Hanuman Chalisa

01Forty chaupais

Chalisa means a poem of forty. It opens with a doha asking the dust of the guru's lotus feet to clean the mirror of the mind, and a second asking Hanuman, son of the wind, for strength, wisdom and knowledge. Then come the forty: Hanuman's form with the thunderbolt and the flag, his tiny form before Sita and his terrible form burning Lanka, the sanjivani brought for Lakshman, the sun he swallowed as a child thinking it a sweet fruit. The last chaupai names the poet, Tulsidas, always the servant of Hari, and a closing doha asks Hanuman to dwell in the heart with Rama, Lakshman and Sita.

02How the forty run

The chaupais move in a clear order. The first eight praise Hanuman himself: ocean of wisdom, messenger of Rama, son of Anjani, of Kesari, and "Shankar suvan", born of Shiva's own power. The next twelve tell his deeds in the Ramayana in the order they happened, ending with the ring carried in his mouth across the ocean. The third group makes him the doorkeeper of Rama's court, whose leave everyone needs, and the protector of those who take refuge in him. The last ten tell what the reciter gains: the eight siddhis and nine nidhis that Mata Janaki granted him the power to give, and at death the abode of Raghuvar.

03Through Hanuman to Rama

The Chalisa is a prayer to Hanuman, but its eye is on Rama. "Tumhare bhajan Rama ko pavai", by worshipping you one reaches Rama, says the thirty-third chaupai, and the thirty-second calls Hanuman the keeper of "Rama rasayan", the elixir of Rama's name. This is dasya bhakti, the bhakti of the servant, and Hanuman is its perfect form: strong enough to lift a mountain and wanting nothing but to serve. Rama himself, the twelfth chaupai recalls, embraced him and called him as dear as his brother Bharat. Devotees say that whoever pleases Hanuman has already found the door to Rama open.

04When it is recited

Tuesday and Saturday are Hanuman's days, and temples from Sankat Mochan in Varanasi to the smallest roadside shrine fill with the Chalisa on those evenings, with sindoor and jasmine oil offered to the image. Many recite it once a day, others seven or eleven times, and the thirty-eighth chaupai speaks of reciting it a hundred times to be freed from bondage. It is said for courage before setting out on travel or sitting an exam, and against fear at night, since the twenty-fourth chaupai promises that ghosts and spirits do not come near when Mahavir's name is spoken. On Hanuman Jayanti it is recited through the day in his temples.

05Tulsidas and Hanuman

Tulsidas was devoted to Hanuman, and the tradition of Varanasi says Hanuman led him to the darshan of Shri Rama at Chitrakoot, where Rama came as a child asking for sandal paste on the ghat and Hanuman, as a parrot, sang a doha so that Tulsidas would know him. The Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi is held to have been founded by Tulsidas on the spot where Hanuman gave him darshan. The Chalisa's authorship by Tulsidas rests on its closing chaupai and on unbroken tradition; Gita Press prints it with his other works. He prayed to Hanuman in other works too, among them the Hanuman Bahuk, which tradition says he sang when his arm was racked with pain.

06The language of the Chalisa

The Chalisa is in Awadhi, the same speech as the Ramcharitmanas, and its chaupai is the Manas metre: sixteen beats to each half-line, two half-lines rhyming. That is why it can be learned by ear before a child can read, and why its rhythm carries even when sung fast by a temple crowd. The words are simple enough for anyone and dense with names: Bajrangi, Mahavir, Kapis, Pavansut, Anjani-putra, Kesari-nandan. Spellings differ a little from one printed edition to another, and Gita Press's text is the one most widely used.

07In every home

No other prayer of North India is recited by so many people so often. Gita Press alone has printed it in crores of copies, pocket gutkas sold at every temple gate and railway stall. Every generation of bhajan singers has recorded it, and at the Sankat Mochan Sangeet Samaroh in Varanasi, held around Hanuman Jayanti, the great musicians of Hindustani music come to sing and play before Hanuman. Truck drivers paint "Jai Bajrangbali" on their cabins, wrestlers in the akharas of Varanasi recite the Chalisa before they train, and in the diaspora it is often the one prayer a family keeps when it has forgotten the rest.

What it contains

1. 1
   Opening dohas

   Two dohas: the dust of the guru's feet cleaning the mirror of the mind, and the prayer to Hanuman for strength, wisdom and knowledge. The first is the same doha that opens the Ayodhya Kand of the Ramcharitmanas. Many recite them with a Sanskrit shloka to Hanuman before beginning.

2. 2
   Chaupais 1–8

   Hanuman's glory and form: ocean of wisdom and virtue, messenger of Rama, golden-hued, with earrings and curled hair, thunderbolt and flag in hand. He is called the son of Shankar and the joy of Kesari. He delights in hearing Rama's katha, with Rama, Lakshman and Sita dwelling in his heart.

3. 3
   Chaupais 9–20

   His deeds in the Ramayana: the tiny form shown to Sita, Lanka burned, the asuras slain, Lakshman revived with the sanjivani and Rama's embrace. Then the help given to Sugriva and Vibhishana, the sun swallowed as a child, and the ocean crossed with Rama's ring in his mouth. Every difficult task in the world, chaupai 20 says, becomes easy by his grace.

4. 4
   Chaupais 21–30

   Hanuman as guardian of Rama's door and protector of those in his refuge. The three worlds tremble at his roar, ghosts and spirits stay away, disease and pain are destroyed by constant japa of his name. His glory, chaupai 29 says, shines through all four yugas.

5. 5
   Chaupais 31–40

   The gifts: the eight siddhis and nine nidhis by Mata Janaki's boon, the elixir of Rama's name, and the reaching of Rama through Hanuman's bhajan. Reciting a hundred times frees one from bondage, and Gauri's lord, Shiva, is witness that whoever reads the Chalisa attains siddhi. The fortieth names Tulsidas.

6. 6
   Closing doha

   Hanuman, son of the wind, remover of troubles, whose form is auspicious, is asked to dwell in the heart with Rama, Lakshmana and Sita. The recitation ends with "Siyavar Ramachandra ki jai" and "Pavanasut Hanuman ki jai" in most temples. Many then begin the next round.

Famous verses

श्रीगुरु चरन सरोज रज निज मनु मुकुरु सुधारि। बरनउँ रघुबर बिमल जसु जो दायकु फल चारि॥

Cleaning the mirror of my mind with the dust of my guru's lotus feet, I tell the pure glory of Raghubar, which grants the four fruits of life.Hanuman Chalisa, opening doha 1

जय हनुमान ज्ञान गुन सागर। जय कपीस तिहुँ लोक उजागर॥

Victory to Hanuman, ocean of wisdom and virtue; victory to the lord of the vanaras, renowned in the three worlds.Hanuman Chalisa, chaupai 1

भूत पिसाच निकट नहिं आवै। महाबीर जब नाम सुनावै॥

Ghosts and evil spirits do not come near when the name of Mahavir is spoken.Hanuman Chalisa, chaupai 24

तुलसीदास सदा हरि चेरा। कीजै नाथ हृदय महँ डेरा॥

Tulsidas is ever the servant of Hari; O Lord, make your dwelling in my heart.Hanuman Chalisa, chaupai 40

पवनतनय संकट हरन मंगल मूरति रूप। राम लखन सीता सहित हृदय बसहु सुर भूप॥

Son of the wind, remover of troubles, whose form is all auspiciousness: O king among the devas, dwell in my heart together with Rama, Lakshmana and Sita.Hanuman Chalisa, closing doha