The Indian Dharma

Dear Readers of “The Indian Dharma”,

With the divine grace of Bhagawan Shri Rama and Sita Devi, we’ve so far witnessed four  “Kaandas’ – “Baala Kaanda”, “Ayodhya Kaanda”, “Aaranya Kaanda” and “Kishkinta Kaanda” of the Valmiki Ramayana text in minute detail. We are currently witnessing through the all important “Sundara Kaanda” wherein, we are enjoying the beauty and significance of Hanuman – The “Aachaarya” or the “Guru”.

Today is an important day as we reach a milestone of 200 episodes as we’re looking into minute details of the Valmiki Ramayana text, in relevance with the modern-day life and also a few Management concepts that can be derived from this great Indian epic. So far, you readers have been gracious enough to spend your valuable time and effort to read and comment on the episodes that are being published regularly. My humble and sincere thanks to all of you!

Of course there were lot of challenges during the course of this blog reaching such a milestone – Of late I had been travelling, had become sick, had to be hospitalised, etc. However, with the infinite grace of Goddess Sita and Lord Rama, we are still chugging along despite the challenges and of course with all the love, support and encouragement from you readers! Thank you for everything that you’ve given me so far!

Also, there had been a number of queries put forward to me by many of our readers as to how to get access to all the archived episodes of our blog. Just for an information, all our previous episodes are archived at the “Home Page”of this blog site – “The Indian Dharma”. For your convenience, here is the link that you can directly access to:

 http://www.theindiandharma.wordpress.com

If you are an active Facebook user, you can visit the Facebook Page titled “The Indian Dharma” and all the 200 episodes published so far are archived there! You can Like/Follow the page and get the access! For your convenience, I’m sharing the link to the Facebook page below:

https://www.facebook.com/ManagementconceptsfromRamayana/

Once again, thank you all for your valuable support and encouragement! I look forward for more of it as we progress further!

With Regards,

Dr. Jeayaram Subramanian.

Today’s is a very important episode in terms of what can we learn for the modern day life from Hanuman’s actions in the Ramayana. We are of course getting to learn innumerable lessons for the modern day from various aspects of the Ramayana, right from the commencement of this blog, however, there are going to be innumerable modern-day lessons especially in terms of modern day management and leadership from Hanuman’s life. Today we are going to discuss some important take-aways from the Hanuman-Mainaaka episode that we were discussing yesterday.

In the yesterday’s episode we had witnessed that the Mainaaka Mountain, which rose up from the water, intercepted Hanuman as he was passing by. Initially Hanuman saw Mainaaka as a huge obstacle coming in front of him and later realized that he was a great soul and is related closely to his father, Vaayu Bhagawan (Lord of the Wind). We also saw how Hanuman accepted his hospitality, but at the same time proceeded towards Lanka without resting himself.

Here is a couple of important management lessons – The first lesson that can be learnt from this episode is the art of “smart” decision making and the second lesson to be learnt is the art of “effective” communication. Today we shall elaborate on both of these two important lessons.

When we talk about “Decision Making”, all of us know that it is that unique capability of a person that can distinguish himself/herself as a leader. It is of prime importance for a leader to take the right decision at the right time. If we look at this particular Hanuman-Mainaaka episode, we can clearly witness this quality in Hanuman – When Mainaaka requested Hanuman to rest for a while, nourish himself with good and tasty food, accept his hospitality and then proceed towards Lanka, the offer seemed quite tempting! Anybody could have fallen for such kind and loving words, however, Hanuman didn’t! He was completely focused on his mission and had pledged in front of all the other Vaanaras that he wouldn’t rest or eat anything unless and until he finds the whereabouts of Sita. Thus, Hanuman had to reject Mainaaka’s offer of hospitality and not let his focus to dilute. Moreover, it is normal psychology that if our body starts taking rest, it would want more and more rest only and the task in hand goes for a toss! Hence it is important to note here that rest can be taken only after the completion of the task in hand. Thus, knowing all this, Hanuman politely rejects the hospitality offer of Mainaaka. He is very clear with his mission and his approach and this is the primary learning that modern day leaders and management professionals need to admire in Hanuman!

Now that Hanuman has to reject Mainaaka’s hospitality, how does he communicate that to Mainaaka? Here comes the importance of “Communication”. Modern day leaders and Management professionals talk a lot about “effective business communication” today. Here we can see from this episode, how Hanuman exhibited clear and effective communication techniques to pacify Mainaaka and proceed further towards Lanka. What did he say? If we can recall from the previous episode, Hanuman says to Mainaaka, “Oh dear Mainaaka! Thank you so much for your hospitality and your kind words! I’m so overwhelmed with joy upon meeting you and hearing from you! This itself is the greatest hospitality that you can provide to me! You should remember that I’m on an urgent mission to Lanka and at the moment I’m running short of time to reach there. Hence, I’m currently not in a position to stay here and rest. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not accepting or recognizing your kind hospitality. I request you to understand my situation!” Saying thus, Hanuman touches Mainaaka with his two hands with a smile and moves on!

As modern day leaders and Management professionals we can learn from this episode, the art of conveying a negative message! How does Hanuman convey the negative message of his inability to stay there with Mainaaka? He conveys an appreciation and a recognition message at the beginning and then “sandwiches” the negative message of his inability in the middle and finally concludes with another positive message of recognizing Mainaaka’s hospitality! This is how a negative message is to be conveyed! If the negative message is conveyed directly to a person, it might hurt him or her. Instead, if the negative message is sandwiched between two positive messages while conveying, it reaches the other person more effectively. Hanuman knew this technique and thus has employed it to Mainaaka! We can see this communication technique being employed in modern day marketing communication techniques by big corporates across the world. But it is amazing to note that these techniques already existed some 5,000 years back! 🙂

Thus today we learnt two important management lessons from Hanuman’s actions. We shall learn more such lessons as we proceed further. What happened next? Whom did Hanuman encounter after Mainaaka? The action continues in the next episode! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed that as Hanuman flies over the ocean, he encounters the first obstacle in the form of the Mainaaka Parvatha. According to the instruction of “Samudra-Raaja” (King of the ocean), the Mainaaka mountain gets up and stands tall as Hanuman approaches with his immense speed. Upon seeing a huge mountain getting up all of a sudden from the ocean waters, Hanuman thinks that this is an obstacle planned by some enemies to destroy his mission. Hence he decides to act swiftly and on his way, hits the big mountain with his strong fists. With this hit, the mountain breaks into pieces. Mainaaka takes a human form and appears in front of Hanuman and talks with him with love and affection – “Oh Hanuman! Oh Mahaanubhaava! (Another name for a great spiritual master) I’m Mainaaka! I’m not an enemy to obstruct your path as you think! Samudra Raaja and myself are so overwhelmed with your great mission and we would also like to be a part of this great service to Lord Rama! Hence I request you to rest for some minutes in my mountain peaks, which is full of medicinal herbs and plants. By this, you can get rid of your tiredness and then proceed forward towards Lanka. Oh Hanuman! You are our esteemed guest. Please accept our hospitality and bless both of us!”

“Raaghavasya kule jaathaihi udharif pari varthithaha!

Kritesha prathi karthavyam yesha dharmaha sanaathanaha!!”

From the above sloka, Valmiki Maharishi beautifully brings out Mainaaka’s request to Hanuman. He further adds, “Oh Hanuman! As a human being in this world, everybody should be of service to the Lord in some way or the other! Thus, please give me a small opportunity to be of service to our Lord Rama! This would be a great help for myself and also for Samudra Raaja!”

Mainaaka continues to explain further.. “Oh Hanuman! You know what? Both of us are also related to each other in some way! Let me tell you how!” As Mainaaka continues to talk on and on, Hanuman looks at him with awe and at the same time, he’s getting late to reach Lanka. He thinks within himself, “Oh! Who is this Mainaaka? He is coming in front of me when I’m on an urgent mission! He doesn’t seem to understand my urgency and is keeping on talking! 🙂 What is the relation between you and me?” Upon which Mainaaka explains the full history of the relationship – “Once upon a time, all mountains in this world were having wings! Thus they used to fly here and there and many of them started landing over cities and destroying them! Seeing this, Lord Indra (Leader of the Celestial beings) got angry and started to cut away the wings of all the mountains with his “Vajraayudha” (A type of weapon). When Indra was rushing towards me, your father (Vaayu Bhagawan – The Lord of Wind) blew me away and pushed me under this ocean. By that, he protected my wings from being cut down by Indra. Such is the relationship between you and me! Your father saved my life the other day and hence I’m obliged to return my gratitude to him. Now you’ve come as the son of Vaayu Bhagawan and you are the right person to whom I can exhibit my gratitude in the form of hospitality! Hence, Oh Hanuman! Please accept my hospitality and make me happy!”

At this stage, Hanuman was perplexed! He realized the fact that this Mainaaka is not an enemy but a great soul! Hence he couldn’t kill or destroy him and proceed further! At the same time, Mainaaka is treating him as a guest! If someone treats us as a guest, it is a “Dharma” to accept the hospitality provided by that person and not to reject him or her. Hanuman was thus puzzled as to how to handle this tricky situation – He should accept the hospitality, but at the same time he has a deadline to reach Lanka. What can he do?

Here is Hanuman’s smartness – He looks at Mainaaka, smiles at him and touches his peaks with his hands and replies,

“Yeva mukthah kapissreshtaha tam nagokthamam abraveeth!

Preethosmi krithamaathitham manyureshopaneeyathaam!!”

Hanuman thus says, “Oh Mainaaka! I’m so overwhelmed by your kind words and the request you’ve made for your wonderful hospitality! For me, this in itself is like giving me a great hospitality! Since I’m on a very urgent mission currently, I’m not in a position to stay here for long! However, you shouldn’t get angry that I’m not staying here as per your request! I’ve to see Sita within today evening and that is my target. Thus if I rest here for sometime, my body will start asking for more and more rest! Hence I don’t want to give space for laziness to take over!” Saying thus, he touches Mainaaka’s mountain peak with love and care and proceeds further!

Upon seeing this, Mainaaka was surprised and at the same time, amazed with the reply of Hanuman! He blesses Hanuman to successfully finish the mission! There are a few modern-day managerial implications from this episode. What are they? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out!

In the previous episode we had witnessed how Hanuman motivates and assures his colleagues who were cheering him from the ground. Hanuman says with full confidence that he would definitely find out Sita and accomplish this mission with ease! Every leader should give such a kind of motivation to his or her subordinates – especially when the task is complex and at a time when the team members are losing hope and confidence, it is the duty of the leader to chip in occasionally and keep motivating them! Moving on further, we also saw some interesting and beautiful slokas of Valmiki Maharishi that describes Hanuman crossing the ocean. We are seeing many slokas for the past few episodes and we can understand from that as to how much of significance Valmiki Maharishi has placed for this particular event in the Ramayana.

As Hanuman is flying across and climbing in altitude, all the celestial beings including the Devas, Dhaanavas, Gandharvas, etc. heap praise on him and wish him all the best for his mission. As Hanuman was advancing in height, the Sun God (Lord Surya) was observing this keenly and at a point, started to feel afraid for the second time! It should be remembered by all of us that Lord Surya was afraid even on day one of Hanuman’s birth because Hanuman started flying towards the sun, thinking that it is a fruit and wanted to pluck and eat it! Now again when Hanuman is in the air, Lord Surya is afraid once more, whether he is in trouble today or not. Moreover today, Hanuman also has the power of “Raam-Naama” in him! All these made Lord Surya trembling with fear! However, Lord Surya sees that Hanuman is keeping on flying without even noticing anything on his way. Then he concludes within himself, “Oh! Hanuman is not coming towards us! He is going on pursuit of finding Sita and being of service to Lord Rama! Hence let me reduce my intensity of heat! Let me be of some service to Hanuman and Lord Rama by this way!”

“Shisheva satathaa vaayu raama kaaryaartha siddhaye!

Rishayas thushtu varschainam plavamaanam vihaayasa!!”

Thus, as Hanuman keeps flying in the air, all the Maharishis from the ground bless him for the successful completion of his mission.

“Tasmin plavaga shaardhoole bhavamaane hanumathi!

Ikshvaaku kulamaavaakthi chinthayaamaasa saagaraha!!”

It is only at this time the king of the oceans, “Samudra Raaja” thinks within himself, “Oh! I should be offering my service to the great Ikshvaaku Dynasty in some way, owing to the innumerable good things that I had received from its great rulers! Here is Hanuman, who is the messenger of one of the greatest princes of the Ikshvaaku Dynasty! So I should be of some help to Hanuman!” Thinking thus, he approaches the “Mainaaka Mountain” that is under the sea floor. Upon seeing the Mainaaka Mountain, Samudra Raaja says, “Oh Mainaaka! Please get up from the sea floor. Hanuman is coming by your way. You be of some help to him by asking him to rest on your mountains for a while. By that, Hanuman would get rid of his tiredness, as he has to go a long way across. Therefore, Mainaaka! Please get up immediately and stand in front of Hanuman as he approaches towards you!”

“Tathaamayaa vidhaagavyam visrametha yathaa kapi!

Hiranya naabham mainaakham uvaacha giri sapthamam!!

Tvamihaasura sanghaanaa vyavaraagnyaa mahaathmanaa!

Paathaala nilayaanaam hi dhariha sannivesathaha!!”

Thus from the above slokas, Valmiki Maharishi beautifully describes the conversation between Samudra-Raaja and Mainaaka Mountain. According to Samudra Raaja’s request, the Mainaaka mountain starts to get up from the sea floor with all its dazzling mountain ranges and rises above the water. As Hanuman was fast approaching, the Mainaaka Mountain stands in front of him with all his beauty and shine! Upon seeing a huge mountain getting up from nowhere, Hanuman thought that he was being tricked into something! He thought that this was his first obstacle and was thinking as to how to handle this!

What did Hanuman do to tackle the “first obstacle”? Did Hanuman succeed? Let’s wait till the next episode to find out! 🙂

Till now in the “Sundara Kaanda” we had witnessed that Hanuman, with the due motivation from Jaambhavaan sets off towards Lanka. He gradually grows in size to everyone’s utter amazement and pushes himself forward to start flying over the huge ocean. Valmiki Maharishi beautifully brings out the event of Hanuman’s departure to Lanka with a slew of slokas along with some beautiful comparisons and meanings.

Thus as proceeding further, Hanuman thinks within himself that he should not stop anywhere in the middle for anybody or anything until he finds Sita, comes back and informs the matter to the Vaanaras and Rama – Just like how Lord Rama’s arrow goes to it’s destination, finishes the assigned task and comes back to Rama’s bow!

“Padbhyaam dhrida-avasthaana krithvaa cha kapi kunjaraha!

Gacchethath gamishyaami lankaam raavana paalithaam!!”

At this point, Hanuman turns back for a moment towards his fellow Vaanara colleagues and gives them the much-needed assurance. He says, “Oh friends! With this speed and motivation I shall directly go to Lanka, search for Sita and somehow find her! If I’m unable to find Sita in Lanka, I’ll go and search the other worlds (Underground, Sky, etc.) until I find Sita. Even if I’m unable to find her anywhere, I shall defeat Ravana, tie him up and bring him to the feet of Lord Rama! As a last option, I shall even lift the entire Lanka Island in my hands and bring it to Lord Rama’s feet!” Saying thus, Hanuman proceeds further. As the entire Vaanara army cheers Hanuman, he flies off to a greater altitude.

As Hanuman flies further, there is a beautiful scene in the sky. Here we can see different colour combinations as explained by Valmiki Maharishi – The sky is blue in color. Hanuman who is flying across the sky is greenish in color! His face and cheeks are reddish in color! His mouth is constantly chanting the “Raama-Naama” (Divine name of Lord Rama) every passing minute! His eyes were shining like brilliant stars in the night sky! On one side there was the sun with all his glory! Hanuman was so bright and shining that for a moment everybody who was looking from the ground were confused as to who is the real sun – Hanuman or the Sun God himself? Thus everybody is in awe upon witnessing the divine happening in the sky!

As Hanuman was flying his way through the sky, the “Aakasha” (Another name for the Sky) was so happy and praises Hanuman! He says, “Oh Hanuman! I’m so happy that I got to see you so close to me today! It’s because, you didn’t walk nor swim across the water. Instead, you chose to fly across, wherein I also have got this divine opportunity to be of some small service to our Lord Rama!”

Here, Vaalmiki Maharishi interestingly says that as Hanuman is flying over the waters, his shadow is spotted down on the sea, which is 10 yojanas in length! He says,

“Ambarastham vibhuggraaje saradhabbhva vibhaa gatham!

Dasha yojana vistheernaa krimshadyojana maayathaa!!”

In one of our previous episodes, I’ve given a detailed explanation as to how to convert this “Yojana” into our modern day measurement scale. It is believed that 1 Yojana equals almost 13.2 kilometers! Hence, if we’ve to calculate the size of Hanuman’s shadow, it should be around 132 kilometers in length! If such is the length of just the shadow, we can imagine what would have been the size of Hanuman while he was flying! Of course, we can infer from many ancient anecdodes that the average height of a human being was much higher than what we are today! We can be sure that in those days of the Ramayana, the height of a human being would have been enormous as compared to today!

Thus Hanuman motivates his colleagues as he moves forward! Is he going to be able to keep up his words of not stopping even for a moment till he reaches Lanka? Let’s wait and find out in the next episode! 🙂

In the previous episode we were witnessing that Hanuman is commencing his journey towards Lanka and he leaps across the ocean to commence his long travel. Upon seeing Hanuman leaping across the mighty ocean, all the other Vaanaras, the Devas and other celestial beings are looking at Hanuman in awe! As Hanuman was leaping across, he drags all the trees, flowers, plants, some small animals along with him in the air! It is with this immense force that Hanuman leaps across into the air – Just like a jet blast while an aircraft is taking off the ground!

“Baahu samsthambhayaamaasa mahaa pariah sannibhau!

Aasakaasa kapih khattyaam sharanau sankuchokachaa!!”

As Hanuman was moving forward, he makes a loud and a deafeaning sound and with that, the entire earth surface shakes for a moment! It was as if there was a loud thunder amidst heavy bunches of rain-bearing clouds. Hanuman’s appearance is so gigantic that it looked like a huge eagle grabbing a long snake in its mouth and flying!

“Samyakthicha bhukou shreemaan taschaivacha shiro dharaam!

Tejassathvam tathaa veeryam aaviveshacha veeryavaan!!”

Here, Vaalmiki Maharishi beautifully explains Hanuman’s ambitious travel – As he increases his speed and velocity, he stretches both his hands in the forward direction and as he does that, he dissipates all the clouds that are hanging above the surface! As he increases his speed further and tears apart the air, his father, Vaayu Bhagawan (The God of Wind) is so happy that his son is advancing towards him! As Hanuman was advancing further, all the clouds represent themselves in front of Indra – Leader of the Celestial beings. They ask Indra, “Oh! For how long are we going to bare this discomfort with Hanuman?” Indra replies to them, “Yes! I understand your concern! But all of us should remember that Rama is bearing so much of discomfort of losing Sita, wandering about in the dense forest, to destroy Ravana! We should remember that only upon our request, did he take birth in this world and taking up all this pain and suffering! Hence, we should tolerate this short-term discomfort caused by Hanuman!”

Thus as Indra, Varuna and other Celestial Beings talk with each other, Hanuman advances further into the ocean with his immense power. Here is a beautiful “Paasuram” from the Kamba Ramayanam in Tamil that describes Hanuman’s journey to Lanka:

“Aindhile ondru pettraan! Aindile ondrai thaavi!

Aindhile ondru aaraaga – Aariyarkkaaga yeigi!!

Aindhile ondru pettra anangaikkandu – Ayalaan ooril!!

Aindhile ondru vaithaan – Avan nammai alithukkaappaan!!”

Here, Kamba Naadar beautifully explains that in this “Sundara Kaanda” we can see that Hanuman had the connection of the five important elements of life in this world (Pancha-Bhoothas) – Earth, fire, wind, water and sky! He says in the above sloka, ““Aindhile ondru pettraan!” which means, “Hanuman is the son of Vaayu Bhagawan (God of Wind). Next, he says, “Aindile ondrai thaavi!” which means, “Hanuman is crossing the water”. Subsequently he says, “Aindhile ondru aaraaga”. Here the word “Aaru” means “Way” – Hanuman is using the sky as his way, since he is flying across! Next he says, “Aindhile ondru pettra anangaikkandu!” which means that “Hanuman is going across to meet Sita, who was born from the earth surface (Bhooma Devi). Towards the end he says, “Aindhile ondru vaithaan!” which means, Hanuman burnt Lanka towards the end of his visit, which directly signifies the importance of “Fire”! Thus in this one sloka we can see that all the five elements of life – Earth, Sky, Fire, Wind and Water were in service to Hanuman in pursuit of Sita!

Thus Hanuman advances forward towards Lanka with all his energy focused only on one objective – To be of service to his Lord Rama and making him happy by finding the whereabouts of his beloved wife Sita! From the next episode and in subsequent episodes, we shall witness how Hanuman is considered to be an epitome of various modern-day Management concepts such as Motivation, “Never-give-up attitude”, how to act smart to come out of tough situations, positive thinking, etc. Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed the important event wherein Hanuman is preparing himself to start his journey towards Lanka by leaping across the southern ocean. He climbs up the “Mahendra-Giri” Mountain and gets his acts together to jump across. He grows into an enormous size and frightens the wild animals and reptiles that were living in that mountain. Why does Hanuman grow in size? Hanuman grows in size because his hero Lord Rama’s happiness should grow!

“Salalam samprasrussaava madhamakthamidathdhvipaha!

Reethir nivakthayaamaasa kaanchanaanjana raajathihi!!

Guhaa vishtaani sathvaani vinethur vikruthaisswaraihi!”

Thus from the above slokas, Valmiki Maharishi beautifully describes the gradual growth of Hanuman’s size and the impact that it had on the living beings around the Mahendra Giri. He says that as Hanuman grows, all the wild animals were terrified and ran here and there not knowing where to escape to! As Hanuman grows, he presses his foot strongly with the ground and for a moment it is as if there is a huge earthquake happening! All the snakes and reptiles residing in the mountain were horrified to see such a huge figure standing in front of them! There were beautiful trees with eye-catching flowers. As Hanuman creates the jerk amidst the ground, all those beautiful flowers fall all over Hanuman’s body and it looks like as if he is garlanded beautifully with those flowers! Even the small streams of water and the waterfalls amidst the mountain felt the pressure of Hanuman’s enormous feet and were flooding the entire area around the mountain.

Thus with all this beauty, Hanuman commences his journey by leaping forward into the water!

“Guhaa vishtaani sathvaani vinethur vikruthaisswaraihi!

Vidhyadheyam girir bhoothaihi ithi makthvaa tapasvinaha!!

Krasthaa vidhyaadharaath tasmaath pushpethuhu sthreeganaissaha!”

From the above slokas, Vaalmiki Maharishi explains that as Hanuman was leaping forward, the entire mountain shook violently for a moment, thus feeling as if the entire mountain is going to break away into pieces! Even the “Tapasvis” (People who sit amdist mountains and do penance) and great saints who were residing in that vicinity were shaken up and couldn’t figure out what was happening around!

“Haara noopura keyura bhaarihaarya dharaasthryaha!

Vismithaaha svasthithaasthakshuhu aakashe ramanaissaha!!”

Upon seeing Hanuman leaping forward, even the “Devas” (Celestial beings) are stunned and looking at him with eyes wide open! It was so miraculous that they were in complete awe! “Samudra-Raaja” (The king of the oceans) was thinking within himself, “Oh! Is this Hanuman really going to succeed in crossing this ocean? Looking at all his efforts, it seems that he is not going to give up till he accomplishes his mission! So far, nobody has ever seen someone crossing an ocean like this! Is Hanuman going to change it and create history? Should I stop him from doing this?” Then later he again consoles himself by thinking, “Oh yes! So far, nobody has taken such a huge step forward to help Lord Rama! Hanuman is taking this initiative! As a responsible king, I should also contribute to Hanuman’s efforts rather than stopping him from proceeding further!”

Thus, everybody was looking at Hanuman with utter amazement as Hanuman commences his journey towards Lanka! As Hanuman rises up in the air, there were many tree branches, leaves, flowers, etc. that he dragged along with him for a small distance! It is a known fact that if an object that has immense strength rises up in the air, there would always be lot of other small objects that would also equally rise up along with that object. For instance, we see today when some powerful rockets are being launched from NASA and Sreeharikota. When the rocket launches up from the ground, we would normally be able to see many other particles like dust, some stones, etc. also going up for a certain distance. After some distance of course, all these small objects would fall down back on the ground. Similarly as Hanuman rises up, all these tree branches, leaves, etc. rise up along with him and after a certain distance, all these small objects fall in the ocean waters one by one!

Thus Hanuman rises up and commences his journey to accomplish the complex mission! We shall also wait till the next episode to find out if his journey was smooth and happy, or if he had to face obstacles all along his path! Stay tuned! 🙂

In the previous episode we had witnessed the significance of the “Sundara Kaanda” and why is it considered to be the most important part of the entire Ramayana text of Vaalmiki Maharishi. So far in the previous four Kaandas, we’ve witnessed the auspicious birth of Lord Rama at Ayodhya, his marriage with Goddess Sita Devi, the fourteen-year exile to the forest, destroying a slew of Raakshasaas, Ravana abducting Sita and finally Rama and Lakshmana making friendship with the Vaanaras and their leader, Sugriva. Eventually we also witnessed that the Vaanara camp heading towards the southern direction under the leadership of Jaambhavan, Angada and Hanuman have reached the shores of the southern ocean. As they were debating as to who would cross over the ocean and go to Lanka, it was decided that Hanuman would be that person to undertake this complex mission.

Accordingly Hanuman gets ready to take up the mission. He grows in size and climbs over the rocks of the “Mahendragiri” Mountain. We can worship this Mahendragiri Mountain today too. Near the southern tip of India (Today’s Kannyakumari) there is a place called Nagercoil in the south-Indian state of Tamil Nadu. There is a continuous mountain range called the “Western Ghats” that runs from this town and it continues until the state of Maharashtra in Central India. This mountain range runs parallel to the western coastline of India. It is at the starting point of this Western Ghats near to Nagercoil, is the Mahendragiri mountain. There is a famous Vishnu Temple at this particular spot called “Thirukkurungudi” which is considered to be one amongst the 108 “Divya-Desams” (Holy Temples) of Lord Vishnu. This Mahendragiri comprises seven mountains adjacent to each other, just like how Tirpuathi is adorned by the seven hills (Also called “Saptha-Giri”). It is at the top of this Mahendragiri, Hanuman is now standing with all his mighty power and is getting ready to leap across the ocean! Thus, with the significance and the power of the “Rama-Naama” (Name of Rama), Hanuman prepares himself to commence his long journey.

“Aaruroha nagashreshtam mahendramari vardhanaha!

Mahathbhir ucchithasshringaihi mahendrasya mahaabalaha!!

Vichachaara harishreshtaha mahendra savikramaha!

Baahubhyaam peeditasthena mahaashailo mahaathmanaa!!”

Thus from the above slokas, Vaalmiki Maharishi gives a beautiful description of how Hanuman is preparing himself to commence his journey. Hanuman climbs up the Mahendragiri Mountain and starts to grow in size. It is to be remembered that Hanuman has the unique capability of increasing and/or decreasing his size as and when he wants to! Thus here we can see that Hanuman is growing into an enormous size and as he reaches the topmost portion of the mountain, he makes a huge sound.

“Mumocha salilo peedaan vipraheerna sirorchayaha!

Viprastha mrugathaam maathangaha prakalpitha mahaadhrumaha!!”

From the above sloka, Vaalmiki Maharishi beautifully describes how Hanuman grows in size. He is growing to the size of an elephant and subsequently to the size of many elephants put together! Such is the enormity of size that Hanuman grows himself into! As he is about to leap across the water, Hanuman takes a deep breath, focuses all his power and strength into his breathing and offers his prayers to Lord Rama. He prays to Rama that the mission should be successful and he should somehow be able to trace the whereabouts of Sita.

“Atha vaidurya varneshu shaabvaleshu mahaabalaha!

Dheerassalila kalpeshu vichachaara yathaa sukham!!”

As Hanuman is getting ready to leap across, it seemed as if he has the capability of climbing up any mountain range and crossing over any huge water body with absolute ease! Thus as the other Vaanaras were anxiously watching Hanuman grow enormously and going to the top of the Mahendragiri mountain, they were extremely confident that Hanuman would definitely succeed in the mission! They were motivating and encouraging Hanuman in their small and simple ways!

Now Hanuman is at the tip of the Mahendragiri Mountain and is about to cross over. For today let Hanuman get fully ready for the complex mission! We shall wait till the next episode to let him cross over and travel across the sea! 🙂

So far we’ve witnessed that the Vaanara camp headed by Jaambhavaan and Angada heads towards the southern direction and have reached until the shores of the southern ocean. After Sampaathi’s directions and guidance, the Vaanaras debate among themselves as to who should cross the ocean and go to Lanka and undertake the search mission. Finally with Jaambhavaan’s motivation, it was decided that Hanuman will be that person who would undertake this challenging mission! Accordingly Hanuman prepares himself to cross the ocean. From this point, we commence the all-important “Sundara Kaanda” of the Valmiki Ramayana. Why do I say that this “Sundara Kaanda” is all-important? Does that mean other “Kaandas” of the Ramayana are not very important? Let’s see the answer today!

For the past 192 episodes we’ve witnessed and experienced the beauty of the first four “Kaandas” (Parts) of the Ramayana – “Baala Kaanda”, “Ayodhya Kaanda”, “Aaranya Kaanda” and “Kishkinta Kaanda”. It might be easy for all of us to decipher why the respective “Kaandas” obtained their names. For instance, in “Baala Kaanda” we witnessed all the happenings when Lord Rama was a child (“Baala” means Child). Next, in the “Ayodhya Kaanda” we witnessed what happened when Rama was getting married to Sita and all the other happenings in Ayodhya. Subsequently in “Aaranya Kaanda” we witnessed the various events that took place when Rama, Lakshmana and Sita were in the Dhandakaaranya forest (“Aranyam” means forest). Finally, in the “Kishkinta Kaanda” we witnessed the main events that happened in Kishkinta as Rama and Lakshmana search for Sita. Thus we can see from the above nomenclature that each of the Kaanda (Part) got its name from a set of events that happened in that particular part. However, we might wonder why is this “Kaanda” named “Sundara Kaanda”. In Sanskrit, “Sundara” means “Beautiful”! What is so beautiful in this Kaanda?

“Sundare sundaro raamaha; Sundare sundari kathaa!

Sundare sundari sita; sundare sundaram vanam!

Sundare sundaram kaavyam; Sundare sundaro kapihi!

Sundarae sundaram manthram; Sundare kim na sundaram??”

This is a beautiful sloka that brings out the significance of the “Sundara Kaanda”. It says at the end that in Sundara Kaanda, which is one thing that is not beautiful? (“Sundare kim na sundaram??”) In the “Sundara Kaanda”, Rama is beautiful; In the “Sundara Kaanda”, Sita is beautiful! In the “Sundara Kaanda”, the story itself is so beautiful! In the “Sundara Kaanda”, the forest is beautiful! In the “Sundara Kaanda” the entire Ramayana is so beautiful! In the “Sundara Kaanda”, Hanuman is beautiful! Finally, in the “Sundara Kaanda” each and every sloka is beautiful! Thus, this Kaanda talks about the beautiful Rama, the ever-beautiful Sita, and the beautiful “Raama-Thoodha” called Hanuman, who leaped across the ocean and gave Rama’s ring to Sita with all his devotion and surrender! Thus, the “Sundara Kaanda” is considered to be the gem in the entire Ramayana story.

It is not only because of this beauty that “Sundara Kaanda” is considered to be very significant. There is an internal and an in-depth meaning to it as well. I had mentioned a very important point with respect to Hanuman in the previous “Kishkinta Kaanda” – In the entire Ramayana epic, Hanuman is considered to be in the highest status of an “Aachaarya” or the “Spiritual Master” or the “Guru”. The “Sundara Kaanda” brings out the significance of Hanuman as the “Supreme Aachaarya”. From the subsequent epsiodes we are going to witness a very special duty of a “Guru” called “Govinda Raajeeyam”, wherein the Guru goes in search of his disciple to enlighten him/her with the supreme knowledge! Valmiki Maharishi in this Kaanda explains the important duties of a “Guru” in detail and hence this “Sundara Kaanda” is deemed to be extremely important in the entire Ramayana!

The “Sundara Kaanda” begins with a beautiful explanation as to how Hanuman leaps forward and crosses the ocean! How did he do that? Was his journey smooth? Did he face any obstacles in his way? Let’s find out all the answers in the subsequent episodes of the “Sundara Kaanda”! 🙂

We are now at a very important stage wherein the Vaanaras have managed to reach the shore of the southern ocean bodering India and Lanka. So far, their search efforts have not yielded any positive result. As they get frustrated with themselves and their negative result so far, Sampaathi, brother of the King of Eagles – Jataayu Maharaja comes to their rescue. Upon hearing from the Vaanaras that Jataayu had laid his life while being of selfless service to Sita and Rama, Sampaathi feels proud of his brother and wishes that his contribution should also be prominent towards Rama’s mission. Thus, in order to help the Vaanaraas, Sampaathi focuses his razor-sharp eyes in the southern direction and is able to vaguely visualize that Sita is imprisoned at Ravana’s Lanka.

Upon hearing this from Sampaathi, the Vaanaras are overjoyed! They’ve finally found an answer to an otherwise futile search attempt so far! However at the same time, a debate erupted as to who would cross the ocean and search in Lanka. As Jaambhavaan chairs the discussion, each monkey comes up and expresses its limitation in terms of strength and power. Angada too was not very confident of his abilities to undertake this mission. At a point wherein everyone was puzzled as to how to proceed further, Jaambhavaan suddenly remembered one important person – So far, this person hasn’t participated in this important discussion and seemed to be aloof and in his own world! This person was none other than Hanuman! Yes! Owing to a curse that he had obtained during his young age, he had completely forgotten about his strengths and capabilities! He needed someone to remind him and motivate him that he could accomplish any tough mission in this world with great ease! Jaambhavaan knows this and decided that he should be the person to motivate Hanuman!

Accordingly, Jaambhavaan goes near Hanuman and starts to praise him thus, “Oh Hanuman! You are a great person in terms of valor, smartness and also possess infinite power and capabilities! You are one person in this entire army of Vaanaraas who is capable of undertaking any tough mission with ease! You are that person who is capable of accomplishing missions that might be otherwise considered impossible by many others! Your ardent devotion towards Rama and Sita is impeccable! You are the reason for Rama’s friendship with Sugriva! It is with immense trust in you that Rama has handed over his ring to show to Sita! Hence, Hanuman! Please get up and be sure within yourself that you are the one, who is capable to cross this ocean, find Sita and be of immense service to Lord Rama!”

Upon hearing this from his leader Jaambhavaan, Hanuman is reminded of his strengths and capabilities and thus gets up with all his confidence boosted up! Here is the significance of what we call “Motivation” in today’s Organization Behavior sciences. It is very interesting to see that this idea of motivation existed even in the Ramayana age, some thousands of years ago! Thus the important management lesson to be learnt from this Jaambhavaan-Hanuman episode is that, motivation is a key component of effective and successful leadership! From the way Jaambhavaan motivates Hanuman, it is clear that leaders should have that capability to inspire and motivate his/her team members in the workplace! This quality is extremely important for a team’s success. We can see innumerable examples in today’s world wherein this motivation is of prime importance – For instance, why do we keep saying that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a successful leader? It is only because of his unique ability to motivate his team and bring them together as a unit while on the field! Similar examples can be witnessed in any team sport across the world!

Thus coming back to the context, Hanuman is getting himself ready to undertake this huge mission! He realizes his unique powers and thus exudes confidence to all of his friends and is about to start. At this point, we are at the end of the “Kishkinta Kaanda” and are going to commence the all-important “Sundara Kaanda”. Why do I say that “Sundara Kaanda” is all-important in the entire Ramayana? Are the other “Kaandas” unimportant? What is so special about the “Sundara Kaanda”? Let’s wait to witness a very important answer till the next episode! 🙂