Hanuman Jayanti is a significant occasion for the mass recitation of the Hanuman Chalisa Lyrics in English.
Hanuman Chalisa Chaupai 6 in English with Meaning & Analysis
Hanuman Chalisa Chaupai 6 Rudra’s Eleventh Form
संकर सुवन
केसरीनंदन ।
तेज प्रताप
महा जग बंद्न ॥
Sankar suvan
Kesari nandan.
Tej prataap
maha jag bandan.
Shankara’s (Shiva’s) manifestation
Kesari’s son
Your glory
is venerated by the whole world
Hanuman Chalisa Chaupai 6 Meaning in English
This verse connects Hanuman to Shankara, which is another name for Shiva. For many devotees today, Hanuman is a form of Shiva. He is described variously as the son of Shiva, as the manifestation of Shiva, as an avatar of Shiva, as the eleventh Rudra form.
This connection between Hanuman and Shiva began roughly 1,500 years ago, a time that also saw Puranic Hinduism split between two schools of thought: the Vaishnavites who saw the world-affirming Vishnu as the supreme divine being and the Shaivites who saw the world-renouncing Shiva as the supreme divine being.
When the Ramayana became popular, Vishnu-worshippers saw Ram as the mortal form (avatar) of Vishnu who kills Ravana, a devotee (bhakta) of Shiva. This turned the Ramayana into a tale of rivalry between Vishnu and Shiva. To counter this, Shiva worshippers said that Hanuman was the form of Shiva. They pointed to Hanuman’s status as brahmachari (celibate, continent and content, with no wants or needs) and his colour being as white as camphor (karpura-go-ranga) indicative of his being Shiva.
In some stories explaining the origins of Hanuman, it is said that when Shiva saw Vishnu in the form of Mohini, or Parvati, he began to sweat profusely. Vayu collected this sweat and poured it in the ear of Anjana, a vanara woman, who gave birth to Hanuman. Anjana’s husband, Kesari, raised Hanuman as his own son and so Hanuman is also known as the son of Kesari. So besides a mortal father (Kesari) and a Vedic father (Vayu), Hanuman also has a Puranic father (Shiva). Besides a mortal mother (Anjani), Hanuman also has a celestial mother (Shakti).
According to Shaivites, Shiva himself descended as Hanuman to destroy Ravana, an errant Shiva-bhakta. According to them, Ravana had offered his ten heads to Shiva and obtained boons that made him very powerful. But as Rudra, Shiva has eleven forms.
Ravana’s offering of ten heads satisfied the ten forms of Rudra. The eleventh unhappy Rudra took birth as Hanuman to kill Ravana. Hence Hanuman is also Raudreya. In Maharashtra, the seventeenth-century saint Ramdas established eleven Maruti temples, reminding all of Hanuman’s association with the eleven forms of Rudra.
To establish their superiority, Vishnu-worshippers argued that Hanuman, hence Shiva, obeyed instructions given by Vishnu. To counter this, Shiva-worshipers said that without Hanuman’s help, Ram would never have found Sita. In many retellings of the Ramayana, it is Hanuman who enables the killing of Ravana.
For example, in one Telugu retelling, despite knowing that Ravana’s life resided in his navel, Ram shot only at the head of Ravana as he was too proud a warrior to shoot below the neck. So Hanuman sucked air into his lungs and caused the wind to shift direction making Ram’s arrow turn and strike Ravana’s navel.
Hanuman’s association with Shiva, and with celibacy, was reinforced by Hanuman’s association with the various ascetic schools of Hinduism, including the Nath-yogis who followed the path of Matsyendra-nath from around 1,000 years ago, to the Vedantic mathas who followed Madhwa-acharya from around 700 years ago, and Sant Ramdas who inspired many Maratha warriors 400 years ago.
The latter sages, especially during the Bhakti period, introduced the idea of connecting celibacy with service; you give up your worldly pleasures and work for the worldly aspirations of society. Just as the hermit Shiva became the householder Shankara for the benefit of Humanity, these sages spoke of how the ascetic Hanuman became Ram’s servant for the benefit of society.
At one time, women were not allowed to worship Hanuman. By his mere radiance, it is said in many stories, he can make them pregnant. In the stories of Nath-yogis, one learns of queens who become pregnant by simply listening to the song of Hanuman, or fish becoming pregnant by consuming the sweat of Hanuman, for his radiance permeates into his voice and his sweat.
As the centuries passed the overtly masculine nature of Hanuman was toned down. Just as Shiva was domesticated by Shakti, Hanuman’s gentle side is evoked by Sita. Since there can be no Shiva without Shakti, many say that Shakti took the form of Hanuman’s tail and always accompanied him. Hence, today women also worship Hanuman to solve their problems.
Hanuman Chalisa Chaupai 6 Analysis in English
shankara swayam kesan nandanai
teja pratapa maha jaga bandanaii ||6||
As Lord Shiva’s son and Kesari’s joy,
Your effulgent power shines
throughout the universe. (6)
Enough was enough! Ravana had crossed all limits of decency and the most powerful gods in creation were unable to handle the atrocities of Ravana. Imagine the king of the heavens cutting vegetables in Ravana’s kitchen! Even death personified feared him!
After long discussions they decided to visit Lord Shiva in Kailash. Not that they expected him to sympathize knowing well that Ravana was one of Lord Shiva’s greatest devotee. But they were in for a great surprise when they found Lord Shiva equally furious with him.
How was it possible that the Lord was furious with his own devotee? Lord Shiva gave them some shocking facts. He explained that Ravana had undertaken severe austerities to please him. In spite of such intense tapasya when Shiva did not make an appearance, Ravana began to chop off his heads and offer them into the sacrificial fire to appease the Lord. He had offered nine heads and he was now offering the tenth one into the fire. Unable to bear the gruesome sight of a headless Ravana, Lord Shiva appeared in front of him ready to fulfill his desires.
Ravana asked him for two boons at that point. But the boons were like two bombs that Ravana threw at Lord Shiva. He asked for the atma linga, which was a special form of Shivalinga and he asked for Lord Shiva’s wife Parvati. Lord Shiva was flabbergasted.
He had dared to ask for his wife! But having given his word, he had to send Parvati with him. Of course, Lord Vishnu intervened and tricked Ravana, thus getting Parvati back from him. But the impact of the trauma was deep and it had deeply displeased the eleventh Rudra.
Ravana had managed to appease ten of the eleven Rudra forms of Lord Shiva but the eleventh Rudra was incensed. Shiva promised the demigods that the eleventh Rudra would appear in the form of vanara named Hanuman and prove to be the instrument of destruction of Ravana.
While the gods returned happy with this news, Lord Shiva called upon Vayu, the wind god, and handed over his energy to him. Shiva instructed Vayu to place his effulgent energy into the womb of Anjana, a vanara woman, at an appropriate time.
Vayu placed the powerful seed on a special metal leaf that could handle the potent energy. He then handed it over to the Saptarishis for safe keeping till the right time arrived.Meanwhile, Anjana was meditating in a cave way up in the mountains.
While she was absorbed in meditation, someone else was meditating on her beauty. A demon named Shambasadhana had been smitten by lust and been eyeing her for the last few days. When he approached her, Anjana panicked and ran away to escape from his clutches.
She somehow reached a village of powerful sages. When she told them her predicament of being followed by a demon, the sages replied that the only person who could protect her was the vanara chieftain Kesari. And what a coincidence! As soon as they mentioned his name, Kesari arrived. Soon a terrible battle ensued between Shambasadhana and Kesari.
Both were so powerful and skilled that none was able to get an upper edge. Then Shambasadhana began to change forms. Taking on the shape of a giant elephant, he attacked Kesari. Kesari in turn, reduced his size dramatically and continued the onslaught. He perched himself on the head of the giant elephant and began pounding his head with his fists. Shambasadhana was bleeding profusely but there was no sign of him tiring or slowing down.
As Kesari began to worry, Anjana prayed for divine help which came as a vision – the only way the demon could ‘ be killed was by using his own blood. He was immune to everything except that. She dipped an arrow into the demon’s blood that was spilt all over. Holding the arrow in one hand, she grabbed a bow with the other, darted towards Kesari and threw both in his direction.
Kesari lunged forward and caught both in mid-air, understanding her intention. He turned around, knocked the arrow onto the bow and shot it, all in one motion. As Kesari landed on the ground, the arrow shot ahead, penetrated the demon’s body, killing him at once.
The sages who watched this brave act, complimented Kesari and Anjana and blessed them profusely. They declared that providence had willed them to come together. In fact, they predicted, that the child bom through this marriage would be an incarnation of Lord Shiva himself and the cause of destruction of demonic forces. Thus, with blessings from the great sages, Kesari and Anjana happily entered a marriage alliance. Despite so many predictions and blessings heaped upon them, the vanara couple could not beget a child.
They decided to visit Matanga Rishi and seek his blessings. It was a long and arduous journey through forests and mountains, which they undertook barefoot. Anjana additionally vowed to cover this entire journey without a single break. Kesari tried to dissuade her but gave in seeing her determination and decided to do his best to help her. As they began walking, thorns and pebbles greeted their path and soon their feet were sore with blisters, gashes, and cuts. Nonetheless, their determination was so strong that they continued walking.
Meanwhile, Ravana’s spies gave him a full report of the prediction of the sages and the worrisome child that was to be born and predicted to be the cause of future trouble for him. He decided to nip the problem even before it bud by sending Mayavi demon to prevent the vanara couple from completing their journey.
Taking the form of a dangerous looking buffalo, Mayavi came and obstructed their path. Anjana was least concerned about the balloonic demon. She kept walking, much to the shock of Kesari, straight into the powerful demon ahead. He rushed ahead and managed to push the demon out of her way just in time. With this first-hand experience with Kesari, Mayavi realized there was no chance of winning against this mighty vanara and fled to save his life.
Finally the exhausted couple managed to reach the ashram of Matanga Rishi. Anjana’s legs were totally bruised and bleeding. As soon as she sat down to examine them, a sweet little child came running and tended to her wounds very gently.
The child was so beautiful that Anjana was spell-bound. Even Matanga Rishi was awestruck. He had never seen such a beautiful boy anywhere in the vicinity of the ashram. Only when he observed minutely, did he realize that the child was none other than Lord Shiva himself who had come to serve his future mother. After serving Anjana for a while, the child disappeared.
Hurrying back to Kailash, Lord Shiva shared with Parvati his ecstatic experience of serving his mother. Back in the ashram, Matanga Rishi offered Anjana his blessings and also gave her the Shiva mantra. When she began to chant the Shiva mantra, Vayu got his signal that it was time to deposit the energy of Lord Shiva.
Taking the Shiva energy from the Saptarishis, Vayu reached Anjana and placed the potency in her womb. From that moment onwards Anjana became as effulgent as the sun. Kesari understood that a divine child had entered her womb.
When Ravana heard this news, he panicked and immediately got in touch with his friend Vali to warn him of the danger that was coming from Anjana’s womb. Initially Vali did not consider the unborn child of Anjana’s to be a threat. But when Ravana reminded him about the mighty exploits of Kesari, Vali feared that Kesari’s to-be-bom child might excel him in warfare and strength.
To keep Kesari under subjugation was almost impossible. And if his son was bom stronger, then definitely there was a great chance of Vali losing his throne. Coaxed and instigated by Ravana, Vali agreed to find a way out. In order to assist Vali, Ravana handed over a mystical arrow; an arrow that could be aimed at the grossest or the subtlest of targets and would never miss its mark.
Vali then invited Anjana and Kesari to his palace under the pretext of celebration ceremony of his coronation as the king of Kishkinda. They couldn’t refuse the invite and joined the celebrations. Vali was a perfect host and with his gracious hospitality he made them feel comfortable in the palace guest house. In the middle of the night when the whole of Kishkinda was sleeping, Vali released the mystical arrow aiming it at the embryo of the sleeping Anjana.
The arrow whizzed past the palace corridors, entered the sleeping Anjana’s room and penetrated her womb to destroy the child within. In great agony and pain, Anjana screamed out for help. Kesari reached out to his wife and realized that a mystical weapon had attacked his wife and was destroying the foetus. Nothing was visible externally but he knew the existence of such mystical weapons that worked on the power of mantras and did not miss their aim.
Feeling immense pain and helplessness, Anjana began to chant the Shiva mantra. As soon as she began chanting, Lord Shiva instantly made an appearance and neutralised the effect of the arrow. He then went on to revive the child and blessed it to be immune from all sorts of attacks from external forces. Relieved that their child was saved and shaken up by the whole ordeal, Kesari and Anjana fled from the palace in the middle of the night to reach the safety of their own territory.
Eventually, the child that was bom was an incarnation of Shiva himself, Shankara suvana; or in some places it is mentioned as Shankara svayam. The child was also the son of Kesari and thus is called Kesari nandana. Of course, he is also the son of the wind god and thus is known as Pavana suta also. But more than that, he is the darling child of Lord Rama and is known as Rama dulare. How can one person be the child of so many people? Hanuman is connected to all these personalities at various levels
A person exists at three levels, the spiritual, the life breath, and the physical body. At the deepest level of the spirit, Hanuman was an expansion of Lord Shiva. His physical body was bom in Anjana’s womb through Kesari, thus he is physically the son of Kesari. But since the energy of Shiva was transported through the medium of the wind, the life air that flows in his body is a contribution of the Pavana and thus he is Pavana suta. shankara swayam kesarl nandana
After Lord Rama vanquished Ravana and installed Vibhishan as the king of Lanka, He requested Hanuman to share this good news with Mother Sita who was held captive in Ashok Vatika. Hanuman reached Ashok Vatika immediately to deliver the good news.
Sita was thrilled to see him yet again after a month. In great details, Hanuman shared the war happenings with Mother Sita and culminated his narration by revealing the news of the death of Ravana, the victory of Rama, and the establishment of Vibhishana as the king of Lanka.
Sita was overjoyed. Eleven torturous months had ended with this news. She was so happy with Hanuman that she wanted to reward him suitably. But alas, she had nothing in her possession at that time. The only thing she could give him then were her heartfelt blessings. There was nothing in the three worlds that could match the news that Hanuman had just given her.
With gratitude and joy, Sita blessed Hanuman that the day on which he had given her the news would become a day more special than other days of the week. He would be glorified and worshipped on this day forever, all over the universe. She further blessed Hanuman that all virtues would reside in his heart and Lord Rama would always shower his mercy on him.
Hanuman became renowned in all the three worlds by the blessings of Mother Sita and the grace of Lord Rama. By utilizing his talent, strength, skills, and by exhibiting exemplary attitude in the right consciousness, Hanuman forever established a kingdom in the hearts of Sita and Rama and ruled there forever.
Seated on this high throne as a king of their hearts, he rules the hearts of devotees of the Lord spread over the three worlds. His lustre and brilliance is immediately recognized and praised by all who come into contact with him. By the blessings of Mother Sita, the whole world worships the brilliance and power of Hanuman. teja pratapa maha jaga bandan.