A Sloka of profound vedAntic significance

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In vAlmIki rAmAyaNa it is said that when hanumAn returned from Lanka after

seeing sItA and giving rAma's message to her, rAma embraced h anumAn. SrI

nIlakaNTha dIkshita, a great devotee-poet of South India, who was the

grandson of the great polymath appayya dIkshita, gives a Vedantic meaning to

this embrace in the following Sloka:

 

nityam sushuptishu parishvajase na rAma

 

bhUtAni kim nikhilabhUtaguhASayastvam |

 

AsAdya tat prakaTam artham avApa kIrtim

 

AcandratAravimalAm anilAtmajanmA || (raghuvIrastavaH)

 

rAma- O rAma,

 

nikhilabhUtaguhASayaH tvam- You who dwell in the cavity of the heart of all

living beings (being brahman himself)

 

nityam sushuptishu- always during deep sleep,

 

bhutAni- all beings,

 

parishvajase na kim- do you not embrace?

 

tat artham- that wealth (blessing),

 

prakaTam- openly—when he was awake,

 

AsAdya- getting,

 

anilAtmajanma- the son of god vAyu, hanuman,

 

AcandratAravimalAm- pure and lasting as long as the moon and the stars

(eternal),

 

kIrtim- glory,

 

AvApa- attained.

 

The upanishad says that every living being is united with brahman during

deep sleep, but they do not know it and so they wake up as the same old

limited beings. But if one becomes united with brahman (i.e., realizes his

identity with brahman) during the waking state when he is aware of it, that

is liberation. By being embraced by rAma who is none other than brahman,

hanumAn attained the highest goal. The act of rAma embracing hanumAn is

given this significance by the poet.

 

S.N.Sastri