Sri Hanumân
Parikshit said, “Dear mother, when the great sage heard Prahlâd speak thus, he went quickly to Kimpurushvarsha to meet Hanumânji. From the sky itself he saw that Hanumânji was engaged in worshiping Lord Râmchandra’s lotus feet with marvelous ingredients collected from the woods. It appeared as if the Lord was actually present there. The Gandharva-singers were singing hymns from Râmâyan. Hanumânji was hearing the nectarine glorification of Lord Râm and shedding tears of joy. Sometimes he was offering prostrated obeisance while glorifying the Lord in poems and prose. When Nârad saw this, he was overcome with bliss and called out loudly – “O Raghunâth! All glory to Sri Jânaki-kânta[1]! All glory to the elder brother of Lakshman!” Hearing the sweet names of his Ishtadev Lord Râm, Hanumânji was so overwhelmed with joy that he jumped into the sky and hugged him tightly. The great sage too started dancing in the sky and washed Hanumânji with his tears of love. Within a moment, Hanumânji regained composure and offered obeisance to Nârad. Then he took him inside the mandir. After Nârad Muni offered obeisance to the Deity, Hanumânji seated him on an âsan with great love and care.
Hanumânji’s profound devotion sent Nârad Muni in raptures. His body expressed tears and goose bumps. He spoke with great emoton, “Dear beast of the monkeys! It is true indeed that you are exceptionally blessed by Sri Bhagavân. Aho! You are the embodiment of wonderful ocean of nectarine bhajan. You have surrendered to the Lord in all respects, and hence you have gained His supreme kripâ. You are not only His servant, but also His sakhâ, vehicle, âsan, umbrella, fan, the one who sings odes to Him, minister, captain, best support, and the one who spreads His glory all around.”
Parikshit Mahârâj said, “Mother! When Nârad spoke thus, Hanumânji, who had Sri Râmchandra’s special kripâ, became full of viraha. The pangs of his suffering was set ablaze. He started crying. After Nârad had consoled him somewhat, he said, ‘O great sage! I am extremely fallen. I am bereft of the Lord’s lotus feet; why are you reminding me of Him and making me cry? If He would have truly accepted me as His servant, would He have abandoned me like this? You love me, so you think I have received His kripâ.’
(Commentary – Here, we should note the point that Hanumânji is the eternal associate of Lord Râmchandra and performs His sâkshât sevâ. Yet, he wishes to relish the ras of sâdhan-bhakti and wants to preach that by serving the Deity we can gain divine love. Therefore he is engaged in adoring the Deity in Kimpurushvarsha. The Deity is non-different from sâkshât Sri Bhagavân. He loves His devotees, and therefore He is present in every mandir to receive sevâ from us. In fact, sometimes, He is more pleased with Deity-sevâ than when a devotee serves Him in sâkshât. Let us understand with the help of an example. When a wife is in the presence of her husband, whether she likes it or not, she is forced to serve him. Hence, her sevâ does not prove her love for him. However, when the husband has gone abroad, if a wife takes his photo, decorates it with garland, chandan etc., serves him with grat adoration to assuage the fire of her viraha – then her love for him is proved beyond doubt. When the husband hears about her sevâ, he is more pleased with her than actual sevâ. Her love subjugates him entirely. Similarly when supremely loving devotees, who are full of anurâg and viraha from their Beloved, serve His Deity with all their heart, they receive supreme kripâ of Sri Bhagavân.
Actually, we cannot compare transcendental incidents with material ones. Although the loving wife serves her husband through his photo, she is still serving merely a picture, while we should remember that sâkshât Sri Bhagavân is non-different from His Deity. In the Deity-form Sri Bhagavân is only maintaining silence and receiving sevâ from us that we offer from the depth of our hearts. In this way He blesses us. We read in Sri Chaitanya-Charitâmrita how the South Indian brahmin subjugated Sri Gopâl, who walked all the way from Sri Vrindâban to appear as a ‘witness’. Even our great preceptors such as Sri Rupa and Sanâtan too had imprisoned the Lord with their love, and their Deities spoke to them, ate and interacted with them. All of us know this; therefore we should serve our deities with full understanding that – ‘protimâ noho tumi, sâkshât brajendranandan”. Then we will get His bounty.)
[1] The Beloved of Mother Jânaki or Sitâ