గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః
గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః
శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం
ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే
శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం
నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం
ఓం నమః శివాయ
When Sugreeva had sent armies towards the four directions in search of
Sita, Hanuma, Angada, Jaambavanta and
others were chosen for the south side. After multiple hurdles they came to know
of Sita’s presence in Lanka through Sampaati. Then they reached the banks of
the Sea, not knowing the next steps. Everyone was asked about their capacity in
terms of crossing the sea. Different people gave different opinions with
regards to crossing 100 Yojanas. Some said they can jump 25 yojanas, some said
50, Angada said he can cross but can’t come back. At that time Hanuma was
sitting in one corner without uttering a word. Jaambavanta approached him and
made him realise his strengths. Then Hanuma realised his strength and after
that, as they say its history.
We all know that Hanuma had a curse on him by the sages that he would be
forgetful and would not know his strength unless reminded.
But there were multiple instances in Ramayanam, where Hanuma exhibited
his forgetfulness. Many times in many lectures it is said that Hanuma’s curse
got diffused when Jambavanta reminded him of his strength. But it is possible
that Hanuma continued to be forgetful. Lets see some instances. Some of these
are before the sea crossing and some are after.
Sugreeva sought Sri Rama’s help so that his wife and kingdom could be
restored to him. But Vali was killed by Sri Rama and Tara was wailing profusely
with Vali’s head on her lap, Hanuma went up to her and said that she should carry
out the coronation of Angada as the king. Hanuma is not an ordinary person to
speak randomly or irrationally or without sense. I would attribute this
statement of Hanuma, which definitely would have shocked Sugreeva J, as an act of forgetfulness. Ofcourse, Tara rejected that opinion and
saved Sugreeva.
When Lakshmana threatened Sugreeva with dire consequences, for having
forgotten his promise to help his brother find his wife, Tara came to Sugreeva’s
rescue. At that time Hanuma sided with Lakshmana as if Sugreeva did not do
anything towards keeping his promise. At that time Sugreeva passed on the
orders to Hanuma that he is reducing the time for the army to assemble from 15
days to 10 days. This also clearly indicates that Hanuma has actually forgotten
the earlier orders. This also seems like an act of forgetfulness on the part of
Hanuma.
During the war, when Lakshmana gets hit with Trishul of Raavana, he
falls down unconscious. At that time Sushena asks Hanuma to get the same herb
that was used earlier. Hanuma reaches the mountain and forgets which herbs to
pick. And so he pulls out the entire mountain and gets it to the war field for
sushena to treat Lakshmana. This also reminds us of Hanuma’s forgetfulness.
When Hanuma visited Sita in Lanka, he saw all the female raakshasas around
Sita. At that time he saw Trijata, daughter of Vibhishana, telling Sita about a
dream. She consoled Sita and assured her that everything would be fine.
Importantly, she told all the raakshasis around Sita that they should
immediately seek Sita’s pardon. At that time Sita told Trijata that they were
just following the orders of their king. So, they do not deserve any punishment
from her. Once the war ended and Hanuma was asked by Sri Rama to inform Sita
and get her back, hanuma went to Sita. Seeing the Raakshasis Hanuma asked
Sita’s permission to destroy all the Raakshasis. Hanuma doesn’t need to be told
something twice and what else can this be attributed to, other than
forgetfulness.
After the war on their way back to Ayodhya, Sri Rama asked Hanuma to
reach Ayodhya before them. “Inform Bharatha about my Victory and check out the
body language and feelings of Bharatha. In case Bharatha is attached to the
kingdom, then I shall return to the forests directly from here.” Hearing this,
Hanuma reaches Ayodhya and shares the details, of all the events that happened,
to Bharatha. But after that there is no mention of Hanuma returning to Sri Rama
and confirming the status to Sri Rama. This is not such an insignificant event
for Valmiki to have missed it. Knowing the status of Bharatha, Hanuma must have
been filled with so much happiness that he would have forgotten to return to
Sri Rama to inform him the status.
The purpose of this post is not to doubt the ability of Hanuma or his
greatness. His character is impeccable. If at all any negative points come out
against him, those are because of his forgetfulness, which is a curse, rather
than his character. Importantly, all my above statements could be wrong because
of my inability to understand things in the right perspective.
సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు
PS: There could be typos and other
mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.
