Is there any esoteric meaning of Hanuman Chalisa?

Question

Is there any esoteric meaning of Hanuman Chalisa ?

Answer 1

Yes! Indeed there is deep esoteric meaning.Each word has a whole backstory and symobolism.

Let's see the first couplet.. "Shree Guru Charan Saroj Raj,Nij Man Mukur Sudhari Barnau Raghuvar Bimal Jasu (Yash),Jo Dayaku Phal Chari. Budhi Heen Tanu Janike, Sumiron Pawan Kumar Bal Buddi Vidya Dehu Mohi, Harahu Kalesh Vikaar"

Meaning- Goswami shri Tulsidas ji started and ended Hanuman chalisa by paying reverence to guru. Shri Tulsidas ji considers Hanuman ji his guru as he was the one who helped Goswami Tulsidasji to meet shri Ram at chitrakoot. When Tulsidasji wasn't able to identify the Lord, Hanumanji took the form of a parrot, and said :

"Chitrakoot ke ghat par, bhai santan ki bheed. Tulsidas chandan ghisen, Tilak det Raghbir"

Here, the lesson is that we always have god with us but we fail to identify.We can only realise him with the help of a guru.

"Shree-guru-charan saroj raj"

It means holy dust of lotus feet of guru. Guru's feet are called lotus feet because as the lotus blossoms in water but remains above it. Similarly, guru stays in the world but remains unaffected by wordly affair and remains above them always remembering god.

Raj also refers to rajogun. It is said that having food also adds in rajogun but when we offer it to god it gets purified and becomes "prasad". Similarly, we offer all our rajogun in guru's feet and will get absolve.

Now, mukuri means mirror. When we want to see others we need our eyes but if we want to see ourself, we also need a mirror. And both of them have to be properly clean.

Hanuman ji is also called "Anjani-nandan". Anjan means 'kohl'or 'Kajal' which cleanse the eyes that is one reference.

Another meaning is that we have veil over our eyes in the form of ignorance and we won't be able to see god even if he is right in front of us. Guru is the one whose removes our ignorance and helps to meet god.

Now, to see god we have to look deep down in our mirror of our heart. For that we need mirror to be properly clean. The dust of guru's lotus feet is enough to cleanse our heart. Such is the glory of guru.

Now, how can dust cleanse something?

It can, just like when we wash utensils with soil it gets clean. Similary, dust of guru's lotus feet cleanse the impurities of our heart. With clean heart free of impurities and clean eyes we can meet god.

"Barnau Raghuvar vimal jasu, jo dayak fal chari."

To pure character and sing glories of prabhu Shree Ram, we must have a clean heart which is why we need holy dus It gives four fruits namely "Dharm, arth,kaam and moksha".

When we keep Ram ji in heart, we will follow dharma, Laxmi ji always stays with prabhu Ram, so we get 'arth' as well. Kaamna means 'wishes'. When we get free from all the desires and surrender ourself with uutmost devotion to god, Ramji being the most benevolent gives us more than we desire.

When Ram ji told Vibhishan to ask something he said I only need your bhakti and I am free from any other desire. Then Prabhu shri Ram said, although you don't want anything but my darshan can't be fruitless and Ram ji pronounced him as 'King of lanka" at that very moment.

By chanting Ram naam, we can get moksha easily. As, it is stated by sant shri tulsidas ji,

"Kalyug keval naam adhaara, sumari-sumari nar utarahin paara"

Also, it is mentioned in one other chaupayi- Prabhu mudrika mel mukh maahi, jaladhi langhi gaye acharaj naahi"

Mudrika means ring. Ram ji gave ring to hanuman ji to show Sita ji that hanuman ji brought Shri Ram's message. It had Ram ji's name written on it and Hanuman ji kept it in mouth to tell us that we have to keep Ram naam in our mouth and we can easily cross the ocean of life and attain moksha.

Now,the second part of the couplet-

"Budhi Heen Tanu Janike, Sumiron Pawan Kumar Bal Buddi Vidya Dehu Mohi, Harahu Kalesh Vikaar"

This body is without intelligence and Hanuman ji is the storehouse of intelligence as it is said "buddhimatam varishtham" and "gyaninam agraganyam" That’s why we remember you O Hanuman ji you give us strength, intelligence and knowledge and take away all our sorrows and disorders.

All three are needed because if strength is used only by using intelligence at the right time then it is meaningful. Intelligence without strength is incomplete and and strength without intelligence can be harmful. Intelligence is also necessary for the use of knowledge. Knowledge makes us humble as it is said Vidya dadati vinayam and when these three come to us then our Sorrows and disorders will be removed from life.

Different types of Sorrows have been described in our life which are as follows: attachment, hatred, self-interest and avidya. If we are blessed then we will be free from all the above places and disorders.

The main sorrow is "avidya" and rest sorrows originate because of it and that is why Tulsidas ji prayed to Hanuman ji to bestow "vidya".

In the yoga world, it is impossible to be free from sorrows even for enlightened beings but not for Hanuman ji. He is free from sorrows and miseries. Now you must be wondering why the qualities of Shri Ram have been described in Hanuman Chalisa. Shri Tulsidas ji has very cleverly written this couplet because he knows that if Shri Hanuman ji is to be called it can only be done by describing the qualities of Shri Ram, that is why he started Shri Hanuman Chalisa by saying the divine qualities of Shri Ram.

This is the detailed explanation of just first four lines.

I am providing playlist of videos which explain each line deeply.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs5MCeApq_tuqjkj0L3EvzZVrUZ_OYXhK&si=DQmiPnSozkzEeD1U

Jai shree Ram 🙏🏻