Life Lessons from Hanuman | Chaitanya Charan | Washington DC

My dear Lord, please guide us all so that we can learn from the example of your great devotee Hanuman and come closer to you by his blessings. Hey, Krishna. Thank you for coming today on this occasion of Hanuman’s Anwanji’s appearance day. And among the many adjectives that are used for describing Hanumanji, one of them is buddhimatam varishtam. He said to be an extremely intelligent person.

Buddhimatam. Buddhimatam is one who is intelligent and varishtim is the best among those, the greatest. So today, we’ll discuss from Hanuman’s life about how he exhibits great intelligence in his the most important mission of his life. Which is the most important mission? Sorry?

That is a life mission, but within that, he has a particular mission. Yeah. Search for mother Sita. And within that also at a particular time, the projector is gone. Oh, wow.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Sure. So today, I’ll discuss about how Hanuman exhibits extraordinary presence of mind and intelligence and wisdom in dealing with the situation that he faces when he is in Lanka.

So we are these are all divine characters that is. At the same time, we are looking at them today from the perspective of what we can learn in our life. So I’ll try to make the situation as relatable as possible to us so that we can look at some things and learn from them. So here, if you look at the life of Anumanji, what exactly has happened? He has now come alone to Lanka and in Lanka, he is going to search for Sita.

So I’ll talk about four ways in which he exhibits. Is this my screen? That’s not my screen, it seems. Okay. No.

It’s not coming here. Is it connected below or not yet? Okay. No problem. I’ll speak without it.

So when Hanumanji comes to Lanka, at that time, he has a formidable task. He has to find someone whom he has never seen or at least not seen at close quarters. He has seen Sita once when Rawal is taking over it and from high up in the sky, she drops on some jewelry. We just caught sight of her very briefly. And then he’s come to Lanka.

Not only does he not not seen her, but he doesn’t even know where she is. So the four steps that I’ll talk about is the four phases of the challenge that he faced and how he dealt with it. First itself was finding Sita. The second stage was earning the trust of Sita. Then the third was encountering Rawan.

The fourth was warning Rawad and each of these buddhimatam varishtam, he expert. He exhibits that. So when Hanuman goes into Lanka, okay, that is quite distracting. Okay. Leave it.

I’ll manage without it if it doesn’t work. So when he goes into Lanka, he naturally searches in the most expected places. See if you lost a key, then we look at the places, okay, this is where I normally keep the key. This is where I went. I might have dropped the key.

So he first goes into Lanka. Now he is, he goes across the ocean all day. When he gets in, he takes a very inconspicuous form so that he will not draw any unnecessary attention to himself. And monkeys, at least in that part of the world are not very suspicious or dangerous creatures. So some of the guards see the monkey and they try to shoo it away, but the monkey just goes a little bit distance and then he continues on.

So he goes from palace to palace to palace searching for Sita. Now he’s waiting for it to be night. The first point which I want to talk about is hope. So I’ll be using the acronym head, how he kept his head. So first is keeping hope.

Among, we need many things to succeed in life, face our challenges. The most important thing that we need is hope. If we lose hope, we lose everything. We can lose externals and that’s bad. Among internals also we can lose many things, but if we lose hope, there’s slight difference between confidence and hope.

Confidence is I can do it. Hope is things will work out. Now hope can seem very passive at one level, but it is not. Hope and confidence are both meant to go together. The we confidence is I can do my part, but life is so complicated and the world is so vast that even when we do our part the best, still things may not work out.

So if you consider sports, a batsman may bat very well. But if it rain, it rains and the matches wipe out. No matter how well the bats won bat, nothing is going to be of much help. So on one side, we need confidence that I, I, I can do this, but along with I can do this, things will work out. That’s hope.

So we need both. Hanuman didn’t lack in confidence, but as the journey went forward, hope started declining. It is a this is journey his adventures in Lanka are quite a turbulent ride. So he goes and starts searching the most expected places. He goes into Ravanas Palace.

He figures out, okay, which is the biggest palace. Ravan is the obviously, the king and he also has the biggest ego. The biggest ego will be seen in the biggest palace. He searches through that palace and he can’t find Sita anywhere over there. Yeah.

Okay. I have a tab here. You can see if it works with this. Till then I’ll just continue. If it doesn’t work, that’s okay.

So what happens? He comes in and he starts searching in the palaces. And there in the middle of Rauner’s palace, he sees a spectacularly beautiful woman. I think this is Sita Jumping in joy. Yes.

I found Sita. I found Sita. And then as he initiated his beauty, he’s not personally attracted to her beauty in a carnal sense, but her beauty is what makes him think this is Sita. But then as his excitement dies down, he looks at that sleeping woman’s face and he sees that she’s looking very peaceful, quite contented, happy. And he thinks Sita will not be like that.

Sita will not let it be. Something else is there. So So he starts thinking she’s so peaceful. Sita will be in agony and separation from Ram. He has seen the agony in which Ram is.

This cannot be Sita. And then he looks at her carefully. He starts thinking like, this is not Sita. His excitement dies down, and they keep searching, searching. He cannot find Sita anywhere.

On one side, he has to maintain his cover. He has to be very discreet. I search. As Raul kept her in his smaller palace, he goes after one palace, second palace, third palace. Wherever he goes, he just cannot find her.

And whenever we try to attempt something extraordinary, no, there’s a lot riding on it. There’s a lot of expectation, lot of anticipation, lot of energy, and Hanuman has already achieved us spectacular feat by coming all alone across the ocean. And now suddenly what has happened? Throughout his life, Hanuman until now has not been alone. The only thing that he had done alone was as a child, he had leaped into the sky to catch the sun and that had ended in disaster.

He had become somewhat deformed by that. So now after that, he has always been with Sugri, always been with other one. Is the first time he’s embarking alone and the signs look very ominous. We keep searching desperate and then he just is look through each and every palace in the kingdom. Where does he search for?

He’s exhausted, dejected, frustrated, the darkness in the sky reflects the darkness in his mind and heart. So far I have come and did I come so far just to feel? Was it all for nothing? And as that despair is gripping his heart, he starts thinking about the future. The mind is a funny thing.

How the mind will work, we can’t really anticipate it. But if we are determined, we have a basic level of determination. However, the mind works, we will find a right path ahead. So as he starts thinking, if I can’t find Sita, what will happen? I have to go back and tell all the Manaras.

They will be rejected. And then we have to go into the sugiri. Sugiri will be bitterly disappointed. Then we’ll have to go and tell Ram and Ram will be shattered by this. He’s already in so much pain in separation from Sita.

If he comes to know that Sita is never to be found, he will not be able to live. If Ram is not able to live, Lakshman will not live and sugri is already burdened by the guilt of being responsible for his brother’s death, at least partly. Now if he thinks that he failed ram and lakshm, failed ram who helped him gain his kingdom, so greed will not be able to live and then when the news reaches Ayodhya, Bharat already holds himself responsible for Ram being sent on exile. Although Bharat was not, still he felt for my sake, my mother did this, I’m responsible. If he comes to know while in exile, Sita, Ram, Lakshman, all of them perished.

The pain of that will be unbearable for him, and he will also not be able to live. So two entire glorious dynasties will perish all because of my failure to find Sita. I would rather die searching for Sita rather than going to such news. I will not let this happen. As long as I’m alive, I will keep searching for Sita.

He said that over my dead body, you will do this. That means you will not do this. So I will keep searching for Sita. As as from the dark trajectory of thoughts, where he sees some consequence that is so horrifying has to be unacceptable. Now when we foresee a con consequence that is horrifying and unacceptable, that may just make us more gloomy and dejected and hopeless or it can make us determined.

No. I whatever it takes, I will not let it happen. Or at least as long as there’s life in my body, I won’t let this happen. I will keep searching for Sita. And as that determination rises in his heart, that is reflected in the sky.

The the moon breaks free from the clouds and light streams across. And as he’s looking around, he’s already searched through the palaces. He starts thinking, where else can I search? And in the moonlight, which is also accompanied by, dawn is happening now. He searched all throughout the night.

So he sees the moonlight streaming on a nearby forest grove. Suddenly he thinks, hey, I have not searched in the forest grows. It’s quite likely that Sita would have refused to live in Ravan’s palace. He remembered how when Sugriva had invited Ram to come and stay in Kishkinda in his palace, Ram had said, my sentence was to exile to the forest, not just exile outside of Ayodhya into another kingdom because Janak Mahal had already offered him. You come and stay with me in my palace for the forty years.

So he says, so if Ram is taking that sentence so seriously, Sita will also do that. Maybe Sita is here. His heart becomes alive with hope And at the renewed spring in his bounds, he leaps across to the forest grove. And as he’s moving forward, so, oh, then he looks around. He suddenly sees Rawad, the same monstrous being who had been sleeping at night when he had seen.

Now he sees him marching towards somewhere. He looks very purposeful, even angry. No, Anurman moves back and waits and watches. So when we talk about our head, keeping our head, not losing our head, one aspect is never losing hope. So the way we maintain hope is by contemplate one way we maintain hope is by contemplating what is unacceptable for us and then deciding I won’t let this happen at whatever I can do.

I will do it to prevent this from happening. Now hope can come. It’s that’s why I said the mind is peculiar. Sometimes thinking of the positive can bring hope, but thinking of the negative can also bring hope. Things can go down so far.

I can’t let this happen. Things can become this wonderful. Yeah. I want that to happen. So hope can come both ways.

In the case of Hanuman, hope comes by contemplating the dreadful consequences of failure. And no, I cannot let it happen. So with that hope, he starts searching again. Now, this is where the acronym I was discussing was what? Anyone remember the acronym?

Head. So Buddhi’s intelligence or head. So I’m gonna talk four points about Hanuman’s journey in Lanka. So H was how he maintains his hope, even when like a hope against hope you maintain. So like that he maintains hope.

Now E is expertise. Now expertise, what does it mean in this context? It’s expertise in earning trust. Expertise can be many different fields. So now when Hanuman is watching, he sees Raman approach.

The forest grows and he sees there are, a group of, demonesses who are surrounding one particular tree and depart when they see Raman coming. And then he sees that there is a beautiful lady whose beauty is covered or concealed by the soiled clothes that she’s wearing and by the sad expression that is there on her face. And yet despite it all, like a jewel that might be covered by dust and dirt, it is still the full jewel. So despite her state of being disheveled and disheartened, her beauty is still striking. And the way she shrinks backward on seeing Raman come and recognizes this must be Sita.

He discreetly jumps from tree to tree and comes closer and tries to hear, but doesn’t want to raise suspicion. So he’s waiting and watching. He clearly sees that Ravan is trying to tempt Sita, threaten Sita Sita, but she pays no attention to him. And then Ravan turns towards the demonesses and yells at them. With you to threaten them that they should get her sit down to comply and he walks away in half.

Hanuman keeps himself to conceal us, Ravan goes away and then the demonesses base around sita and they are threatening it. They’re scaring her, threatening her, intimidating her, and then finally get exhausted. And one realizes this must be a daily occurrence. His heart goes out to Sita thinking what her plight must be. He he longs to just go ahead, assure her, comfort her, give her the confidence that Ram is coming soon, but he is a warrior and he understands the danger of doing this.

One is that Sita might be surprised and she might, she might scream when the demons will get attracted. He could fight and kill the demons easily, He doesn’t want to unless it’s necessary. And he, if he gets caught in fighting, he might not be able to talk with Sita. So he thinks what to do. See when two people are unknown to each other, one of the best ways to develop a relationship is to focus on what is a shared interest.

If two people may not two two people may not know each other, let’s say two of us are from the same country. If we are from, we are from, say India or some part of India, then we talk about something or India, that’s a shared interest. If we are working in the same field and we talk about the common field. So now Hanuman doesn’t focus on introducing himself. He starts singing gently, sweetly the story of Lord Ram’s life and Hanuman’s voice and his words are very sweet as Lord Ram has himself acknowledged before.

And Hanuman is using the very gift that he has been given, the gift for which Lord Ram has praised him. He’s now going to use that gift and he starts singing gently. Sometimes when there is, when there is a very close bond of love between two people, If say, for example, the mother is doing some work at home or in the kitchen and the baby is sleeping in the nearby bedroom. Now if the baby makes a slight noise, nobody else may hear that noise, but the mother hears. So when there is love in the smallest of sounds, they’re heard very loudly.

Now if there is anger or hatred, two people may scream at each other and still nothing is heard, So Anuman sings very sweetly. It’s a very soft and sweet voice. The demon says they don’t hear. They’ve gone a little distance and because he’s speaking about Ram, Sita’s ears work. Oh, who’s speaking about Ram?

Who in Lanka is speaking at the glories of Ram? She turns around and she sees, oh, the sound is coming from the tree. And she looks up and she saw, there’s a small monkey over there. And that monkey is sitting with folded hands and is singing the glories of Ram. She’s intrigued.

But as you say, once burnt twice shy. Sita has been burnt once when she trusted that person who looked like a sage and who turned out to be a demon. So she’s never going to go by appearances now. Is could this be Rawan? Could this be some of the demons of Rawan who have not taken this guard to somehow get her to lower a guard and then exploit her in some way.

So Hanuman very gently jumps down from one branch to another branch to another branch, and finally he comes in front of Sita without doing anything to alarm or threaten her. Just continue singing the glories of Ram. And as he’s singing, Sita’s heart is softening in this place. It’s who speak the glories of Ram? Who speaks with such sweetness?

While see, in the heart, there is one side of us which has doubts, other side which wants to have to put trust, to have faith. And both of these are important in their own way. If you’re driving a car, then the faculty of doubting is like the brakes and the faculty of trusting is like the accelerator. In a car, we need both the brakes and the accelerator. Now if we are always doubting and, like, we’re sitting in the car and we’re only pressing the brakes, The car will never move anywhere.

Or if the engine is moving, the car will just move round and round and not get anywhere else. On the other hand, if you’re in a car with only accelerator and no brakes, then we will go, but we’ll go where we don’t want to go. So now we need both faith and doubt together. So now in one sense, trust and doubt are worrying in Sita’s heart. Is this really someone from Ram?

Is this or is this some trick of Raul? So Hanuman keeps gently singing, and then he introduces himself. As he sees that Sita’s heart is softening from her face, he sees that suspicion is decreasing. And then finally, p introduces Sita still she wants to believe, but she’s still not ready. Then he took some takes out the signet that Ram has given her.

And Sita sees that and just takes it touches it touches it to her heart, and she feels Ram’s presence by that. And still, could it be that this is a demon who has somehow seized seized this particular signet from Rama and somehow brought it? And once he sees it, I still not understanding and not accepting. Now he doesn’t blame her. He’s in guilt her.

You know how far I went through? How many risk I took? I just did all this for you, and you’re not gonna trust me. No. He doesn’t get up get angry with her.

He doesn’t demand that trust. Now we may do a lot for someone, but sometimes when we come in front of that person, they want to see what do we do for them at that time. Whereas parents, we may work very hard for our children, but then we will say, I’m working so hard to earn money to send you school to do all the good things. But if in front of a child, we come and that time just snap at them and yell at them. Say, I’m doing so much for you.

And the only thing you are doing is shouting at me. That’s what the child will see, isn’t it? So it’s important to do many things in the background, but when we are with someone we care for, how we conduct us and at that time is very important also. So Hanuman does not demand that trust. Then he’s as he’s speaking the stories of Ram of then he starts speaking a very intimate pastime.

Now Ram has told him this pastime, and this is something which is known only to Ram and Sita. And there are certain intimate details. Sita knows that Ram would not tell this to anyone. That Ram has not told us even to Lakshman. There are something between the husband and wife, they stay with them only.

So the fact that Hanuman knows this means is that things. Hanuman must be very trusted by Ram, and that’s when, you know, the defensive wall for her own protection that is she has built that it breaks down. And Sita starts crying in joy. Yet, Ram has finally found her. Ram’s messenger has come and she asks him.

She asked Hanuman, how is Ram? What is he doing? And Ram tells Ram one says how Ram is can be constant agony thinking about her, calling for name, longing to be with her. He says she asked why has he not come for me? He says, he didn’t know where you are.

Now I will go and tell, and soon he will come. So Sita is gripped with a bittersweet joy that Ram has not forgotten her, that Ram still remembers that Ram is going to come for her. That brings joy. Still that Ram is in agony because he’s away from her. That is bitter for her.

And then as this moves forward, now Hanuman hears. He does his tell Hanuman, Al Ram to come immediately. Otherwise, he has Ravan has threatened me. This he has said that I am going to enjoy you one way or the other. No, that is in English as well, like we have Carnivorous.

So Carnivorous is one who eats flesh and enjoys. Now, Rawan is Rakshasa. Rakshasa is one who eats humans also. So he said that he wanted Sita to fulfill his desire. He wanted her to fulfill her, his carnal desire.

Carnal is basically sexual desire. They can’t fulfill her carnal desire, then she will fulfill his carnivorous desire. So he said that I will have my cooks cook you for my breakfast and I’ll eat you up. If you don’t submit within one year. And Hanuman here, this he gets alarmed.

He says that’s too much of a risk. You know, Ram will come immediately, but it’ll take time to come all the way. So it’s better you come with me. I’ll take you with me. Now all along, Hanuman is he has taken a very small form so that he will not be detected.

And when they’re talking also Sita turns around and Sita is Sita is are sitting so strategically that the demon is on the other side. They don’t see. So now Hanuman knows his power. What Sita thinks? Oh, monkey.

You are so tiny. How will you carry me? Now Hanuman has just exhibited supernatural powers leaping across Lanka. It likes like somebody who is very virile and masculine for them to have their strength challenged. It’s almost like an insult.

If somebody is a very well built person and we tell them, can you carry this bag? What do you mean? I can carry it with one finger. They may try to carry it with one finger and they’ll break their finger. That’s a different thing.

But yeah. So Haluman says, he he says, yeah. I can carry you. I had it, but he was so small. Just see how small I am.

I’ll show you. And then Sita is looking down at him, and Sita is increasing, increases, increases, increases. Sita has to look up at him now. So am I now large enough to carry you? So Sita says, yes.

Yes. You get kept. But he says, I I want to be rescued by Ram. So let him come and rescue me. Moreover, if you try to go with me, you’re carrying me, then the demons will attack you.

And with me, with you, it’ll be difficult for you to fight. Moreover, you know, I was already touched by a man other than my husband by force. I do not want that same thing to happen again. So, and one respects our wishes. This is where the Hanuman decides that, see, I should do I’ve done the service of finding Sita, but I should do something more.

So what are the economy we’re discussing? Head. So we deserve expertise in earning trust. Then after that, now is alertness. So alert means we are alert to dangers.

We are alert to opportunities. So some people just do what they are told to do and come back, But that’s not enough. And sometimes, you know, we have to think, we have to think about the big picture. Ultimately, if Ram has to fight a war, then what can I do to help Ram? If Ravan is threatening Sita, can what can I do to something to stop him from threatening?

Now sometimes people just, they don’t think of the big picture. One of my friends just telling me how nowadays many big companies or big government department, they work in complete silos. So it’s like, you know, if the three people who are employed to, to take care of a garden. So you wanna plant something in a garden. So you have one person who will dig the hole, the second person who will plant the seed, and the third person will fill the hole.

And suppose somehow the second person is sick. Well, the first person will come dig the hole. The second person doesn’t come, the third person will come and fill the hole. And the job is done. The most essential part of the job is not done, isn’t it?

So we need to do our part, but we also need to be aware of the bigger picture and to see how does my part contribute to the bigger picture. So Hanuman was told to find Sita, but now Hanuman thinks that let me do some more service. So he alertly looks for a portion. Now he’s already expanded his size. And when this size comes up, the demonesses, they can’t, but notice him.

Then they get alarmed and they asked the guards to come and Hanuman has traveled light. There’s no carry on bag, no check-in bag. He flies. So he doesn’t have any weapons. Just looks around and there’s a gate to the park.

He just goes there and he breaks the gate and rips apart one of the thick iron pillars that are there to the gate, the parts of the gate. And that becomes like his mace over there. Traditionally, Hanuman is symbolized with a mace. When he goes to Lanka, he does not have a mace with him. So he just use improvising weapons over there.

And then he starts destroying one after another after another, the various soldiers that are attacking him. So what is Anuman doing now? His job is done. Should he not go? He is thinking I should do some more service.

So then one after another after another, Rawa hears about his who’s the upset monkey has come. That particular gardener is his favorite gardener. It’s called Ashoka Vatika. That Ashoka Vatika becomes for Rahul Shoka Vatika. It’s just oh, one after another after another, his generals are all being destroyed.

Finally, he says Indrajit. Now Indrajeet also is not able to work up or power. Anuman by ordinary or even extraordinary weapons. Finally, he uses his most powerful weapon, The Brahmastra. When Anuman sees the Brahmastra coming, he just folds his hands.

You know, this is too powerful, but he has a blessing that the Brahmastra will act on him, but not for too long. It’ll temporarily overpower him and then he will be able to break free. So then when he’s arrested, now dictatorship is all about keeping people under control through fear. So Rawan is a dictator of Lanka. And for him, that there is some person who has come in the favorite forest grow of Rawan and has destroyed the forest grow and has killed so many of his soldiers and generals.

That is like a slap on his face. And in order to establish his power once again, What, what he tells us, this person has been arrested, parade him through the streets. Anybody who does challenge Ravana, let us show what happens to him. So then he’s paraded through the streets and while he’s paraded at that time, the soldiers are kicking him. The soldiers are insulting him.

The soldiers are whipping him. Now all this for a powerful warrior like Raoul, Hanuman could be humiliating, But Hanuman doesn’t bother about that. His focus is on seeing opportunities for service. So the demons have their own agenda. They want all the citizens to see what happens to anyone who dares to challenge the might of Rawat.

And so they are parading Hanuman through the streets, but Hanuman has his own plan. While he’s being paraded through the streets, he’s looking at all the military formations. What are the strong points? Where the weapons skipped? Where are the weak points?

From where can we attack? Later on after Indrajit, after Indrajit, fells Ram and Lakshman, and it’s presumed that they are dead. The Vana Raksha celebrating at that time, the Vana later launched a surprise attack. And that time Hanuman leads the attack based on his knowledge of the inside of Lanka. So sometimes we may be humiliated.

We will be disrespected and it’s going to be very painful when that happens. But through in that also, we can see, is there something I can learn? Is there some service I can do for a devotee? Service attitude is what always protects and that Anuman maintained that service. I had constantly looking for a port you deserve.

Now what is he doing? Like I said, he had completed business. Why didn’t he go back? He wanted to do reconnaissance. He wanted to also give a warning to Ravan.

In case Rama is not able to reach within one year, there’s a little delay. He doesn’t want disaster to happen. So Rahwan needs to be given a stern warning. So Hanuman lets himself be arrested and paraded because he knows eventually he will face Rahwan. And when he faces Rawan, finally he comes into the court.

Now this time he sees Rawan in his full regal majesty. He has seen Rawan thrice before. One when he was abducting Sita, then when at night and he was sleeping, Mandodari was next to him, then he saw almost like a half drunk, half awake stage going to towards Sita in Ashokwathika. But now Rawan in his full regal majesty sitting on the throne of Lanka. And it’s amazing what is the first thought that Hanuman has.

See, this person has such power, such splendor. If only this person had been Dharmic, if only this person had been a devotee, he would have done so much good for the world. This person could have become a protector of the gods who protect humanity. Unfortunately, so he’s he’s now a threat to everyone. So this is the the sign of a healthy mind is to look for good everywhere.

Now that does not mean we don’t see the bad, but we look for the good to see the potential for good everywhere. Sick. It only sees problems everywhere. It still only sees negativities everywhere. So Hanuman knows that Rawa is a terrible person, but still he sees.

So this person has power, this person has splendor. Only if this person had character, that it would be so good, and then they start speaking. So some of the demons are saying, you know, you should be punished and you should be killed. Raul is also very angry, but he says, I want to know who this person is. I want to know why this person came and did such a damage to my favorite garden grow.

So then he has him questioned. And Hanuman says, I am messenger of Ram, and I have come with a message. If you’re a messenger, you should have come here straight. Why destroy my career? He said, I’m a messenger.

First, you should give me a seat. He says, you didn’t act like a messenger. You know, you destroyed my forest floor. You destroyed my soldiers. You’d killed my generals.

You don’t deserve the respect for a messenger. Then Hanuman, what does he do? He expands his tail and he expands his tail and normally the court, the royal court, the king sits in the highest position. Hanuman expand his tail so much that tail becomes a higher seat than Rawan. And first time in his court, Rawan has to look up at someone.

That itself is infuriating. Then now Hanuman decides to play coy over here. He says, actually, I’m just a little monkey. I was hungry. I was eating some fruits while jumping from tree to tree.

The trees broke down. And when the trees broke, these soldiers attacked me. And in self defense, I attacked them. Most soldiers attacked me, they attacked them again. So he says, now he’s playing assessing the he’s trying to understand the mood of what is going on in the forest, in the palace.

Is everyone there with Rawan or are there some people dissenting over there? He’s observing everyone. And then that is he says, okay. But what is your message? Why have you come here?

So he says that I have come as a servant of sugri who is in alliance with Ram. And Ram has warned you return Sita immediately. Otherwise, an entire army will come and destroy all of Lanka. Now, Ravan does not like looking at anyone above him in his own court and to be chastised and warned. This is just unbearable.

He says, fool. Who do you think you are? You don’t know who I am. You don’t know what I can do. He says, we will kill you right now.

So Vibhishan intervenes. In many ways, here Hanuman is playing coy and is playing provocative just to see if there are some dissensions in Ramana’s rank. When he’s provocative, Ramana is going to attack. And then if anybody stands up for him, that means that is a person on their side who is not completely on their side. That’s why later when Vibhishan comes on the Ram’s side, that Hanuman is the one person who says that we should accept Vibhishan.

All the other one that I say, no, he’s a demon’s brother. He’s Rahu’s brother. How can we accept him? So then Vibhishan says he’s a messenger. He should not be killed.

He says, but still, you know, he just he killed kill my soldiers. He should be killed. So he says, but now the vision here appeals not to Rawan’s morality because that demon has no morality, but he says he appeals to his dignity. He appeals to his sense of fame. See long ago.

Now some people say the other kind of the Rama is interpolated because here, Vibhishan and Rama discussing and they’re saying that actually a messenger should should never be hurt or harmed or killed. But long ago, when Rawan had seized Lanka from Kuvera, when Kuvera was not there. At that time, Kuvera had sent a messenger. Saying this is my kingdom, give it back and Rawan had killed Kuvera. So Rawan had already done heinous things.

So they said, therefore, that whole section is interpolated, but that’s a very superficial argument. But anyway, at that time, Rawan was just establishing his power. At that time, he just wanted to be brutal in any way he could be. But now see what happens when even bad people, they rise to the top. They want to look good in people’s eyes.

Isn’t it? No. Bad. Everybody wants people, they become powerful, successful. They want all the good things in life.

If I say, I want power. If I melt, I want I want prestige. And then I want not just the prestige of having power and wealth. I want the prestige of having a, being a good person also. That’s not something wealthy people give a lot of charity.

Now they, they may earn the wealth by sucking the blood of poor people, but they will give charity to the poor people to look good. That’s not true for all wealthy people. But the point is that some wealthy people also want to look good. So he appeals to his sense of pride and he says, you know, what will happen to your good name if it comes to be known that you killed a messenger? So Rama thinks okay, but he said he should be punished.

These monkeys are very proud of their tail. And it is with this, that tail that he has humiliated me. Let us burn his tail. Now he has a plan. He thinks that his tail will be burned and then we’ll release him and he’ll go back.

And when he goes back to his family and friends, they will all see his charred condition. Either they will laugh at him or they will tremble in fear of my power. Either way, my purpose will be served. Hanuman gird himself. His tail is going to be burnt and he’s ready to tolerate the pain.

But then now all while this is happening, this is big news. There is no live broadcast over there, but what is happening in the code, they’re all in the sea. The whole kingdom is alive over there, abuzz. Because never before has something like this happened. Anybody coming into Lanka and penetrating Lanka and and threatening and threatening.

So there are people on the courts running around and telling everyone. So Sita also comes to know that Hanuman is to be burnt. His tail is to be burnt. And then Sita prays to Agni Dev. And he says, please don’t let Hanuman feel hurt.

No. Don’t let Hanuman feel pain. So Hanuman is ready and his tail is lit. And now the one that has the rakshasas, his tail is so long that to get to put some inflatable material on it, to tie it to inflatable, that itself is exhausting. But finally do it and they light it.

And then Hanuman sees he doesn’t feel any pain. He says, when are they going to light it, looks back, hey, huge fire over there and there’s no pain. And now see, when we are proud, proud people are very eager to take credit for things they are not done and humble people. They want to give credit to others, even for things they have done. So Hanuman said, see, I am so powerful that the steel doesn’t burn me.

But he thinks, you know, I don’t have this power. So how is this fire not hurting me? Immediately, he thinks. Now who who could who’s who could be doing this for me? He knows Ram is all powerful, but Ram does not know his plight right now.

At least he does not know whether Ram knows. So he thinks it must be Sita’s doing. And he he mentally thanks Sita. And then as he’s waiting and watching the one, the rakshasa are looking at him, why is this person not in pain? What is happening?

And then Hanuman suddenly gets an idea. This burning, but not hurting tail is a ready made weapon for him. So Rawan in trying to humiliate Hanuman has given Hanuman the weapon to humiliate Rawan. So Hanuman grabs the opportunity. That is the last part in the head.

Achrony D is deterrence. Deterrence is where if somebody is doing something terrible, then we need to show them that there will be terrible consequences if you do this. So in real world geopolitics, deterrence is very important. If the other person feel that they can get away with something, then they will do more and more and more of that thing. But as deterrence is there, then they will not do that much.

So India, Pakistan, China, there are three wars, many wars, but three major wars that happened between them. But in the late 1990s, since all three of them have got nuclear weapons, although there has been some tensions, but there’s been no outright war. It’s not a support of nuclear weapons. Just the principle of deterrence is being said that when people know that there’ll be consequences for their actions, then that deters them from doing crazy things. So Hanuman wants to deter Rawan from doing anything crazy.

He wants to give a stern warning to him. So he jumps up into this, jumps up and his huge tail is lit with him. He just breaks free of all the ropes. The Brahmasa long ago stopped having an effect, and one’s just waiting for the opportunity. And the Rakshas are stunned.

And Rawan wanted to humiliate Anuman, but what is more humiliating than a prisoner breaking free, not from the prison in the darkness of the night, but a prisoner waking free in the middle of the day in the court with everyone visible. So if Rawal wanted to establish the authority to fear, just Hanuman’s escaping itself with another big slap on Rawan’s face. And then first, Hanuman is shocked. How how did he how did he break free? What happened?

But then before he understand what’s going on, Hanuman jumps on to one of the, buildings. Now it is said that his building, his whole city is a golden city. Now gold does not melt very easily and for a golden city to burn, the temperature has to be immensely high. But Hanuman by this blessing, his tail is burning, but it’s not hurting. He uses that tail and he sets one place in one building on fire and another building on fire.

And the one other time the Rakshasa are trying to attack him, but Hanuman is expertly dodging them. And soon the fire starts spreading. And Ravan does not know, but Hanuman has a hidden ally. That is why you why you starts blowing. Whichever direction Hanuman goes, the wind starts blowing.

Like a small fire starts becoming like a forest fire. Recently, there’s this horrifying fires in LA. Now the fires occurring is not an uncommon thing there, but it’s like all the bad things happening at the same time, wrong things happening at the same time. A fire coming at the same time, there’ll be a stormy wind in the direction where there is human habitation. Then it’s devastating.

So Ravanas Lanka starts getting burnt. Hanuman doesn’t know, should he stop Hanuman? Should he stop the burning of the city? And he tries to do both and he succeeds in doing neither. And then within just a short while more than half of Lanka is burnt.

And then like in a movie, it’s a spectacular climax. So Hanuman climbs on the border wall and his tail is still burning and he raises his tail high above him. His long tail is like a blazing fire above him. So with that blazing fire behind him, Hanuman looks extremely scary. He looks like a angel of death or devastation.

And there Hanuman speaks in the most thunderous voice. Oh, Rawa, you just saw what one servant of Ram can do and I am the smallest of the Vanaras that will come in thousands to destroy your Lanka if you do not return Sita. And then Anwan jumps as if to more spectacular effect just by his jump from that wall, the whole wall crumbles and one leaps into the sky. As he leaps into the sky, the whole of Lanka is filled with shock and horror at what has just happened. Ravan and authority has been undermined like never before.

And if there is any chance that Ravan could have come to his senses, Ravan may not understand the language of morality, but would he at least understand the language of force that his entire army cannot stop one, one soldier, one person from the opponent army. What chance does he have to win? So Hanuman has done all that he can to deter Rawan from his course of either hurting Sita or even holding Sita on. And then he leaps into the ocean and extinguishes the fire in his tail and then leaps up again and goes back his mission to Lanka, spectacularly victorious. Sri Hanuman ji ki jai.

So I summarize what I discussed today. We talked about how Hanumanji is called as buddhi matam varishtam. He’s the more best among intelligent people. Why is it called like that? We discussed that from the activities that he does in Lanka.

So we discussed the acronym. What was it? Head. So h was hope. So when he’s unable to find Sita, he starts losing hope, but he gets his hope back by thinking of the dark consequences that would come.

I cannot live and see this happen. I would rather die trying to prevent this from happening. So sometimes hope can come by envisioning the wonderful that we want And hope can also come by envisioning the dreadful that we just will not accept with that hope he pushes on. Then next was he was expertise, expertise in earning trust of Sita. He doesn’t just go straightforward and demand it, you know, and proclaim himself.

I have come for you. He actually talks about Ram, glorifies Lord Ram, and slowly, sweetly earns her trust. He does not demand that I’ve done so much for you in coming here. He waits. And then by showing her the signet, by speaking with intimate pastimes, slowly he wins her trust.

So whenever we have to do service, it’s important to have hope, but expertise is also required. And then after that was alertness. Yes. We did our service, but that service is a part of a bigger mission. Can we do something more, not just operate in mental tunnels or have a tunnel vision or operate in complete silos?

So he thinks, what more can I do? So he decides, I will do reconnaissance to understand what are the strengths of Raul. And thus he challenges the demons, fights with them, even when he’s arrested and humiliated rather than focusing on his humiliation, he’s still focusing on observing what is going on. Even when he seems to play and provoke in Rawan’s court, he’s trying to see if there are any cleavages, any dissensions in his rank, which can be used by Ram. And then finally, D was deterrence where he decided that he wants Rawan, but he understands that Rawan is not a person who is going to simply understand the language of words.

So uses the language of force. Sometimes the smaller destruction may be required to prevent a bigger destruction. So when he destroys Lanka, the point is not just want an anger. The point is that he is, he sees by the alertness that I’m a burning, but not hurting tail is a ready made weapon. So Hanuman, he, what Ravana tries to use to burn, to humiliate our, Hanuman uses that against Ravana.

So then he uses that itself to burn Lanka. Sometimes there’s a trail blazing adventure. We say trail blazing is very extraordinary. So Hanuman’s adventure in Lanka is trail blazing and tail blazing. His tail is literally on fire and he is blazing.

And then finally, as this final sign of deterrence, what does he do on the border wall? He proclaims not just his own power, but the power of Ram and the power of those who are supporting Ram. And then with a spectacular visual demonstration of his power, crushing the border wall of Lanka, which has never fallen before, which is the symbol by which Ravan establishes proclaim this power. Then Hanuman leaves and goes back victorious. So we all can pray to Hanumanji that whatever challenges we face in life and whatever services we need to do, it may be always have hope, may be always be expert, and may be always be alert, and may be always in our devotion, use whatever is required including that deterrence to achieve whatever service we are called upon to do.

Sri Hanuman ji ki. Sri Hanuman janti Mahama. Sri. Sri la Prabhupa, the key. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much, Yeah. So much of what I spoke about, say, humanly about hope and and and, expertise, some of alertness, those things that explain in this book is not exactly what Ramayana, it is Gita for the CEO. Now a lot of people would like to know what is the practical wisdom, especially for professional success in spiritual books like the Gita. People want to know the art of war and other books like that. So the Harper Collins asked me to write this book and this is also the Gita is a conversation.

This is also conversation which explains the Gita’s principles through a conversation between two people or corporate leaders. One is a corporate leader who knows the Gita, the other one who wants to know the Gita. And there are some simple illustrations and diagrams which explain the concepts. It’s light read and it is explains how we can just take Arjuna, not just a great devotee, but also a great warrior. He was a great leader.

Like that, we’ll also be successful in all walks of life through the Gita’s wisdom. And this is a more devotional book, prayers inspired by Bhagavad Gita. This is 22 prayers. There’s a beautiful picture of deity of Krishna, one line summary prayer, then there’s a Bhagavad Gita verse, and that verse is poetically rendered over here so that we can get a feel of the poetry and the beauty of the Gita. And then the one page, prayer reflection on that verse.

So this is the way in which we can not just connect with the wisdom of the Gita through a prayerful devotional mode, but also connect with Krishna. We all want to if you want to pray, sometimes we can pray from our heart, we can pray scriptural prayers, but can we bring both of them together? We take scriptural verses and prayers inspired by us. So there’s a table of contents with about 22 titles. So whatever you feel is your prayer needed at a particular time.

If you’re going through hard times, you’re not able to make sense of life, your mind is going wild. So whatever it is, all that is, there are various titles you can just easily refer to it. It’s also a very good way if you’re doing your daily morning prayers or morning chanting, reading one reflection can calm the mind and put it in a devotional frame of mind so that we can pray more effectively. And much of what I spoke about Hanuman is in this small book, Living the Ramayana. This is about Hanuman’s adventures in Lanka.

So I read several books in the Ramayana, but this is one of smaller books applying ancient wisdom to modern times. So all these books are available outside. If any of you want, you can take them from there. I’ll also be here for some time if you want a signature or if you want to ask any questions. Thank you very much.

Hare Krishna.
Thankyou!

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Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
I want you to meet Yadubrabhu also today. I want you to meet Yadubrabhu also today.
Lord, please guide us all so that we can learn from the example of your great devotee Hanuman and come closer to you by his blessings. Thank you for coming today on this occasion of Hanuman’s appearance day. And among the many adjectives that are used for describing Hanuman, one of them is Buddhimatam Varishtam.
He is said to be an extremely intelligent person. Buddhimatam. Buddhimatam is one who is intelligent and Varishtam is the best among those, the greatest.
So, today we will discuss from Hanuman’s life about how he exhibits great intelligence in the most important mission of his life. Which is the most important mission? Sorry? That is a life mission. But within that he has a particular mission.
Yes, search for mother Sita. And within that also, at a particular time, the projector is gone. Oh wow, okay.
So, today I will discuss about how Hanuman exhibits extraordinary presence of mind and intelligence and wisdom in dealing with the situation that he faces when he is in Lanka. So, we are, these are all divine characters, there is. At the same time, we are looking at them today from the perspective of what we can learn in our life.
So, I will try to make this situation as relatable as possible to us so that we can look at some things and learn from them. So, here, if you look at the life of Hanuman, what exactly has happened? He has now come alone to Lanka. And in Lanka, he is going to search for Sita.
So, I will talk about four ways in which he exhibits. Is this my screen? That’s not my screen. Is it connected? Okay, speak it out.
So, when Hanuman comes to Lanka, at that time, he has a formidable task. He has to find someone who he has never seen, or at least not seen at close quarters. He has seen Sita once when Ravan is taking overhead and from high up in the sky, she drops down some jewellery.
He just got sight of her very briefly. And then he has come to Lanka, not only has he not seen her, but he does not even know where she is. So, the four steps that I will talk about is the four phases of the challenge that we faced and how we dealt with it.
First itself was finding Sita. The second stage was earning the trust of Sita. Then the third was encountering Ravan.
The fourth was warning Ravan. And each of these, he exhibits that. So, when Hanuman goes into Lanka, okay, that is quite distracting.
So, when he goes into Lanka, he naturally searches in the most expected places. See, if you have lost a key, then we look at the place, okay, this is where I normally keep the key, this is where I went, I might have dropped the key. So, he first goes into Lanka.
Now, he goes across the ocean all day. When he gets in, he takes a very inconspicuous form, so that he will not draw any unnecessary attention to himself. And monkeys, at least in that part of the world, are not very suspicious or dangerous creatures.
So, some of the guards see the monkey and they try to shoot it away. But the monkey just goes a little bit distance and then he continues on. So, he goes from palace to palace to palace, searching for Sita.
Now, he is waiting for it to be night. So, the first point which I want to talk about is hope. So, I will be using the acronym H.E.A.D. How he kept his head.
The first is keeping hope. Among, we need many things to succeed in life, face our challenges. The most important thing that we need is hope.
If we lose hope, we lose everything. We can lose externals and that’s bad. Among internals also, we can lose many things.
But if we lose hope, there is slight difference between confidence and hope. Confidence is, I can do it. Hope is, things will work out.
Now, hope can seem very passive at one level. But it is not. Hope and confidence are both meant to go together.
With these confidences, I can do my part. But life is so complicated and the world is so vast that even when we do our part the best, still things may not work out. So, if you consider sports, a batsman may bat very well.
But if it rains, the match is wiped out. No matter how well the batsman bats, nothing is going to be of much help. So, on one side, we need confidence that I can do this.
But along with I can do this, things will work out. That’s hope. So, we need both.
Now, Hanuman didn’t lack in confidence. But as the journey went forward, hope started to decline. It is, his journey, his adventures in Lanka are quite a turbulent ride.
So, he goes and starts searching the most expected places. He goes to Ravana’s palace. He figures out which is the biggest palace.
Ravana is obviously the king and he also has the biggest ego. That biggest ego will be seen in the biggest palace. He searches through that palace and he can’t find Sita anywhere over there.
I have a tab here. You can see that he has to go. Hindanand is continuing.
It doesn’t work that way. So, what happens? He comes in and he starts searching in the palaces. And there, in the middle of Ravana’s palace, he sees a spectacularly beautiful lady.
He thinks this is Sita. He is jumping in joy. Yes, I found Sita.
I found Sita. And then, he has initiated her beauty. He is not personally attracted to her beauty in a carnal sense.
But her beauty is what makes him think this is Sita. But then, as his excitement dies down, he looks at that sleeping woman’s face and he sees that she is looking very peaceful, quite contented, happy. And he thinks Sita will not be like that.
Sita will not look at me. So, he starts thinking, she is so peaceful. Sita will be an agony in separation from Ram.
He has seen the agony in which Ram is. This cannot be Sita. And he looks at her carefully.
He says, this is not Sita. His excitement dies down. And he keeps searching, searching.
He cannot find Sita anywhere. On one side, he has to maintain his cover. He has to be very discreet.
He is searching. As Ravana kept her in a smaller palace, he goes up to one palace, second palace, third palace. Wherever he goes, he just cannot find her.
And whenever we try to attempt something extraordinary, now there is a lot riding on it. There is a lot of expectation, a lot of anticipation, a lot of energy. And Hanuman has already achieved us the spectacular feedback coming all along across the nation.
And now, suddenly, what has happened? Throughout his life, Hanuman till now has not been alone. The only thing that he had done alone was, as a child he had leapt into the sky to catch the sun. And that had ended in disaster.
He had become somewhat deformed by that. So now, after that, he has always been with Sugriva, always been with other Vanaras. For the first time, he is embarking alone.
And the signs look very ominous. He keeps searching, desperate. And then, he looks through each and every palace in the kingdom.
Where does he search for? Exhausted, dejected, frustrated, totally disheartened, sitting on a palace. And as he is sitting there, the moon gets covered by the clouds. And the darkness in the sky reflects the darkness in his mind and heart.
So far I have come, and did I come so far just to fail? Was it all for nothing? And as that despair is gripping his heart, he starts thinking about the future. The mind is a funny thing. How the mind will work, we can’t really anticipate it.
But if we are determined, we have a basic level of determination, however the mind works, we will find a right path ahead. So, he starts thinking, if I can’t find Sita, what will happen? I have to go back and tell all the Vanaras. They will be dejected.
And then, we have to go and tell Sugriva. Sugriva will be bitterly disappointed. And we will have to go and tell Ram.
And Ram will be shattered by this. He is already in so much pain in separation from Sita. If he comes to know that Sita is never to be found, he will not be able to live.
If Ram is not able to live, Lakshman will not live. And Sugriva is already burdened by the guilt of being responsible for his brother’s death, at least partly. Now, we think that if we failed Ram and Lakshman, failed Ram who helped him gain his kingdom, Sugriva will not leave.
Then, when the news reaches Ayodhya, Bharat already holds himself responsible for Ram being sent on exile. Although Bharat was not, still he felt, for my sake, my mother did this, I am responsible. If he comes to know why in exile, Sita, Ram, Lakshman, all of them perished, the pain of that will be unbearable for him.
And he will also not be able to live. So, two entire glorious dynasties will perish, all because of my failure to find Sita. I would rather die searching for Sita, rather than going through such things.
I will not let this happen. As long as I am alive, I will keep searching for Sita. He said, over my dead body, he will not do this.
So, I will keep searching for Sita. As from that dark trajectory of thoughts, he sees some consequence that is so horrifying as to be unacceptable. Now, when we foresee a consequence that is horrifying and unacceptable, that will just make us more gloomy and rejected and hopeless.
Or it can make us determined. I, whatever it takes, I will not let it happen. Or at least as long as there is life in my body, I won’t let this happen.
I will keep searching for Sita. And as that determination rises in his heart, that is reflected in the sky. The moon breaks free from the clouds and light streams across.
And as he is looking around, he has already searched through the palaces, he starts thinking, where else can I search? And in the moonlight, which is also accompanied by dawn is happening now, he has searched all throughout the night. So, he sees the moonlight streaming on a nearby forest grove. Suddenly, he says, I have not searched in the forest groves.
It’s quite likely that Sita would have refused to live in Ravan’s palace. He remembered how when Sugriva had invited Ram to come and stay in Kishkindha in his palace, Ram had said, my sentence was still, exile to the forest, not just exile outside Ayodhya into another kingdom. Because Janaka Maharaj had already offered him, you come and stay with me in my palace for the 14 years.
So, if Ram is taking that sentence so seriously, Sita will also do that. Maybe Sita is here. His heart becomes alive with hope.
And as a renewed spring in his bounds, he leaps across the forest grove. As he is moving forward, he suddenly sees Ravan, the same monstrous being who had been sleeping at night when he had seen. Now, he sees him marching towards somewhere.
He looks very purposeful, very angry. Hanuman moves back and waits and watches. So, when we talk about our head, keeping our head, not losing our head, one aspect is never losing hope.
So, the way we maintain hope is by contemplating what is unacceptable for us. And then deciding, I won’t let this happen. Whatever I can do, I will do it to prevent this from happening.
Now, hope can come. That’s why I said the mind is peculiar. Sometimes thinking of the positive can bring hope, but thinking of the negative can also bring hope.
Things can go down so far, I can’t let this happen. Things can become this wonderful, yeah, I want that to happen. So, hope can come both ways.
In the case of Hanuman, hope comes by contemplating the dreadful consequences of failure. No, I cannot let it happen. So, with that hope, he starts searching again.
Now, this is where the acronym I was discussing was what? Do you remember the acronym? Head. Hanuman buddhimatam varishtam. So, buddhi, intelligence or head.
So, I’m going to talk four points about Hanuman’s journey in Lanka. So, H was how he maintains his hope. Even when, like I’m going to say, hope against hope he maintains.
Like that he maintains hope. Now, E is expertise. Now, expertise, what does it mean in this context? It’s expertise in early trust.
Expertise can be many different fields. So, now, when Hanuman is watching it, he sees Ravan approach. The forest grows and he sees there are a group of demonesses who are surrounding one particular tree and they part and they say Ravan coming.
And then he sees that there is a beautiful lady whose beauty is covered or concealed by the soiled clothes that she’s wearing and by the sad expression that is there of her face. And yet, despite it all, like a jewel that might be covered by dust and dirt, it is still a virgin jewel. So, despite her state of being dishevelled and disheartened, her beauty is still striking.
And the way she swings backward on seeing Ravan come, Hanuman realises this must be Sita. He discreetly jumps from tree to tree and comes closer and tries to hear. He doesn’t want to raise suspicions and he’s waiting and watching.
He clearly sees that Ravan is trying to tempt Sita, threaten Sita, but Sita is not reached in time. And then Ravan turns towards the demonesses and yells at them. He threatens them that they should get her, Sita, to comply.
He walks away in a half-step. Hanuman keeps himself concealed as Ravan goes away. And then the demonesses daze around Sita and they are threatening her, they are scaring her, threatening her, intimidating her.
And then they finally get exhausted. Hanuman realises this must be a daily occurrence. His heart goes out to Sita thinking what her plight must be.
He longs to just go ahead, assure her, comfort her, give her the confidence that Rama is coming soon. But he is a warrior. He understands the danger of dangers.
One is that Sita might be surprised and she might scream and the demonesses will get rattled. He could fight and kill the demonesses easily. He doesn’t want to unless it’s necessary.
And if he gets caught in fighting, he might not be able to talk with Sita. So, he thinks what to do. When two people are unknown to each other, one of the best ways to develop a relationship is to focus on what is a shared interest.
Two people may not know each other. They say two of us are from the same country. They are from say India, some part of India.
When we talk about something on India, that’s a shared interest. We are working in the same field and we talk about the common field. So, now Hanuman does not focus on introducing himself.
He starts saying gently, sweetly the story of Lord Rama’s life. And Hanuman’s voice and his words are very sweet as Lord Rama has himself acknowledged before. And Hanuman is using the very gift that he has been given, the gift for which Lord Rama has praised him.
He is now going to use that gift. And he starts singing gently. Sometimes when there is when there is a very close bond of love between two people.
Let’s say for example, the mother is doing some work at home in the kitchen and the baby is sleeping in another bedroom. Now, if the baby makes a slight noise, nobody else may hear that noise. But the mother hears.
So, when there is love in the smallest of sounds, they are heard very loudly. Now, if there is anger or hatred, two people may scream at each other and so nothing is heard. So, Hanuman sings very sweetly.
It’s a very soft and sweet voice. The demonesses, they don’t hear. They have gone a little distance.
And because he is speaking about Rama, Sita hears. Oh, who is speaking about Rama? Lanka is speaking about the glories of Rama. He turns around.
He sees the sound is coming through the tree. And he looks up. He sees there is a small monkey over there.
And that monkey is sitting with folded hands and is singing the glories of Rama. She is intrigued. But as you say, once burnt, twice sure.
Sita has been burnt once when she trusted that person who looked like a sage and who turned out to be a demon. So, she is never going to go by appearances now. Could this be Ravana? Could this be some of the demons of Ravana who have not taken this guard to somehow get her to lower her guard and then exploit her in some way? So, Hanuman very gently jumps on from one branch to another branch to another branch and finally he comes into the without doing anything to alarm or threaten her.
He just continues singing the glories of Rama. And as he is singing, Sita’s heart is softened. In this place, it is, how can you speak the glories of Rama? Who speaks with such sweetness? While in the heart, there is one side of her which has doubts, another side which wants to have to trust, to have faith.
And both of these are important. If you are driving a car, then the faculty of doubting is like the brakes and the faculty of trusting is like the accelerator. In a car, we need both the brakes and the accelerator.
Now, if you are always doubting and like you are sitting in a car and you are only pressing the brakes, the car will never move anywhere. Or if the engine is moving, the car will just move round and round and not get anywhere. On the other hand, if you are in a car with only accelerator and no brakes, then we will go, but we will go where we don’t want to go.
So, now we need both faith and doubt together. So, now in one sense, trust and doubt are warring in Sita’s heart. Is this really someone from Rama? Is this or is this some trick of Ravana? So, Hanuman keeps gently singing and he introduces himself.
As we see that Sita’s heart is softening from her face, we see that suspicion is decreasing. And finally, he introduces Sita. Still, she wants to believe, but she is still not ready.
Then he takes out the cigarette. That Rama has given her. And Sita sees that and just takes it, touches it to her heart and she feels Rama’s presence.
And still, could it be that this is a demon who has somehow seized this particular cigarette from Rama and somehow brought it? Hanuman sees Sita is still not accepting. Now, he doesn’t blame her. He doesn’t guilt her.
You know how far I went through, how many risks I took. I just did all this for you and you are not ready to trust me. No, he doesn’t get angry with her.
He doesn’t demand that trust. Now, we may do a lot for someone, but sometimes when we come in front of that person, they want to see what do we do for them at that time. You know, as parents, we work very hard for our children, but then I’m working so hard to earn money, to send you to school, to do all the good things.
But if in front of a child, we come and that time just snap at them and yell at them, say, I’m doing so much for you. The only thing you’re doing is shouting at me. That’s what the child will see.
So it’s important to do many things in the background, but when we are with someone we care for, how we conduct ourselves at that time is very important also. So Hanuman does not demand that trust. Then, as he’s speaking the stories of Ram, then he starts speaking a very intimate pastime.
Now, Ram has told him this pastime and this is something which is known only to Ram and Sita and there are certain intimate details Sita knows that Ram would not tell this to anyone. Ram has not told this even to Lakshmi. There are some things between a husband and wife, they stay with them only.
So the fact that Hanuman knows this means that Hanuman must be very trusted by Ram and that’s when the defensive wall for her own protection that he has built breaks down and Sita starts crying in joy that Ram has finally found her. Ram’s messenger has come and she asks him, she asks Hanuman, how is Ram? What is he doing? And Ram tells, Hanuman says, Ram is in constant agony thinking about her, calling for her name, longing to be with her. She asks, why has he not come for me? He didn’t know where you are.
Now, I will go and tell. Okay, so he will come. So, Sita is gripped with a bittersweet joy that Ram has not forgotten her, that Ram still remembers her, Ram is still going to come for her.
That brings joy. Still that Ram is in agony because he is away from her. That is bitter for her.
Then, as this moves forward, now Hanuman hears Sita says that tell Ram to come immediately, otherwise he has, Ravan has threatened him. He has said that I am going to enjoy you one way or another. That is, in English we have carnivorous.
So, carnivorous is one who eats flesh and enjoys. Now, Ravan is Rakshasa. Rakshasa is one who eats humans also.
So, he said that he wanted Sita to fulfil his desire. He wanted her to fulfil his carnal desire. Carnal is basically sexual desire.
If he can’t fulfil her carnal desire, then she will fulfil his carnivorous desire. So, he said that I will have my cooks cook you for my breakfast and I will eat you up. If you don’t submit within one year.
Hanuman hears this, he gets alarmed. He says that is too much of a risk. Now, Ram will come immediately, but it will take time to come all the way.
He says better you come with me. I will take you with me. Now, all along Hanuman is, he has taken a very small form.
So, that he will not be detected. And when they are talking also, Sita turns around and Hanuman is, Sita and Ashwati strategically that the demons are on the other side. They don’t see.
So, now Hanuman knows his power. But Sita thinks, oh monkey, you are so tiny. How will you carry me? Now, Hanuman has just exhibited supernatural powers leaping across Lanka.
It’s like somebody who is very virile and masculine. For them to have their strength challenged, it’s almost like an insult. Somebody is a very well-built person and he tells that can you carry his back? What do you mean? I can carry it in one finger.
They will try to carry one finger and they will break their finger. That’s a different thing. But, so Hanuman says, yes, yeah, I can carry you.
But, you are so small. Just see how small I am. I’ll show you.
And then Sita is looking around at him and Hanuman says, increases, increases, increases, increases. Sita has to look up at him. So, am I large enough to carry you? So, Sita says, yes, yes, you can carry me.
But, he says, I want to be rescued by Rama. So, let him come and rescue me. And moreover, if you try to go with me, you are carrying me, then the demons will attack you and with me with you, it will be difficult for you to fight.
Moreover, I was already touched by a man other than my husband by force. I do not want the same thing to happen again. So, Hanuman respects Sita.
This is where Hanuman decides that I should do, I have done the service of finding Sita, but I should do something more. So, what was the acronym we were discussing on? HEAD. So, it is our expertise in our view of trust.
And after that, now is alertness. So, alert means we are alert to dangers, we are alert to opportunities. So, some people just do what they are told to do and come back.
But that is not enough. Sometimes, you have to think, you have to think about the big picture. Ultimately, Rama has to fight a war, then what can I do to help Rama? If Ravana is threatening Sita, then what can I do to somebody stopping from threatening? Now, sometimes people just, they do not think of the big picture.
One of our friends was telling me how nowadays many big companies or big government departments, they work in complete silos. So, it is like if there are three people who are employed to take care of a garden, so you want to plant something in a garden. So, you have one person who will dig the hole, the second person who will plant the seed, and the third person will fill the hole.
And suppose somehow the second person is sick, but the first person will come, dig the hole, the second person does not come, the third person will come and fill the hole. And the job is done. The most essential part of the job is not done.
So, we need to do our part, but we also need to be aware of the bigger picture. We have to see how does my part contribute to the bigger picture. So, Hanuman was told to find Sita, but now Hanuman tells that let me do some more service.
So, he alertly looks for a pot. Now, he has already expanded his size, and when this size comes up, the demonesses, they can’t but notice. Then they get alarmed and they ask the guards to come.
And Hanuman has travelled light. There is no carry-on bag, no check-in bag. Then he flies.
So, he doesn’t have any weapons. Just looks around and there is a gate to that path. He just goes there and he breaks the gate and rips apart.
One of the thick iron pillars that are there to the gate, the parts of the gate. And that becomes like his mace over there. Traditionally, Hanuman is symbolised with a mace.
When he goes to Lanka, he does not have a mace with him. So, he is just improvising weapons over there. And then he starts destroying one after another after another, the various soldiers that are attacking him.
So, what is Hanuman doing now? His job is done. He should not go. He is thinking, I should do some more service.
So, then one after another, after another, Ravan hears about this. Who is the upstart monkey has come? That particular garden, his favourite garden is called Ashoka Vatika. That Ashoka Vatika becomes for Ravan Shoka Vatika.
Just one after another, after another, his generals are all being destroyed. Finally, he sends Indrajith. Now, Indrajith also is not able to overcome, overpower him.
Hanuman, by ordinary or even extraordinary weapons, finally, he uses his most powerful weapon, the Brahmastra. When Hanuman sees the Brahmastra coming, he just holds his hands. He knows this is too powerful.
But he has a blessing that the Brahmastra will act on him, but not for too long. He will temporarily overpower him and then he will be able to break free. So, then he is arrested.
Now, dictatorship is all about keeping people under control through fear. Ravan is a dictator of Manka. And for him, that there is some person who has come in the favourite forest grove of Ravan and has destroyed the forest grove and has killed so many of his soldiers and generals.
That is like a slap on his face. And in order to establish his power once again, what he tells is, this person has been arrested. Parade him through the streets.
Anybody who dares to challenge Ravana, let us show what happens to him. So, then he is paraded through the streets. And when he is paraded, at that time, the soldiers are kicking him, the soldiers are insulting him, the soldiers are whipping him.
All this for a powerful warrior like Ravan, Hanuman could be humiliated. But Hanuman doesn’t bother about that. His focus is on seeing opportunities for service.
So, the demons have their own agenda. They want all the citizens to see what happens to anyone who dares to challenge the might of Ravan. So, they are parading Hanuman through the streets.
But Hanuman has his own plan. While he is being paraded through the streets, he is looking at all the military formations. What are the strong points? Where are the weapons kept? Where are the weak points? From where can we attack? And later on, after Indrajith fells Ram and Lakshman and it is presumed that they are dead, the Vanaras are celebrating.
At that time, the Vanaras later launch a surprise attack. And at that time, Hanuman leads the attack based on his knowledge of the history of Lanka. So, sometimes we may be humiliated, we may be disrespected.
And it is going to be very painful when that happens. But in that also, we can see, is there something I can learn? Is there some service I can do? For a devotee, service attitude is what always protects. And Hanuman maintains that service attitude, constantly looking for a fortune to serve.
Now, what is he doing? Like I said, he had completed his business. Why didn’t he go back? He wanted to do reconnaissance. He wanted to also give a warning to Ravana.
In case Ram is not able to reach within one year, there is a little delay, he doesn’t want disaster to happen. So, Ravana needs to be given a stern warning. So, Hanuman lets himself be arrested and paraded because he knows eventually he will face Ravana.
And when he faces Ravana, finally he comes into the court. Now, this time, he sees Ravana in his full regal majesty. He has seen Ravana thrice before.
One when he was abducting Sita. Then, when at night, when he was sleeping, Mandodari was next to him. Then, he saw almost like a half-drunk, half-awake stage going towards Sita and Ashokavatika.
But now, Ravana in his full regal majesty, sitting on the throne of Lanka. It’s amazing. What is the first thought that Hanuman has? This person has such power, such splendour.
If only this person had been dharmic, if only this person had been a devotee, he would have done so much good for the world. This person could have become a protector of the gods who protect humanity. Unfortunately, he is now a threat to everyone.
This is the sign of a healthy mind, is to look for good everywhere. But that does not mean we don’t see the bad. But we look for the good.
To see the potential for good everywhere. When a mind is very sick, it only sees problems everywhere. It only sees negativities everywhere.
Hanuman knows that Ravana is a terrible person. It still sees that this person has power, this person has splendour. Only if this person had character, he could have done so good.
And then he starts speaking. So, some of the demons are saying, you should be punished, you should be killed. Ravana is also very angry and says, I want to know who this person is.
I want to know why this person came and did such a damage to my favourite garden grow. Then he asks him a question. And Hanuman says, I am a messenger of Rama.
And I have come with a message. If you are a messenger, you should have come here straight. Why destroy my garden? He said, I am a messenger.
First, you should give me a seat. You didn’t act like a messenger. You destroyed my forest grow.
You destroyed my soldiers. You killed my generals. You don’t deserve the respect for a messenger.
Then Hanuman, what does he do? He expands his tail. And he expands his tail. And normally in a court, in a royal court, the king sits in the highest position.
Hanuman expands his tail so much, that tail becomes a higher seat than Ravana. And first time in his court, Ravana has to look up at someone. That itself is impurity.
Then, now Hanuman decides to play coy over here. He says, actually, I am just a little monkey. I was hungry.
So I was eating some fruits while I was jumping from tree to tree. The trees broke down. And when the trees broke, these soldiers attacked me.
And in self-defence, I attacked them. More soldiers attacked me, then I attacked the monkeys. Now, he is assessing, he is trying to understand the mood of what is going on in the palace.
Is everyone there with Ravana? Or are there some people dissenting over there? He is observing everyone. And then, what is your message? Why have you come here? So, he says that I have come as a servant of Sugriva, who is in alliance with Rama. And Rama has warned you, return Sita immediately.
Otherwise, an entire army will come and destroy all of Lanka. Ravana does not like looking at anyone above him in his own court. And to be chastised and warned, this is just unbearable.
He says, you fool, who do you think you are? You don’t know who I am? You don’t know what I can do? He says, we will kill you right now. So, Vidishan intervenes. In many ways, here, Hanuman is playing coy and is playing provocative, just to see if there are some dissensions in Ravana’s rank.
When he is provocative, Ravana is going to attack. And then, if anybody stands up for him, that means, that is a person on their side, who is not completely on their side. That’s why later when Vidishan comes on Rama’s side, that Hanuman is the one person who says that we should accept Vidishan.
All the other Vanaras say, no, he is a demon’s brother, he is Ravana’s brother, how can we accept him? So, when Vidishan says, he is a messenger, he should not be killed. He says, still, he killed my soldiers, he should be killed. He says, now, Vidishan here appeals not to Ravana’s morality, because that demon has no morality.
But he says, he appeals to his dignity, he appeals to his sense of faith. See, long ago, now some people say the Uttarakhand of the Ramayana is interpolated, because here, Vidishan and Rama are discussing and they are saying that, actually, a messenger should never be hurt or harmed or killed. But long ago, when Ravana had seized Lanka from Kubera, when Kubera was not there, at that time, Kubera had sent a messenger, saying this is my kingdom, give it back and Ravana had killed Kubera.
So, Ravana has already done heinous things. So, they say, therefore, that whole section is interpolated. That’s a very superficial argument.
But anyway, at that time, Ravana was just establishing his power. At that time, he just wanted to be brutal in any way he could be. But now, see what happens, when even bad people, they rise to the top, they want to look good in people’s eyes.
Isn’t it? No, bad, everybody wants, people when they become powerful and successful, they want all the good things in life. First, I want power, wealth, I want prestige. And then, I want not just the prestige of having power and wealth, I want the prestige of being a good person also.
I saw something, wealthy people give a lot of charity. They may have earned wealth by sucking the blood of poor people. But they will give charity to the poor people to look good.
That’s not true for all wealthy people. But the point is that some wealthy people also want to look good. So, he appeals to his sense of pride and he says, you know, what will happen to your good name, if it comes to be known that you killed a messenger, but he should be punished.
His monkeys are very proud of their tail. And it is that tail that he has humiliated me, that has burned his tail. Now, he has a plan.
He thinks that his tail will be burned and then he will release him and he will go back. And when he goes back to his family and friends, they will all see his charred condition. Either they will laugh at him or they will tremble in fear of my power.
Either way, my purpose will be served. Now, Hanuman guards himself. His tail is going to be burnt and he will tolerate the pain.
Now, all while this is happening, this is big news. There is no live broadcast over there. But what is happening in the court, the whole community is alive over there, abuzz.
Because never before has something like this happened. Anybody coming into Lanka and penetrating Lanka and threatening Ravan. So, there are people from the courts coming around and telling everyone.
So, Sita also comes to know. Hanuman is to be burnt. His tail is to be burnt.
And Sita prays to Agni Dev. She says, please don’t let Hanuman feel hurt. No, don’t let Hanuman feel pain.
So, Hanuman is ready and his tail is lit. And now the Vanaras, the Rakshasas, his tail is so long that to get, to put some infallible material on it, to tie it to the infallible, that itself is exhausting. And they do it and they light it.
And then, Hanuman sees, do you feel any pain? He says, when are they going to light it? Look, there is a huge fire over there and there is no pain. Now, see, when they are proud, proud people are very eager to take credit for things they have not done. And humble people, they want to give credit to others even for things they have done.
So, Hanuman goes and says, Jassi, why I am so powerful? That his tail doesn’t burn me. Everything is in me. I don’t have this power.
So, how is this fire not hurting me? Immediately he thinks. Now, who could be doing this for me? He knows Ram is all-powerful. But Ram does not know his plight right now.
Because he does not know whether Ram knows. So, this person sits next to him. Immediately thanks him.
And then, as he is waiting and watching, the Rakshasas are looking at him. Why is this person not in pain? What is happening? And then, Hanuman suddenly gets angry. This burning but not hurting tail is a ready-made weapon for me.
So, Ravan, in trying to humiliate Hanuman, has given Hanuman the weapon to humiliate Ravan. Oh, Hanuman immediately grabs the opportunity. That is the last part in the acronym.
D is Deterrence. Deterrence is where, if somebody is going to do something terrible, then we need to show them that there will be terrible consequences if we do this. So, in real world geopolitics, Deterrence is very important.
If the other person feels that they can get away with something, then they will do more and more of that thing. But if Deterrence is there, then they will not do that much. So, India, Pakistan, China, there are three wars, many wars, but three major wars that happened in India.
But in the late 1990s, all three of them have got nuclear weapons. Although there has been some tensions, but there has been no outright war. It’s not a support of nuclear weapons.
Just the principle of Deterrence is there. That when people know that there will be consequences for their actions, then that deters them from doing crazy things. So, Hanuman wants to deter Ravan from doing anything crazy.
He wants to give a stern warning to him. So, he jumps up into the spring. He jumps up and his huge tail is let with him.
He breaks free of all the ropes. The Brahmastra, long ago, stopped having an effect. Hanuman is just waiting for the opportunity.
And the Rakshasas are stunned. And Ravan wanted to humiliate Hanuman. But what is more humiliating than a prisoner breaking free, not from the prison in the darkness of the night, but a prisoner breaking free in the middle of the day, in the court with everyone visible.
So, if Ravan wanted to establish his authority to fear, just Hanuman escaping itself is another big slap on Ravan’s face. And then, of course, Ravan is shocked. How did he break free? What happened? And then, before he understands what is going on, Hanuman jumps on to one of the buildings.
Now, it is said that his building, his whole city is a golden city. Now, gold does not melt very easily. And for a golden city to burn, the temperature has to be immensely high.
But Hanuman, by this blessing, his tail is burning, but he is not hurting. He uses that tail and sets one prison, one building on fire and another building on fire. And the Rakshasas are trying to attack him.
Hanuman is expertly dodging them. And soon the fire starts spreading. And Ravan does not know, but Hanuman has a hidden ally.
That is Vayu. Vayu starts blowing. Whichever direction Hanuman goes, the wind starts blowing.
Like a small fire starts becoming like a forest fire. It is said that there are horrifying fires in LA. Now, the fires occurring is not an uncommon thing there.
But it is like, you know, all the bad things happening at the same time, wrong things happening at the same time. A fire coming at the same time, there will be a stormy wind in the direction where there is human habitation. Then, it is devastating.
So, Ravan’s Lanka starts getting burnt. Hanuman, Ravan doesn’t know. Should he stop Hanuman? Should he stop the burning of his city? And he tries to do both and he succeeds in doing neither.
Then, in just a short while, more than half of Lanka is burnt. And then, like in a movie, it is a spectacular climax. So, Hanuman climbs on the border of all.
And his tail is still burning. And he raises his tail high above him. His long tail is like a blazing fire above him.
So, with a blazing fire behind him, he feels scary. He looks like an angel of death or devastation. And there, Hanuman speaks in the most thunderous voice.
Oh, Ravan, you just saw what one servant of Ram can do. And I am the smallest of the Vanaras that will come in thousands to destroy your Lanka if you do not return Sita. And then, Hanuman jumps.
As if to a more spectacular effect, just by his jump from that wall, the whole wall crumbles. Hanuman leaps into the sky. As he leaps into the sky, the whole of Lanka is filled with shock and horror.
Ravan’s authority has been undermined like never before. And if there is any chance that Ravan could have come to his senses, Ravan may not understand the language of morality. But would he at least understand the language of force? That if his entire army cannot stop one soldier, one person from his opponent army, what chances he has to win? So, Hanuman has done all that he can to deter Ravan from his course of either hurting Sita or even holding Sita on.
And then he leaps into the ocean. And he extinguishes the fire in his tail and then leaps up again. And goes back to his machine to Lanka, spectacularly victorious.
So, Hanuman ji ki jaa. So, to summarise what I discussed today, we talked about how Hanuman ji is called as Buddhimatamvarishtam. He is the more best among intelligent people.
Why is he called like that? He discussed that from the activities that he does in Lanka. So, we discussed the acronym. What was it? So, H was hope.
So, when he is unable to find Sita, he starts losing hope. But he gets his hope back by thinking of the dark consequences that would come. I cannot live and see this happen.
I would rather die trying to prevent this from happening. So, sometimes hope can come by envisioning the wonderful that we want. And hope can also come by envisioning the dreadful that we just will not accept.
So, with that hope he pushes on. Then next was, he was expertise. Expertise in earning trust of Sita.
He doesn’t just go straight forward and demand that and proclaim that I have come for you. He actually talks about Ram, glorifies Lord Ram and slowly, sweetly earns her trust. He does not demand that I have done so much for you in coming here.
And then by showing her the signal, by speaking about intimate pastimes, slowly he earns her trust. So, whenever you have to do service, it’s important to have hope. But expertise is also required.
And then after that was alertness. Yes, we did our service. But that service is a part of a bigger mission.
Can we do something more? Not just operating mental tunnels or have a tunnel vision or operating complete silos. So, he thinks what more can I do? So, he decides I will do reconnaissance to understand what are the strengths of Ravan. And thus, he challenges the demons, fights with them.
Even when he is arrested and humiliated, rather than focussing on his humiliation, he is focussing on observing what is going on. Even when he seems to play and provoke in Ravan’s court, he is trying to see if there are any cleavages, any dissensions in his rank which can be used by Ram. And then finally, he was letterless, where he decided that he warns Ravan, but he understands Ravan is not a person who is going to simply understand the language of words.
He uses the language of force. Sometimes, a smaller destruction may be required to prevent a bigger destruction. So, when he destroys Lanka, the point is not just want and anger.
The point is that he sees by his alertness that I am a burning but not hurting thing. He is a ready-made weapon. So, Hanuman, what Ravan tries to use to burn, to humiliate Hanuman, Hanuman uses that against Ravan.
So, then he uses that itself to burn Lanka. Sometimes, there is a trailblazing adventure, he says. Trailblazing is very extraordinary.
So, Hanuman’s adventure in Lanka is trailblazing and tailblazing. His tail is literally on fire and he is blazing. And then finally, as a final sign of deterrence, what does he do? On the border wall, he proclaims, not just his own power, but the power of Ram and the power of those who are supporting Ram.
And then, with a spectacular visual demonstration of his power, crushing the border wall of Lanka which has never fallen before, which is the symbol by which Ravan established and proclaimed his power, then Hanuman leaves and goes back victorious. We all can pray to Hanumanji that whatever challenges we face in life, that whatever services we need to do, that may we always have hope, may we always be expert, may we always be alert, and may we always, in our devotion, use whatever is required in terms of deterrence to achieve whatever service we are called upon to do. Shri Hanumanji ki, Shri Hanuman Jayanti Mahamahotsav ki, Shri Latha Prabhupada ki, Jai Gaur Prema Nirmala.
Thank you very much. So much of what I spoke about, say, about hope and expertise, some of alertness, those things are explained in this book. It’s not only about the Ramayana, it’s the Gita for the CEO.
Now, a lot of people would like to know what is the practical wisdom, especially for professional success in spiritual books like the Gita. People want to know the art of war and other things like that. So HarperCollins asked me to write this book.
And this is also, the Gita is a conversation. This is also a conversation which explains the Gita’s principles through a conversation between two people or corporate leaders. One is a corporate leader who knows the Gita, another one who wants to know the Gita.
And there are some simple illustrations and diagrams which explain the concepts. It’s a light read and it explains how we can, just like Arjuna was not just a great devotee, but also a great warrior. He was a great leader.
Like that, you can also be successful in all walks of life through the Gita’s wisdom. And this is a more devotional book, Prayers Inspired by Bhagavad Gita. So this is 122 prayers with a beautiful picture of the beauty of Krishna, one line summary prayer, then there’s a Bhagavad Gita verse.
And that verse is poetically rendered over here, so that you can get a feel of the poetry and the beauty of the Gita. And there’s a one-page prayer reflection on that verse. So this is a way in which you can not just connect with the wisdom of the Gita through a prayerful devotional book, but also connect with Krishna.
And you all want to, if you want to pray, sometimes you can pray from our heart, you can pray scriptural prayers. But can we bring both of them together? We take scriptural verses and prayers inspired by us. So there’s a table of contents with about 122 titles.
So whatever you feel is your prayer need at a particular time. If you’re going through hard times, you’re not able to make sense of life, your mind is going wild. So whatever it is, all that is, there are various titles, you can just easily refer to it.
It’s also a very good way if you’re doing your daily morning prayers or morning chanting, reading one reflection can calm the mind and put in a devotional frame of mind, so that you can pray more effectively. And much of what I spoke about Hanuman is in this small book, Living the Ramayana. I spoke about Hanuman’s adventures in Lanka.
So I have written several books on the Ramayana, but this is one of the smaller books, applying ancient wisdom to modern times. All these books are available outside. If any of you want, you can take them from there.
I’ll also be here for some time if you want a signature or if you want to ask any questions. Thank you very much. Pray Krishna.