Be Hanuman: The Ramayana’s Hidden Meaning That Can Transform Your Life

Jyotsna Bhagini (sister in Sanskrit) is a Sanskrit teacher and a professor in the Atlanta area and when she speaks or pens a book, I pay attention. I have read her book on Shiva-Shakti, and it has fundamentally changed my life. I hope to write about it in detail someday.

For now, I want to summarize her discourse yesterday on the topic of Ramayana and especially the role of Hanuman in it.

Swami Vivekananda, for me, is the cool GOAT who brought Eastern philosophy to the Western world through his lecture in Chicago in the 19th century. So, I was excited when Bhagini started the lecture on Hanuman by explaining how Vivekanada asked us to see the story of Ramayana.

Vivekananda gave many lectures on the Ramayana and used it as a Vedantic allegory to explain spiritual truths to the masses. Here’s a snapshot of some of his teachings.

Rama is the Paramatma — the Supreme Self, the Divine Reality. Sita is the Jeevatma — the individual soul longing to return home. Lanka where Sita is held captive symbolizes bondage — the prison of worldly attachments. Ravana is the ego — pride, ignorance, and the illusion of separateness. The ocean between Rama and Sita is samsara — the endless cycle of worldly existence that seems impossible to cross.

The story of Rama is nothing but the story unfolding within each of us. Every one of us is searching for something we have never really lost. To understand that we must reunite the separated soul and the supreme Divine.

In the story, Hanuman reaches Lanka and gives Sita Rama’s signet ring. The ring symbolizes Brahma Jnana — the knowledge that reminds the soul of its true nature. It is a reminder that our true nature always belonged to the Divine.

Once that truth is realized, reunion with our Supreme Self is no longer a distant goal, it is recognized as our eternal nature. Hanuman becomes the bridge that removes the distance between the individual soul and the Supreme.

The Mundaka Upanishad teaches that liberation comes through Brahma Jnana, the realization of our true nature as Brahman. Knowledge is not acquiring something new; it is recognizing what has always been true. That Brahman is not somewhere else. It is one’s own deepest nature.

There’s nothing to be attained.
Only everything to be recognized.

The full Sanskrit verse of Mundaka Upanishad 3.2.9 is:

स यो ह वै तत्परमं ब्रह्म वेद ब्रह्मैव भवति ।
नास्याब्रह्मवित्कुले भवति ।
तरति शोकं तरति पाप्मानं गुहाग्रन्थिभ्यो विमुक्तोऽमृतो भवति ॥ ३.२.९ ॥

 

ब्रह्म वेद ब्रह्मैव भवति means, “He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman.”

In Ramayana, Hanuman symbolizes the Guru or divine teacher, because he never kept the ring to himself, he carried it to the person in need. To be Hanuman is to become the bridge that reunites the soul with its highest Self. 

So, I urge you to ask yourself, “How can I become Hanuman?” How can I become the one to carry hope for someone else in despair? How can my words, actions, and presence become the ring that reminds someone of who they truly are? 

Years ago, when I was trying to figure out my life’s purpose, I settled on two guiding principles for myself. Seva (selfless service to those who deserve) and self-actualization (the lifelong pursuit of my highest potential). 

So, when people like Jyotsna Bhagini make a case for us all to become Hanuman, and I wish to whole heartedly agree. Perhaps becoming Hanuman is how I can pursue both at once, by serving others while striving to awaken the highest within myself.

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About Sanatana Dharma

ब्रह्म सत्यं जगन्मिथ्या जीवो ब्रह्मैव नापरः।
अनेन वेद्यं सच्छास्त्रमिति वेदान्तडिण्डिमः॥

Brahman alone is real; the universe is mithya – neither fully real nor unreal, but an appearance. The individual self (jiva) is none other than Brahman itself, not separate or different. This is the true teaching of the scriptures, as revealed by Vedanta. ~ Verse 20 from Brahma Jnānavali Māla