ORIGIN OF HANUMAN – STORY
When Lord Shiva woke up from his meditation, He chanted the name of Lord Rama.
Goddess Parvati, looking at the Lord asked:
“Swami, you are the God above all others. So, why are you mentioning the name of another God?”
Shiva replied:
“Devi, the letter ‘Rama’ means two things. One, “Rama” is Brahmam. Second, it means a prince who is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Rama is my favourite incarnation. I am going to incarnate on earth and serve Rama.”
Hearing this, Parvati got angry and said that she would not be separated from Shiva even for a minute.
Shiva said:
“Devi, don’t worry. What I am going to send to the world is only a small part of me. Otherwise, I will be with you.”
Parvati also became calm and prepared to discuss with the Lord Shiva about the avatar He was going to take.
After a strong debate, it was decided that Swami’s avatar should be a monkey.
Why, monkey avatar?
Parameswar explains:
“If I take avatar as a human, it will be an act that is against Dharma. A servant should be one step lower than the master. In this situation, monkey avatar is better for many reasons. A monkey has no special needs. It has the opportunity to do a lot of service.”, He said.
Parvati Devi insisted that she also will come.
Shiva also agreed and decided that the avatar that Parvati was going to take could be the tail of a monkey.
(That is why Hanuman’s tail is beautiful and strong).
Parvati finally raised another doubt:
“Swami, Ravana is your great devotee. How can you help him in his death?”
Shiva said: “Devi, do you remember? Ravana cut off each of his heads to satisfy my 11 Rudra aspects and threw them into the fire. Ravana has 10 heads! Only 10 Rudras were satisfied. One Rudra was angry. That 11th Rudra aspect was going to take the monkey avatar.”
Now, let’s see the origin of Hanuman, i.e., how the incarnation happened:
Shiva – Mohini:
Once, Vishnu took the avatar of Mohini. Shiva enjoyed Mohini’s play and wanted to give her a gift.
Mohini (Vishnu), asked: “Give me the full power of your soul power.”
Shiva also gave his power as His seed.
Vishnu called the Sapta Rishis and said: “Keep this safe. A great man with great power is going to be born from this. He will be my assistant in the killing of Ravana in my Rama avatar.”
They also gave that seed to Vayu Bhagavan at the right time.
Vayu-Anjani:
Earlier, Vayu Bhagavan helped Shiva in killing the demon Jalandhira. For that, Shiva gave a boon that I would be born on earth as the son of Vayu. Anjani is the wife of a monkey named Kesari.
This Anjani is not an ordinary monkey. She is a goddess, the servant of Goddess Parvati.
Once, this goddess mocked Indra by calling him a thousand-eyed man, and she had to be born as a monkey.
Shiva, feeling compassionate over her, blessed her with the privilege of being born as his son.
Vayu had an attachment to Anjani. He decided to give Shiva’s seed
to Anjani.
Anjani was meditating on Shiva.
Vayu Lord inserted Shiva’s seed into her womb through her ear.
This is the story of the Origin of Hanuman, ie, Shiva taking the form of Hanuman. That is why, we call Hanuman Shankara Suva, Kesari Nanda and Anjani Putra.
What a miraculous alliance this is! Rama (the aspect of Vishnu) and Hanuman (the aspect of Shiva).
(Red Loincloth of Guruvayur Krishna – Story! READ HERE!)