Hanuman Ansh: A Tribute to Finding God Everywhere | Neem Karoli Baba, Shiva & Vishnu

Vishnu Or Shiva

The movie Hanuman Ansh begins with a tribute to verses 8 and 9 of the Skanda Upanishad:

शिवाय विष्णुरूपाय शिवरूपाय विष्णवे ।
शिवस्य हृदयं विष्णुर्विष्णोश्च हृदयं शिवः ॥

यथा शिवमयो विष्णुरेवं विष्णुमयः शिवः ।

“Salutations to Shiva who is of the form of Vishnu, and to Vishnu who is of the form of Shiva. Vishnu is the heart of Shiva and Shiva is the heart of Vishnu. Just as Vishnu is full of Shiva, so is Shiva full of Vishnu.”

For anyone like me who adores both Gods, this is the best way to start a journey. 

To me, Vishnu represents our capacity to preserve ourselves, while Shiva represents our capacity to transform ourselves. Two seemingly opposite forces that are, ultimately, part of the same whole. 

So, the stage was set. And then came the thank you note to the monkeys who had supporting roles in some of the scenes. I was ready! 

Hanuman Ansh is a dramatic big screen adaptation of the life of Neem Karoli Baba, the Indian spiritual teacher whose influence eventually reached people around the world, including technology leaders and celebrities like Ram Dass, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg and many others. 

A Journey Or An Awakening

The movie tells us the story of a young boy named Lakshminarayan, who leaves home after his mother dies.

In the early 20th century, young boys could leave home and simply disappear. There was no way to track them down, and they left no trail. I have family members who disappeared in this way and were never found. Some may have gone away to fight the British, others may have been caught up in the violence and upheaval of the time. 

Lakshminarayan begins his own search for his mother because he believes she has gone to be with Lord Ram.

And how does one reach Lord Ram? Through his greatest devotee, Hanuman Ji. 

As the Hanuman Chalisa says:

“Tumhare bhajan Ram ko paave.”

Through devotion to Hanuman, one reaches Ram. 

So, the little boy chants the names of Hanuman Ji and Ram Ji, day and night.

Miracles and Mesmerizing Actors

The child actor is convincing in his single minded desire to see his mother again. There is something deeply moving about watching a child process grief through absolute faith. 

As Lakshminarayan grows older, meditating and gathering devotees along the way, his life becomes a journey of profound spiritual awakening.

Whether as a child or as a young man, Baba talks to animals, enthralls children, builds temples to Hanuman in village after village, and drops little nuggets of wisdom along the way:

“Eyes will see what the mind knows.”

Or

“Focus on the inside. There are siddhis inside of us.”

Some scenes are silly. Some are genuinely moving.

I particularly liked that the movie gives individual characters enough time to explain themselves rather than reducing them to background figures in Baba’s story. The conversations between Lakshminarayan and his wife are especially poignant.

The background recitation of Om Namah Shivaya during some of the pivotal scenes is haunting. It took me back to 2012, when my son was competing in a competition somewhere in deep South Georgia. I remember hearing a professor playing kirtan music in the large auditorium for parents as they waited and it was the first time I had heard the song Mahadeva by Ben Leinbach and Jai Uttal. A white man was playing “my music” in deep south Georgia. 

How To Meet God

When I travel to India, it feels remarkably easy to be in the company of God.

I get off the plane, make my way toward baggage claim, and somewhere on the tarmac, a bus driver and God seem to be saying hello to me.

There are harvest festivals during Sankranti, celebrating the bounty of nature. I walk out of an airport and am greeted by a gorgeous rangoli. I go to eat ice cream at some impossibly posh shop in Chennai, and there, outside, He is staring back at me. 

In Kolkata. In Mumbai. In Rajasthan. In Delhi. In Jamshedpur. In Bengaluru. In my hometown of Vijayawada. In my dream city, Vizag.

God is everywhere, maybe, because I am seeking him? 

Whether or not you believe in miracles, Hanuman Ansh is worth a watch if only to hold on to a little hope and to the possibility that there is more to life than what we can immediately see. 

But whether you choose to look inward and find God that was already within you? Now, that’s another story.

Mount Kailash

Vijaya Dasami in Vijayawada

Jab Zid Pe Aa Gayi Parvati | Hanuman Ansh

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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