One of the many Heroes in the Rāmāyaṇa, Hanumān is revered by millions around the world, in India, Tibet, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia. Even the legends of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, that were popular in ancient and medieval China were inspired by the tales of Hanumān that had found their way to Chinese ears.
In the Rāmāyaṇa and other related mythoi that sprung up from that great text, Hanumān is Rāma’s supreme devotee. He is the bhakta par excellence, whose mind is immersed in the thought and devotion of Rāma. It is said that wherever, and whenever, the glories of Rāma are sung, Hanumān is present there.
Hanumān is also a great warrior. He possesses incredible strength and speed and was one of the commanders in the army of Rāma that waged war on the King Rāvaṇa. His fight was for Rāma, the embodiment of Dharma. Invocation of Hanumān’s martial features were important in the ancient and medieval eras when Hindus were beset on all sides by enemies. He has inspired warriors and armies throughout history, including those who defended India from invaders and protected its temples from destruction.
A remnant of this survives even to this day in traditional wrestling akhāḍas, when Hanumān is invoked by trainees and fighters to grant them strength and vigour.
It is to this composite aspect of Hanumān, that of a devotee and a warrior, that the Hindus of today must look towards, for inspiration in these distressing times.
Unlike Arjuna in the Mahābhārata – who himself bore Hanumān in a banner atop his chariot – Hanumān went through no dejection on the battlefield; he was always ready to fight with full dedication. He even ravaged the lovely pleasure gardens of Rāvaṇa and set fire to the entire Golden city of Laṅkā. He was an indomitable warrior who fought without pity, compromise or apologies. He was the ideal warrior and general, just as Rāma was the ideal king.
Hanumān upheld the cause of Dharma and Rāmarājya for humanity with his entire being. Such a force is essential for our agitated world today.
Hindus continue to be shamed and humiliated as intolerant oppressors, while in fact they remain the victims, under siege by missionaries, jihadis and communists even in their own country. We have been told not to speak out, even for our own rights, because we don’t have a legitimate voice in social affairs and will be guilty of an intolerant majoritarianism if we do.
The courts in India regulate Hindu practices, while not interfering with those of other religions. Hindu temples are run by state governments, with non-Hindus or anti-Hindus on their temple boards, and temple revenues expropriated by the state for whatever purpose the state deems fit.
Hindu educational institutions face severe restrictions and cannot teach what they want, unlike non-Hindu groups.
The answer to this anti-Hindu state of things is not waiting hopefully for a miracle, for things to happen, thinking that voting or not voting a certain way is enough. Neither is it the endless stream of rebuttals and exposés that emanate from the Hindu camp day in and day out, chastising the left-liberals of their ‘hypocrisy’. The answer is lucid, passionate, fearless, and firm action.
Hindus must come out of the web of tamas (‘darkness’) and inertia, and embrace energy.
Hindus must look to Hanumān and derive the power and intensity necessary to bring about necessary changes in society. This Hanumān Jayantī must be a call for action among Hindus to alleviate the foremost ills plaguing Hindu society – inaction and ennui.
Inaction keeps us uninspired and apathetic, as our society slowly becomes so unrecognisably alien and foreign, and our nation becomes a hotbed of crime and hedonistic deviancy. This inaction further exacerbates into exhaustion and indifference, which breeds further apathy. Inaction and ennui feed into each other in vicious cycles which are truly difficult to break.
Hindus must not watch idly by as this Leviathan of a state swallows up our institutions and outlaws our rituals, traditions and practices.
Hindus must not be mute spectators looking to the state for protection in the face of aggressions where a temple procession is stoned, or when Hindu women and girls are abducted or raped or killed with impunity.
Hindus must act.
Action, however, must not be limited to the realm of cyberspace. While running Twitter hashtags may bring about some awareness to the netizens on a particular issue, it is never a substitute for action in the real world. Winning an online contest means little and does little for causes in the real world.
Action can be of different natures – social, cultural, political, legal, economic, communal, and so on.
Social and cultural action can be as simple as ensuring the continuation of the rituals and practices handed down by our ancestors. It can also be ensuring that temples function properly, in the sense that they were originally intended to.
An example of political action can be sending representations and petitions to our legislators urging them to enact a certain law or to rescind a certain legislation as well as following up on those petitions.
Legal action can be a litigation filed in the courts, seeking recourse to the illegal encroachment of temple lands, for instance. It could even be becoming an amateur specialist in law and other state regulations and helping Hindu causes, given the elaborately labyrinthine nature of our legal and bureaucratic setup.
Communal action can be as uncomplicated as discussing issues and plans of action in a group with like-minded people with focussed goals and clear-cut principles. It could also be a more difficult effort such as organising a rally on the streets in a show of strength.
Only action gets things done in this world. Sitting on your behinds whining about how things are going bad does not get us anything. As George Bernard Shaw said, “Educate, Agitate and Organise”. None of this can be without action that is well-thought-out and inspired.
And this is where we must look towards Hanumān for guidance and inspiration.
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