Hanuman Is a God Who Helped Rama, Term Paper

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Hanuman is a god who helped Rama, an avatar of Vishnu, in rescuing his wife, Sita, from King Ravana of the Rakshasas, and symbolizes the pinnacle of bhakti, a Sanskrit term from Hinduism meaning loving devotion to the supreme God (Hanuman pp). He is also believed to be an avatar of Shiva, and also the source for the Chinese mythological character Sun Wukong, and is most popular in the north of the Indian subcontinent (Hanuman pp).

Hanuman is the son of a cursed apsara, a celestial being called Punjisthala, who due to the curse becomes Anjana, a female monkey, so Hanuman is also called Anjaneya (Hanuman pp). She is the wife of Kesari, a "mighty monkey who once killed a mighty elephant that caused trouble to sages and hermits, therefore he got the name of Kesari, namely the lion, and is also called kunjara sudana, the elephant killer (Hanuman pp). One day the Wind-god, Vayu deva, blew the clothes of the body of Anjana, and became so enticed by her charms that he "possessed her," resulting in the birth of Hanuman, whose birthday is celebrated as Hanuman Jayanti (Hanuman pp).

According to legend, Hanuman inherited his father's activities of "quick flying, forceful travel, and mighty strength, so soon after his birth he decided to catch the Sun, thinking it was fruit eat it (Hanuman pp). This upset Indra, administrator of universal laws, and so he threw the Thunderbolt which felled Hanuman to the earth (Hanuman pp). This in turn upset Hanuman's father, the Wind-god, so much that he went into seclusion, causing choking deaths and asphyxiation to all living beings (Hanuman pp). To appease the Wind-god, Indra removed the effect that his Thunderbolt, which had cut Hanuman's two cheeks, thus he is called Hanuman, for hanuhH in Sanskrit is the word for cheek (Hanuman pp).

Brahma, the Hindu creator god, blessed Hanuman with a "diamond-like body, even invincible to a brahma-astra, a super missile, and made him immortal, "Though Hanuman knows the release from brahma-astra, he was silent due to his respect for Brahma" (Hanuman pp).

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He is deathless and can leave his mortal body whenever he desires, and this is "what Bhishma pitamaha does in Mahabharata, when he wants to live up to some time on the bed of sharp arrows in the war field itself" (Hanuman pp).

Hamnuman Jayanti is celebrated beginning on the full moon in April throughout Asia, there he is one of the most beloved deities and is seen as Rama's greatest devotee and chief of the monkey army which fought Rama's war with Ravana, the demon king of Lanka (April pp). According to another legend relating to his birth, Dasharath, the king of Ayodhya had three wives, Kaushalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi, none of whom had children, so the king performed a homa or havan to pray for progeny, and as a reward, the fire god, Agni, gave him three portions of payas, a sweet for his queens to eat to bear divine children (April pp). Kaikeyi, however,….....

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