| Hanuman Chalisa | |
|---|---|
 Hanuman Chalisa Full Text (Book) | |
| Information | |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Author | Tulsidas |
| Language | Awadhi[1] |
| Verses | 40 |
TheHanuman Chalisa (Hindi: हनुमान चालीसा) (Sanskrit: हनुमान् चालीसा) (Hindi pronunciation:[ɦənʊmaːntʃaːliːsaː];Forty chaupais on Hanuman) is aHindu devotional hymn (stotra) in praise ofHanuman, and popularly recited by millions of Hindus every day.[2][3][4][5][6] It is anAwadhi language text attributed toTulsidas,[2] and is his best known text apart from theRamcharitmanas.[7][8] The word 'chālīsā' is derived from 'chālīs' meaning the number 'forty' inHindi, denoting the number of verses in theHanuman Chalisa (excluding the couplets at the beginning and the end).[2]
Hanuman is a Hindu deity and a devotee of the Hindu god,Rama. He is one of the central characters of theRamayana. According to theShaiva tradition, he is also an incarnation ofShiva. TheHanuman Chalisa praises the power and other qualities of Hanuman including his strength, courage, wisdom, celibacy (brahmacharya), and devotion to Rama.[9]
The authorship of theHanuman Chalisa is attributed toTulsidas, a poet-saint who lived in the 16th century CE.[10] He mentions his name in the last verse of the hymn. It is said in the 39th verse of theHanuman Chalisa that whoever chants it with full devotion toHanuman, will have Hanuman's grace. Among Hindus worldwide, it is a very popular belief that chanting the Chalisa invokes Hanuman's divine intervention in grave problems.
Tulsidas[11] (1497/1532–1623) was aHindu poet-saint, reformer and philosopher renowned for his devotion forRama. A composer of several popular works, he is best known for being the author of the epicRamcharitmanas, a retelling of theRamayana in the vernacularAwadhi language. Tulsidas was acclaimed in his lifetime to be a reincarnation ofValmiki, the composer of the original Ramayana inSanskrit.[12] Tulsidas lived in the city ofVaranasi until his death.[13] The Tulsi Ghat in Varnasi is named after him.[11] He founded theSankat Mochan Hanuman Temple dedicated to Hanuman in Varanasi, believed to stand at the place where he had the sight of Hanuman.[14] Tulsidas started theRamlila plays, a folk-theatre adaption of the Ramayana.[15] He has been acclaimed as one of the greatest poets inHindi,Indian, andWorld literature.[16][17][18][19] The impact of Tulsidas and his works on the art, culture and society in India is widespread and is seen to date in vernacular language, Ramlila plays,Hindustani classical music, popular music, and television series.[15][20][21][22]
TheHindu deity to whom the prayer is addressed isHanuman, an ardent devotee ofRama (the seventhavatar ofVishnu) and a central character in theRamayana. A general among thevanaras, Hanuman was a warrior of Rama in the war against therakshasa kingRavana. Hanuman's exploits are much celebrated in a variety of religious and cultural traditions,[23] particularly in Hinduism, to the extent that he is often the object of worship according to somebhakti traditions,[24] and is the prime deity in many temples known as Hanuman Mandirs.
The work consists of forty-three verses – two introductorydohas, fortyChaupais, and one doha in the end.[2] The first introductory doha begins with the word 'shrī,' referring to Shiva, who is considered the guru of Hanuman.[25] The auspicious form, knowledge, virtues, powers and bravery of Hanuman are described in the first ten Chaupais.[26][27][28] Chaupais eleven to twenty describe the acts of Hanuman in his service to Rama, with the eleventh to fifteenth Chaupais describing the role of Hanuman in reviving Lakshmana.[26] In the twenty-first Chaupai, Tulsidas describes the need of Hanuman'skripa (transl. divine grace).[29] At the end, Tulsidas greets Hanuman with subtle devotion[30] and requests him to reside in his heart and in the heart of devotees.[31] The concluding doha again requests Hanuman to reside in the heart, along with Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita.[32]
When Tulsidas first wrote the Hanuman Chalisa, he began by directly praising Hanuman. However, Hanuman, who is very humble and prefers that Rama be honored instead, was not happy with this. That night, Hanuman is said to have come in a dream and destroyed the original verses. Realizing this, Tulsidas changed his approach. He started the hymn by praising Lord Rama and asking for his blessings, while still honoring Hanuman in the rest of the verses. This way, he respected Hanuman’s preference for Rama’s praise and created a hymn that matched Hanuman’s humble nature.[33]
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Before the 1980s, no commentary had been composed on theHanuman Chalisa, which Rambhadracharya attributes to the work not being included in printed editions of collected works of Tulsidas.[2] Indubhushan Ramayani authored the first brief commentary onHanuman Chalisa.[2] Rambhadracharya'sMahaviri commentary in Hindi, authored in 1983,[2] was called the best commentary onHanuman Chalisa by Rama Chandra Prasad.[34]
TheHanuman Chalisa is recited by millions of Hindus every day,[5] and a good portion of practising Hindus in India know its text by heart.[35]
TheHanuman Chalisa is one of the best selling Hindu religious books and has been sung by many popular bhajan, classical and folk singers.[35] The rendition ofHanuman Chalisa byHari Om Sharan, originally released in 1974 by theGramophone Company of India and re-released in 1995 bySuper Cassettes Industries,[36] is one of the most popular, and is regularly played at temples and homes across Northern India.[35][37] This rendition is based on traditional melodies in the Mishra Khamaj, araga belonging to theKhamajThat,[36] with the base note taken at the second black key (kali do) of theharmonium.[36] A recording based on the same traditional melodies was released in 1992 by Super Cassettes Industries, withHariharan as the singer andGulshan Kumar as the artiste.[36]
Other notable renditions include those by bhajan singersAnup Jalota andRavindra Jain, Hindustani vocalistsPandit Jasraj andRajan and Sajan Mishra, and the Carnatic vocalistM.S. Subbulakshmi.[36] The renditions byUnni Krishnan,Nithyasree Mahadevan,Pandit Bhimsen Joshi,Ganapathi Sachchidananda Swamiji andMorari Bapu are also popular.[38]
Among western singersKrishna Das has performed the Hanuman Chalisa in both slow and fast formats.[39]
In the Hindi movie1920 (directed byVikram Bhatt),Hanuman Chalisa is frequently used in different scenes. One of the scenes show the protagonist Arjun Singh Rathod (played byRajneesh Duggal), reciting theHanuman Chalisa in full. It is used in an important sequence inBajrangi Bhaijaan, when the protagonist fights back against child traffickers and rescues a little girl from them.[40]
An animation movie namedShri Hanuman Chalisa directed byCharuvi Agarwal and designed byCharuvi Design Labs is a film on Hanuman.[41][42]
Popular singers who have sung theHanuman Chalisa include Carnatic singerM. S. Subbulakshmi, as well asLata Mangeshkar,Mahendra Kapoor,S. P. Balasubrahmanyam,Shankar Mahadevan,Anuradha Paudwal,Kailash Kher,Sukhwinder Singh,Sonu Nigam,Hariharan, andUdit Narayan.[35]
TheHanuman Chalisa was sung byAmitabh Bachchan in chorus with twenty other singers.[35] This recording was released as a part of theShri Hanuman Chalisa album in 2011 and received an unprecedented response by the releasing music label during November 2011.[43]
A rendition ofHanuman Chalisa sung byHariharan became the firstdevotional song and first onYouTube to cross 3.5 billion views in November 2023.[44]
श्रीहनुमानचालीसा की सर्वश्रेष्ठ व्याख्या के लिए देखें महावीरी व्याख्या, जिसके लेखक हैं प्रज्ञाचक्षु आचार्य श्रीरामभद्रदासजी। श्रीहनुमानचालीसा के प्रस्तुत भाष्य का आधार श्रीरामभद्रदासजी की ही वैदुष्यमंडित टीका है। इसके लिए मैं आचार्यप्रवर का ऋणी हूँ। [For the best explanation of Śrīhanumānacālīsā, refer the Mahāvīrī commentary, whose author is the visually-disabled Ācārya Śrīrāmabhadradāsa. The base for the commentary on Śrīhanumānacālīsā being presented is the commentary by Śrīrāmabhadradāsa, which is adorned with erudition. For this, I am indebted to the eminent Ācārya.]
It can be said without reservation that Tulsidas is the greatest poet to write in the Hindi language. Tulsidas was a Brahmin by birth and was believed to be a reincarnation of the author of the Sanskrit Ramayana, Valmiki.
हिन्दी का सौभाग्य है कि उसके काव्यकुंज की तुलसी-मंजरी की जैसी सुगंध संसार की साहित्य वाटिका में शायद कहीं नहीं। ... आकर्षण दोनों में अत्यधिक है अपने-अपने ढंग पर दोनों ही बहुत बड़े हैं, पर फिर भी सब तरफ़ से केवल काव्य के सौंदर्य पर विचार करने पर तुलसीदास ही बड़े ठहरते हैं – भाषा साहित्य में रवीन्द्रनाथ के संबंध में कहना पड़ता है कि भ्रम त्रुटियाँ मिल सकती हैं पर तुलसीदास के संबंध में कोई शायद ही मिले। ... और यही कारण है निराला जी तुलसीदास को कालिदास, व्यास, वाल्मीकि, होमर, गेटे और शेक्सपियर के समकक्ष रखकर उनके महत्त्व का आकलन करते हैं।
Famous classical singers like Paluskar, Anoop Jalota and MS Subbulakshmi have popularised Tulsidas's hymns among the people of India.
