The Five Faces of Lord Hanuman
Legacy signals
Legacy popularity: 2,582 legacy views
Bajrang Bali is the true and greatest devotee of Lord Rama; the deity who is worshipped with great devotion at all places in the world. Lord Rama is also known as Raghuvar or the best among Raghus.
Lord Rama went on to become the hero of the divine Vedic epic of Ramayana in which he conquers the demon king Ravan to put an end to the evil and bring Seeta Mata back to Ayodhya.
A lesser known tale from the Ramyana is that of Ahiravana, and how he was defeated by Lord Hanuman. Ahiravana was the king of the paathal lok, and the master of magic. He was the brother of Ravana as well, and when Ravana was losing the war against Rama, he requested Ahiravana to help him out.
Ahiravana decided that he shall take Rama and Lakshman to his kingdom and sacrifice them before Goddess Mahamaya. Vibhishana heard about Ahiravana's plans and conveyed the message to Rama and Lakshman, while telling Hanuman to keep a watch over them.
Ahiravana is a master of illusion and tries out many disguises to reach Ram and Laxman, but fails to reach them as they are guarded by Lord Hanuman. Finally, he disguises himself as Vibhishana himself, and takes Rama and Lakshman to Patal Lok by luring them.
Upon reaching the palace of Ahiravana to find Ram and Lakshman, Hanuman comes to realize that the only way to kill Ahiravana is to extinguish five different lamps at the same time, even though the lamps are placed in different directions. It was then that Lord Hanuman takes the form of Panchmukhi Anjaneya; he has five faces, wherei
Hanuman, Varaha, Garuda and Narasimha face East, South, West and North. The fifth face or the Hayagriva faces upwards. Lord Hanuman thus extinguishes the five lamps at the same time, and kills Ahiravana.
In practice, every profile, or each of the five faces of Lord Hanuman is worshipped with great sincerity and devotion. As Sri Hanuman faces east, it bestows the human mind with purity and brings success in all endeavors.
Narsimha, which faces south, stands for fearlessness and victory.
Garuda faces west and helps us overcome negativity in all forms; it is the most potent remedy against black magic.
Similarly, as Varah faces north, it showers a worshippers life with prosperity.
Hargriva which faces towards the sky signifies potency and is worshipped when a couple intends to bear children.
In essence, the five faces of Lord Sri Hanuman have a deep spiritual significance, and it is through these five faces that Prabhu Hanuman reveals true gnana or knowledge to a worshipper when a devotee meditates upon him. The human soul is nothing but jivatma. But while the soul is taken over by worldly desires, it cannot overcome the cycle of birth and rebirth by forming a union with the parmatma, which is the universal soul.
The first three faces represent the past, present and future, which are just phases in life of a soul. The fourth face of Lord Hanuman liberates the soul of the burdens of past, present and future; the individuality is dissolved into the infinite universality of the Supreme Being. It is through the fifth face that Prabhu Hanuman starts the journey wherein the soul unites with God. And this exemplifies the divine glory of Prabhu Bajrang Bali.
Article author
About the Author
Harshad has been into freelance writing for some time now. Some of the topics he loves to write about are health, wellness, life & lifestyle, fitness & spirituality.
Further reading
Further Reading
Article
Building Posture from the Ground Up
Ideal posture is the alignment of our bodies which minimizes stress and strain on our joints and maximizes our muscular advantage. Form refers to such alignment during movement, such as during sport or dance. It is especially important to practice proper posture and form when recovering from an injury because it helps to reduce adverse strain at the injury site, without stressing other areas and allows your muscles to move and support you in the best way possible. Practising good form helps to prevent muscular imbalances and compensation strategies that are associated with injury.
Related piece
Article
Simple and Amazing Shoulder Pain Treatment Exercises
If you are thinking about shoulder pain treatment practices for torment that you may understanding, you should realize this is quickly getting to be plainly a standout amongst the best and prescribed choices with regards to helping your body - and bear recuperate.
Related piece
Article
Addressing the problem of Parkinson's diseases
It is a global fact that Parkinson's diseases often starts with a tremor in one hand; in fact, some patients show other symptoms like slow movement, stiffness as well as loss of balance. This shows that it is unlike any other disease and can erect difficulty for patients. This type of disorder is characterised by the some sort of disturbance in the nervous system that affects movement of patients. According to medical terms, it develops slowly and in fact, hidden and cannot be noticed.
Related piece
Article
***Aches and Pains: Listening to Your Body and Empowering Yourself to Keep It Working
Why is it that we tend to take better care of our cars than we do our bodies? I think it’s because there is a specific monetary value attached to the car. We value what we pay for our car. Our bodies, on the other hand, have no intrinsic monetary value so we tend to take our physical body for granted. Typically, it’s only when our bodies break down and we have to spend money to get them fixed that we realize the value.
Related piece