Baba's speech about his devotee Hanuman

" Once Lord Ram asked Hanuman, "How do you contemplate on Me?" "At the physical level, You are my Master and I am Your servant. At the mental level, I am a spark of thy Divine Self. At the Atmic level, You and I are one," said Hanuman.

Pleased with Hanuman’s reply, Lord Ram presented him with a pearl necklace, which was given to Mother Seeta by her father, King Janak, at the time of her marriage. Hanuman held this very valuable necklace in his hand, began to remove all the pearls one by one from the necklace, and kept it near his ear for some time and then after biting each one of them, threw them away. Seeta was surprised to see Hanuman behaving thus. She thought that Hanuman had not given up his monkey traits. Ram knew the intention behind this act of Hanuman. However, in order to make Seeta understand this, He asked, "Hanuman, why are you biting and throwing away such precious pearls?" Hanuman replied, "O Lord, I am examining whether I could listen to Your name in the pearls. Since I could not hear, I am throwing away. The pearl is no better than a stone if there is no Ram Nama in it. I want only You." Listening to this statement of Hanuman, Ram offered Himself by embracing Hanuman. The inner meaning of this is Ram is where Hanuman is and vice-versa. Hanuman is one who realized the unity of the individual and God. Consequently, Hanuman was always in a state of bliss.

Hanuman is given various appellations such as Santudu, Gunavantudu, Balvantadu (one of peace, virtues and strength). He derived his strength from the Divine name of Lord Ram. Many people confine the Divine Name only to the lips but Hanuman chanted the name of Ram from the depth of his heart.

              - Divine Discourse at Prashanti Nilayam: 25 March  2001 

Hanuman, after the completion of his mission in Lanka, went to Seeta to receive her blessings before returning to Ram. At that time, Mother Seeta blessed Hanuman in this manner: "Hanuman! You are full of prowess, intelligence and fortitude. May you never grow old." This did not give joy to Hanuman. Noticing his sense of disappointment, Seeta blessed him again: "Live as an immortal." Even this did not please Hanuman. Seeta then blessed him again: "Hanuman! You are full of virtues! May the dwellers in the three worlds extol your qualities." Hanuman felt embarrassed and bent his head as if he was ashamed to hear her praise him. Observing Hanuman's reactions, Seeta finally blessed him thus: "May Shri Ram always love you!" The moment he heard these words, Hanuman was in rapture. "This was all that I wanted," he declared. "I must be worthy of Ram's love. A life without Ram's love is an utter waste. It is a living death. The only thing I desire is Ram's love."

"Hanuman was proficient in music. There was none that could excel him in singing. Even Narad and Tambura could not prevail against him. Such a great singer continued always to chant the name of Ram."

"Ram (the representative jeevi) had to undergo many spiritual austerities to regain the Supreme Enlightenment. He reached, according to the story, the Rushyamukh peak, the abode of total detachment. There he secured two allies, Sugriva (Discrimination) and Hanuman (Courage)."

Hanuman's Supreme Devotion 

More by Baba on Hanuman:

What happened to Sumitra's share of pudding that was carried away by the eagle? It was left on a mountain, which Anjani Devi consumed. As a result, Hanuman was born to her. This is the reason for the intimate relationship that existed between Hanuman and the four brothers, Ram, Lakshmana, Bharat and Shatrughna. Very few are aware of it.

When Seeta and Ram returned to Ayodhya, people's joy knew no bounds. At the time of His coronation, Ram distributed gifts to all those who had helped Him in the war, except to Hanuman. On being questioned by Seeta, Ram said that Hanuman did not care for any gift and that He had no worthy gift to be given to Hanuman. Then Seeta took out her pearl necklace and presented it to Hanuman. He plucked each pearl, put it between his teeth, placed it near his ear and with a face indicating disappointment threw it away in disgust. Surprised at this behaviour of Hanuman, Seeta said, "Hanuman, this is a precious pearl necklace given to me by my father, but you are throwing away the pearls without realizing their value. You don't seem to have given up your monkey tricks." Then Hanuman replied, "O mother, I examined each pearl in order to see whether it had the sacred name of Ram in it. I could not find it in any pearl. Without the name of Ram, they are but stones and pebbles. So, I cast them on the ground. Even the hair of mine is filled with the name of Ram." Saying so, he plucked out a hair from his hand and put it near Seeta's ear. She could hear Ram's name emanating from it. Then she started praising Hanuman thus: "You are the crest jewel among the monkeys who fulfilled Ram's mission. You are the great hero who found the whereabouts of Seeta and destroyed the city of Lanka." (Telugu Poem) It can be said that but for Hanuman, Ramayan would not have existed. He is the embodiment of devotion and surrender. Hanuman is present wherever Ram's name is chanted. Ram's name and form are not different. Hanuman experienced this unity. That is the principle of non-dualism. You call yourselves devotees of Ram and go through the sacred text of Ramayan repeatedly, but is there any transformation in your mind? Not at all. This is not true or real devotion, but only a show of devotion. Ram does not approve of pomp and show. He gives importance only to practice. Bliss can be attained only through practice. Try to understand the principle of Ram correctly.

More by Swami on Hanuman:

For all the mighty deeds done by Hanuman and great help rendered by him, Ram asked him: "Hanuman! What reward can I give you? Apart from expressing my gratitude to you I cannot give you any fitting recompense. The only way I can show my gratitude to you is that whenever you think of me at any time in your life, I shall appear before you." Ram was showing his gratitude to Hanuman in this manner.

This indicates that the primary duty of man is to be grateful all his life to the person who has done him a good turn. Man has to realize his divinity and look at all Nature from the Divine point of view. Instead man looks at everything only from the mundane point of view. The body is indeed perishable. But it is also the means for realising the imperishable Truth. This means, all speech should be about the Divine. All actions should be godly. Every thought should be about God.

That is the appeal which Tyagraj made to his mind:

"Oh mind, think always about Sri Ram." (Bhagavan sang in His own mellifluous voice Tyagraj's song in which he said: "Oh Kausalya, what penance did you perform to enjoy the privilege of calling Sri Ram affectionately as a mother and showering your kisses on the divinely beautiful child Ram. What penance did Dashrath perform to call Sri Ram to come to him?")

Thus Tyagraj was chanting Ram's name all the time and singing his glories. This is an example to the world.