The Beauty of Sundarakand

Having accomplished his mission of finding Sita in Lanka, Hanumanji left the island roaring like a lion. Sri Goswami Tulsidas brings Hanumanji to the other shore, across the ocean, in half a chowpai(verse). All the monkeys were waiting there as per Hanumanji's instructions. When they saw him, a new life was infused in them. They knew that Hanumanji had completed the work given to him by Sri Ram, because his face was cheerful and shining.

The monkeys were full of questions, "How is Ravana's Lanka? Did you actually meet Ravana? How is our mother, Sitaji?" They wanted to know so many things because he was 'foreign-returned'! But . Hanumanji did not describe how he crossed the ocean and all the things he did. That was not his nature at all.. He said, "Let us go fast to meet Sri Rama".

Talking thus, they reached Kishkinda and entered Madhuvana, an orchard which belonged to Sugreeva and was dear to him. The monkeys were very hungry and wanted to eat the fruits there, have a party to celebrate! Even in Sugreeva's absence, with the consent of their captain, the crown prince Yuvaraj Angad, they started feasting on the fruits. The watchmen who tried to stop them were beaten up by the monkeys. They complained to Sugreeva. But Sugreeva did not get angry. He guessed that the monkeys must have completed their task and sent word for them to meet him as soon as they had finished eating.

When the monkeys gave him the good news, Sugreeva was very happy and all of them went to the Sphatika Shila, the crystal rock, where Ramchandraji and Lakshman were seated. They bowed down Bhagawan asked;"How are you? Is everything tine?" Jambhavan, the oldest among them and the manager of the team, replies on their behalf, "Maharaj, you are enquiring about our welfare! If your gracious look falls upon anyone, all is well with that person forever. He becomes successful and victorious in everything." Generally victory makes people arrogant. But if by God's grace you have won a victory, then there is humility in that victory. So Jambavan says, Vijayi vinayi guna sagar - such a person becomes an ocean of all virtues." His fame spreads everywhere and illumines the whole world.

Jambavan continues, "0 Lord, with your Grace alone, the job was done. Our life is fulfilled because we could do some seva( service) to you. We know that you do not need any body's help. When you created the countless cosmoses, who helped You? Your alone were there. You are only giving us an opportunity to raise ourselves. It is our privilege to serve you."

Hanumanji wanted all the monkeys to go with him so that he could say that the entire team did the job, not just one individual. That was his greatness. The greatness of Jambavan is revealed when he said, "Maharaj, we all went, no doubt. But the actual work was done by Hanumanji. Even a thousand tongues cannot describe his achievement.

We all went, the team was together, but he was the man of the match, man of the series. In every difficult situation, he gave us relief and saved our lives".

To Be Continued

About the author

Swami Tejomayananda

As the Head of Chinmaya Mission Worldwide, Pujya Guruji Swami Tejomayananda is fulfilling the vision that Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda charted. Pujya Guruji has served as acharya, or dean, of the 'Sandeepany' institutes of Vedanta both in India and California. He has written commentaries on scriptural texts, translated Pujya Gurudev's commentaries into Hindi, and authored a number of books. Pujya Guruji excels in expounding a wide spectrum of Hindu scriptures, from Ramayana to Bhagavad Gita to the Upanishads