of health, or swastha nidhi, which can bestow permanent good health. However, the catch was that this treasure was not in existence and could only be created by Lord Brahma. So Hanuman, together with the demigods, reached Brahmaloka. Brahma told them the formula for swastha nidhi.
It required 16 different types of rudraksha formed from the tears of Lord Shiva. Hanuman was aware that rudrakshas ranged from one-mukhi to sixteen-mukhi with each one having the power of curing different diseases. Brahma told Hanuman to perform a mahayagya with 16 rudrakshas, as from that yagya would appear the swastha nidhi. Hanuman was excited at the thought of performing the mahayagya and left to collect the 16 ingredients from holy dhams.
As usual, Shukracharya came to know what the demigods were up to. He instructed Viprachit to foil their plan. Viprachit met the king of owls and told them to destroy all the rudrakshas. Because of the owls, Hanuman was unable to find a single rudraksha. He sought Garuda to ask who was behind this mischief. Garuda informed Hanuman that owls were the culprit but no one could take anything from the King of owl without his permission. That’s a boon that they had.
So Hanuman reached the land of owls. The king refused to part with the rudrakshas. On asking why, the king revealed that the entire owl family was saddened by the public perception that they were inauspicious. They wanted a better status in society.
Feeling sympathy for the owls Hanuman took the king to Mother Laxmi. On Hanuman’s request, Laxmi blessed the owls that they would no longer be considered inauspicious. In fact, she accepted them as her vehicle so they would be associated with wealth and hence be considered auspicious.
Feeling on top of the world, the owls returned the rudrakshas gratefully to Hanuman. Hanuman gave them to Brahma, who, along with the demigods, began the yagya. But to their surprise, Agni dev refused to light up. The reason was that Viprachit was still on the throne of heaven and controlling the power of the demigods. In a fit of anger, Hanuman rushed to Indraloka and gave him one tight kick. Viprachit directly landed in Patal-loka and lost all his powers.
With the departure of Viprachit, the demigods regained their powers. The yagya was performed and swastha nidhi personified assured the demigods of continued good health. Hanuman asked for the same assurance for Mrityu loka and swastha nidhi agreed to be present in Mrityu loka as well as Swarga loka. She also thanked Hanuman for invoking her presence and gave him a blessing that whoever prayed to Hanuman will have her special mercy. All the demigods thanked Hanuman profusely, aura devata chitta na dharail hanumata sei sarba sukha karat.