Revision as of 15:02, 13 September 2020

Hanuman ji’s caste

Hanumanji

Hanuman ji painting

Was Hanuman ji a Dalit?

Nowhere in Valmiki’s Ramayan or other traditional Ramayanshas the word Dalit been used to describe a caste or hereditary class of people. Nor is there the slightest hint that Hanuman jiwas subaltern in the caste hierarchy or was ‘untouchable’ in any way.

Hanuman ji

The theory that Hanuman ji might have been a Dalit is based on two premises

Hanumanji persian

i) Hanuman called himself a dâs(daas: servant, slave) of Sri Ram. The word das has sometimes been used in ancient texts for what, today, is known as the Dalit community. Therefore, it is argued, Hanuman ji was a Dalit.

By that logic, GoswamiTulasi Das (who, beyond doubt was a Brahmin) and all saints and poets who used the pen name ‘Das’ and defined themselves as the servants of one deity or another would also be Dalits. Muslims name their children Ghulam (slave of) Muhammad/ Ali/ Hussain. Christians call themselves Servants of Jesus. Sikhs are Gur Sevaks. This self-abasement is a sign of devotion, and not subalterncaste status.

ii) According to a fake anecdote, on one occasion when Sri Ram walked towards him with extended hands, Hanuman ji stepped back and did not let Sri Ram touch him. It is argued that he did so because he felt that it would be improper for the upper- caste Sri Ram to touch a subalternlike himself.

Those who have spread this story and this interpretation have not cited the Kaand and verse in which this incident occurs.

Contrariwise, during their first meeting itself, once Hanuman ji divined that Sri Ram was “Prabhu” (God) he fell at the Lord’s feet. (In turn, according to the KambRâmâyan, it occurred to SrîRâm that Hanumânjî was actually an incarnation of Lord Shiv.)

Sri Ram embraces Hanuman ji

In many versions of the Ramayan, SrîRâm then lifted Hanumânjî from the ground and embraced him warmly.

By the end of that first meeting, even according to Valmiki, Hanumânjî placed SrîRâm and SrîLakshman on his back (in paintings and idols: on his enormous shoulders) and started moving towards the Malay hill.

Later, during his first meeting with Sitaji in the Ashok grove, Hanumânjî said to her, “O revered lady, as soon as I give SrîRâm news [about you], he will be here with an army of Vânars and Bhâlluks. However, there is one other way out. You can climb onto my back and I will carry you across the ocean. I will take you out of the clutches of the Râkshases. Before the sun sets today you will get to see SrîRâm, who is as powerful as Lord Vishnu. So please sit on my back.” (From the Valmiki Ramayan.)

Sitaji declined, for reasons of chastity. However, Hanuman ji displayed none of the 'subaltern diffidence’ that is now being attributed to him.

Then, was Hanuman ji a Brahmin?

It is generally assumed that Hanuman ji was Brahmin because

a) The Hanuman Chalisa (written in the late 1500s) says that he wore the sacred thread (kaandhémooñjjanéusaajé). Statues in Hampi (sculpted around the same time), too, show him wearing a janéu. However, it is not certain if the vertical thread leading from Hanuman ji’s necklace to his loincloth in the Hanuman statue (AD 922) in Khajuraho could be called a janéu.

According to a tradition, Hanuman ji once told Bharat, Lakshman and Shatrughn about his family, ‘We are not born naked. Not only are our bodies covered with hair and clothes, we come with our own sacred thread, club, helmet, jewellery and even prayer beads.’

This is whyeven in his Vanar persona Hanuman ji is shown wearing the sacred thread.

b) The Valmiki Ramayan does not mention Hanuman ji’s caste or the existence of caste among the Vanars. However,on many occasions Hanuman ji ventured out of Kishkiñdhâ dressed like a Brahmin, e.g. when he first met Sri Ram. The Filipino HikâyatSarîRâm says that when Hanumânjî first met Sîtâ he was dressed as an old Brâhmin. When he first met Vibhîshan, too, it was as a Brâhmin. When Ravan started doing badly in the war against Sri Ram, he decided to organise a yagya. The ArgalStotrand the ÂdhyâtmRâmâyan tell us that Hanumânjî joined this prayer as a Brahmin in order to subvert it and turn it around.

Thus, Hanuman ji had a Brahmin persona, especially when dealing with non-Vanars, but he was not a Brahmin most of the time.

The reason why Hanumânjî could not have been born, say, as an Ayodhyâ-Brâhmin, Swami KeshavanandaSaraswati argues, is that in that case SrîRâm and Lakshman ‘would never have allowed [Hanumânjî] to carry them.’ (Brâhmins cannot act as porters to others.) The Vânars were not bound by ‘Védic injunctions of caste and order and stages of life’ and, therefore, there were no barriers to their serving SrîRâm, he adds.

The Valmiki Ramayanclearly mentions that Hanuman ji, then in his Brahmin guise, switched back to his Vanar persona before carrying SrîRâm and Lakshman up the hill.

Why the sudden interest in Hanuman ji?

The popularity of Hindu deities (and pilgrimages) is cyclical.

Hanuman ji’s popularity peaked in the 1300s, beginning with Vijayanagar, and has never seen a downturn after that. Towards the end of the Mughal era urban citizens formed Mahâbîr-dals and Bajrañg-dals in several towns. In both cases devotees began to emphasise the martial side of VîrAñjanéya, rather than, say, the humility that the Cholas had played up.

However, in recent decades, the organisation that named itself after the Bajrañg Bali and tried to promote Muscular Hinduism has remained a relatively small player, and the current Hanuman-wave cannot be attributed to the political use of his name.

Deities and temples become popular when word gets around that prayers offered to them are answered. For this reason, around A.D. 1831 Tirupati-Tirumala, and around 1986 the Vaishno Devi pilgrimage, suddenly started becoming all India phenomena, which they were not before that. Shirdi is the third similar 20th century phenomenon.

Christians like my friend Kevin queue up at a central Delhi Hanuman temple every Tuesday because their prayers have beenanswered, and not because of aggressive political effort.

The aspects of Hanuman ji that have won him devotees everywhere include renunciation, self-effacement and humility. Only three days ago these qualities of Hanuman ji inspiredleading politician Uma Bharti to give up ‘all the facilities and trappings of power. [Hanuman ji] fought for everything [and won] and then sat at the feet of Lord Ram,’ she explained.

Parvez Dewan is the founder of Indpaedia.com. He has published three books on Hanumanji and has just completed a 450-page definitive biography of Hanumanji using the Valmiki, Kamb, Tulasi and regional Ramayans.

See also

Hanuman Ji

Hanuman Chalisa

Hanuman ji's caste