Talk:The Bhakti Yogī Sees Himself that It Is All God’s Doing

By Vishal Agarwal

While ordinary Bhakta-s understand only theoretically that Bhagavān is the inner controller and real Doer, the Bhakti Yogī experiences this himself. The following charming story from the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Section 7, illustrates this-

Story: Divine Force Behind Hanuman’s Feats of Bravery

Hanuman jumped over the ocean, and was able to find Sita, who was kept under imprisonment by the evil king Ravana of Lanka in his garden named Ashoka Vātikā. Devi Sita gave her ring to Hanuman to carry to her husband Rama, so that he is convinced that she is safe and sound. Hanuman allowed himself to be caught by Ravana’s guard. In the king’s palace, when Ravana’s courtiers tried to put his tail on fire, Hanuman freed himself. Jumping from house to house, he used his lit tail to burn the evil king’s capital to ashes. With his work done, he roared in a loud voice to further strike terror in the hearts of the Lankans. With his work done, Hanuman jumped back from Lanka to India in triumph. Suddenly, his mind was filled with pride and ego. Bhagavan Rama knows the hearts of His devotees. Therefore, He decided to teach Hanuman a lesson.

On his way back home, Hanuman stopped by at the hermitage of a Rishi for rest. He placed Sita’s ring in front of the Rishi and said, “Please keep a watch on this ring, till I return after taking a sip of water from the lake.” As soon as Hanuman left, a monkey leaped towards the Rishi, grabbed the ring and threw it into the kamandalu (water pot) of the Rishi. When Hanuman returned, the Rishi asked him to take the ring from his kamandalu. But when Hanuman peeped inside the vessel, he was surprised to see it filled with thousands of identical rings. He asked the Rishi, “Which one is mine? They all look identical!”

The Rishi replied, “I have no idea as to which is the correct ring. I have lived for millions of years. Every now and then, Vishnu incarnates as Rama on this earth and his devotee Hanuman stops by and gives me a gold ring. And every time, a monkey comes and puts it into my kamandalu.”

Hanuman asked, “How many rings are there inside your kamandalu?” The Rishi replied, “You can count yourself, but there are infinite such rings. You will never be able to count them completely! The Universe has been created and destroyed an infinite number of times, and there is one ring from the Tretāyuga of each cycle of four yugas.”

Hanuman was now humbled. He had thought that no one had done the feat of jumping over the ocean and burning the Lanka as he had done, and that no one will be ever able to repeat it. With a sullen look, he returned to Rama and narrated the entire episode, asking for forgiveness for not being able to get the ring. Rama smiled and said, “The ring that you seek is on my finger. Do not worry. I had created this mirage of the Rishi’s hermitage, his kamandalu etc., to bring you back to your senses. No matter how great our achievement be, we must keep in mind that there have been greater heroes in the past, and there will greater heroes in the future as well. Therefore, it is foolish to become proud of one’s accomplishments.” Hanuman was chastised, and he also now realized that Rama was none other than Vishnu, the Preserver of the Universe.