Why Wasn’t Hanuman Bitter Towards The Higher Powers

“I offer my obeisances unto you, O daughter of Daksha. Indeed, I have entered your mouth, and the truth of the boon granted to you has been maintained. I shall now go to where Vaidehi is.” (Hanuman speaking to Surasa, Valmiki Ramayana, Sundara Kand, 1.169)

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प्रविष्टोऽस्मि हि ते वक्त्रं दाक्षायणि नमोऽस्तु ते
गमिष्ये यत्र वैदेही सत्यं चासीद्वरस्तव

praviṣṭoʼsmi hi te vaktraṃ dākṣāyaṇi namoʼstu te
gamiṣye yatra vaidehī satyaṃ cāsīdvarastava

“This question might appear strange at first, but have a little patience. Let me set the table with personal experience. This has occurred so many times that I can remove the specifics and create a sort of generic situation. Let’s say that I am working on a task. It might be a brand new endeavor. I am a little hesitant, but then nothing good results from sitting on the sidelines. I am willing to take risks every now and then. Even if I fail, at least I stood up to a challenge. I got to assess my abilities, my perseverance, and my tolerance for adversity.

“In this specific case, I am trying something which any honest person would categorize as ‘good.’ Something like charity work. Helping others. Perhaps expanding my realization of a higher power and how that benevolence extends universally. In other words, there is no malice. There is nothing personal to gain from the experience. I am not after stature. I am not seeking to best someone in a competition. My motives are pure.

“Well, what I have noticed is that hardly anyone will assist me. No one is really interested in hearing about my endeavor. On the contrary, they behave in ways that make me think they are envious. They make fun of me. They mock, without sufficient justification. I only share these details with them because it is part of casual conversation. If someone asks what you did over the past weekend, the easiest way to respond is with the truth.

“That is the thing; the truth gets me into trouble. More than a lack of support, sometimes people start to interfere. These are friends and family we are talking about. Not strangers. Not random people on the street. Not adversaries. I find the whole ordeal infuriating. ‘I have no malice towards you, and so why are you behaving this way?’ That is what I want to scream in these people’s faces. It makes me disgusted with the human race, quite frankly.

“And so that leads to my question today. How is Shri Hanuman not bitter towards the devas? The demigods, the celestials, the administrators of the material creation – whatever you want to call them. They decided to test that Vanara warrior. They put up roadblocks on Hanuman’s path. Forget the devas part for a moment; there was at least obstruction. Everyone can agree on that.

“If I were Hanuman, I would be furious. Here I am sacrificing my life for the noblest of causes. I am prepared to leap over an ocean and land in a foreign and hostile territory. I am doing this for Shri Rama, who is aligned with my leader, Sugriva. I am trying to locate the princess Sita, who has gone missing. If anything, people should be lining up to support me. I should be getting help.

“But no, there is one obstacle after another. A female serpent who wants to devour me. Another creature that catches me through my shadow. A female gatekeeper to the city of Lanka, who won’t allow me entry. It is one headache after another. And for what? I get nothing personal in return. I would hate the people that interfered with me. I would never pay them respect again.”

The reality is that the obstacles do assist in a way. They increase the appreciation that others have for Hanuman. They add value to the mission, which was already extraordinary. We can remember Hanuman as not only the one who located Sita in Lanka, but as the one who overcame interference in his innocent desire to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Each obstacle brings a new point of appreciation. Even Rama Himself pointed out some of the particulars, on the subsequent trip home. After Sita was later rescued, the couple returned home on an aerial car. Rama showed Sita some of the places where notable events occurred.

हिरण्यनाभन् शैलेन्द्रन् काञ्चनं पश्य मैथिलि
विश्रमार्थन् हनुमतो भित्त्वा सागरमुत्थितम्

hiraṇyanābhan śailendran kāñcanaṃ paśya maithili
viśramārthan hanumato bhittvā sāgaramutthitam

“O Sita, see the golden lord of mountains [Mainaka], which is golden-peaked and which rose up, piercing the ocean, to provide rest to Hanuman.” (Lord Rama speaking to Sita Devi, Valmiki Ramayana, Yuddha Kand, 123.18)

As far as holding a grudge, in maintaining bitterness towards the saboteurs, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada explains that envy is the constant in the material world. In the conditioned state, which involves associating with maya and being under the influence of illusion, every person has some envy for everyone else. There is no getting around the reality. A father might be envious of his own son, who is innocent, as in the case of Hiranyakashipu towards Prahlada Maharaja.

“In the conditional state, every living being is envious of another living being, but in the liberated state there is an absence of animosity. Prahlada Maharaja was tortured by his father in so many ways, yet after the death of his father he prayed for his father’s liberation by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He did not ask any benediction that he might have asked, but he prayed that his atheistic father might be liberated. He never cursed any of the persons who engaged in torturing him at the instigation of his father.” (Shrila Prabhupada, Shrimad Bhagavatam, 3.14.46 Purport)

Hanuman is in the liberated state. This means that if there is any envy, it is not the malicious kind. There is no reason to hold a grudge because what else can be expected in this world? Rather, great individuals like Hanuman are always trying to lift others up, which is symbolically represented in the depiction of his carrying the mountain in his hand, to bring much needed medicine to the wounded younger brother of Rama.

In Closing:

Those intentional obstacles to surpass,
Interference now in the past.

Never a grudge to hold,
Over events to unfold.

Hanuman on helping considering,
Like medicine mountain delivering.

More glorious from attempts made,
Highest honor to him paid.