One often hears devotees search for the wherewithal to succeed in the material world while simultaneously progressing in the spiritual world. Everything will fall in place if one were to follow the devotional path as shown by Anjaneya, said Dhamal Perundevi in a discourse.
Anjaneya is the hero of the Sundara Kandam. Rama is convinced that Anjaneya alone among all the search party is capable of discovering Sita. Kamban describes Anjaneya as the master of all five elements: he is Vayu’s son; he crossed the ocean, another element; he used the sky to travel; he discovered Bhooma Devi’s daughter Sita in Ashoka Vanam; he set fire to Lanka. Ever aware of the divine status of Rama and Sita, Anjaneya does not drop Rama’s ring on Sita’s hand: being the goddess of wealth, She should not have to hold out Her hand. Nor should the signet, with Rama’s name inscribed on it, be allowed to remain upside down even inadvertently. It is Anjaneya’s grasp of finer things that make him unparalleled. By detailing his meeting with Sita to Rama in Sundara Kandam, and by his act of exchanging the ornaments of Rama and Sita and informing Rama that He should go to Lanka to bring Sita back, Anjaneya performs the task of an Acharya. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa has observed that the efficacy of Rama nama is brought by the fact that Anjaneya vaulted across the Lankan waters by chanting Rama nama, while Rama needed a bridge to cross the same.
At the Pattabhishekam, Rama is perplexed when Anjaneya chooses to kneel below the throne, instead of occupying the prime spot in front of Him. Anjaneya humbly says lending his shoulder to the royal seat on which both Rama and Sita are seated is an incomparable blessing.
Published - January 11, 2024 05:03 am IST
