Hanuman Natak
A chronological history of the
Hanuman Natak.
Sharing a numeric construction, the
Hanuman Natak or Hanuman's Spectacle is one of the victims of the Singh-Sabha reforms which has survived to the present day. Recited in Nihung, Udasi and Taksal orders/bodies, the work orbits the simian Hanuman's service of his regal lord Ram Chandra. The latter, perceived as being a divine monarch in sub-continental tradition, is ousted from his royal domains and adopts the lifestyle of a warrior-ascetic residing in the wildness with his wife and a younger brother. His antagonist, the saintly monarch, Ravana blinded by lust kidnaps his spouse and imprisons him upon his island fortress of Lanka. Incensed, more by the wounding of his ego than his wife's debasement, Ram Chandra and his brother march towards Lanka. Meeting Hanuman, a Simian warlord, the duo assist the latter's race in executing a coup and eradicating their primary monarch Bali. Subsequently their elected candidate, commands his wards to enrol themselves into Ram Chandra's mediocre army and build a bridge towards Lanka. The subsequent battle which commences forms a titanic portion of the pre-Homeric
Ramayana, or the charisma of Ram Chandra. The
Hanuman Natak can be taxonomized as being the literary progeny of the latter, solely pinpointing Hanuman's servile actions and spirituality.
Hanuman.
Genesis.
Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha, of Singh-Sabha fame, essayed the fact that certain traditions purported Hanuman himself to have been the primary parent of the
Hanuman Natak. After editing his autobiographical sketch
, Hanuman is said to have pitched the tablets, upon which he had inscribed the said work, into the ocean in deference to the preliminary
Ramayana. When queried as to why, he is said to have replied that he did not desire to demean the charisma of Ram Chandra's temporal sojourn and had thus sacrificed his own legend which threatened to eclipse the
Ramayana.
A battle scene from the
Ramayana.
Excavation.
In 1055 A.D. during the reign of the monarch Bhoj, the
Hanuman Natak is said to have been excavated by agog pearl divers. Presenting it to the imminent poet Damodar Missar, Bhoj had damaged passages restored or re-birthed to revive Hanuman's memoirs. It is essential to acknowledge that this was a proportionately re-mediated and re-done manuscript which attempted to capture the spirit of the original.
A contemporary depiction of Hanuman.
The Mughal Era.
The subsequent period, until 1623-1680 A.D. is not well known to historians although it is plausible that in the aftermath of the rise and fall of many Indic reigns the
Hanuman Natak was exposed to many variations. In around 1623-1680 A.D. a young relative of Bhai Gurdass, and one of the emperor Akbar's nine poets, Hirday Ram, attempted to revive the entire manuscript. Having memorised entire passages, Ram commenced his labour during the reign of Jahangir and subsequently succeeded. In a generic tradition of his reign, Jahangir renegaded against Hirday Ram and had him tortured to death. After realizing that he had murdered an innocent individual, the despairing emperor had Ram's
Hanuman Natak immortalised. In a parallel tradition to all sub-continental poets, Ram inscribed his own memento to his work,
'in 1680/ 1623 AD, in the Royal Court of Empeor Jahangir. In the pure verses and similies the poet Kavi Ram has composed this work. Krishan Das who has enlightened the generations like a protective lamp. The tale of Ram has become manifest from my intellect in a pure way. Please bless me with devotion, fearlessness, Victory to Ram and his descendants.' (1)
The emperor Akbar.
A literary heirloom.
After Jahangir's demise his successors inherited Hirday Ram's manuscript, although it is not evident whether they perused it or not. Penultimately it reached the hands of Bahadur Shah, heir to the Mughal throne. An artistic individual himself, Shah was mesmerised by the work and treated it with extreme reverence.
It is a surprise as to how the
Hanuman Natak survived Bahadur Shah' father's fanatical reforms.
In the hands of the Guru.
After declaring quietude, the Khalsa and the remnants of the Mughal empire initiated a bond of uneasy camaraderie. During this period Bahadur Shah asked Akali-Nihung Guru Gobind Singh Ji to accompany him to the Deccan. The Guru acquiesced, perceiving an opportunity to visit regional congregations of Sikhs. It was on this journey that he (the Shah) gifted the Guru with the
Hanuman Natak. The Guru, who possessed a great love for tales of valour and warfare, subsequently had the manuscript dispatched to Kavi's Kanshi Ram and Kankan. Both individuals had honed their quills on the literary whetstone of Anandpur, and sat down to restore an intensive portion of Hirday Ram's
Hanuman Natak. It is plausible that the following lines were composed, as a homage to the Guru, by these two individuals and added to the
Hanuman Natak:
'the master of the three worlds. The love of my very breath, the infallible, my head is at your feet. The master of firmness, the master of truth, without woman, the master of Shiva and Sankadi who listen to your praises...' (2)
Akali-Nihung Guru Gobind Singh Ji.
Another traditional account purports the Guru to first having been introduced to the
Natak during his sojourn at Anandpur, where his primary academic, Bhai Nand Lal, presented him with a mimic of the original manuscript.
After essaying the entire work, in it's fourteen chapters, the Guru is said to have commented that any coward who recited this tale with an authentic heart would instantaneously evolve into a valorous warrior. Bhai Nand Lal's mimic however did not possess the entire dialogue between Ram Chandra, and the militant ascetic Parsuram. To rectify this, Amrit Rai a descendant of Hirday Ram prepared a revived version of the missing dialogue, and presented it to the Guru before March 1680 A.D. (3)
Bhai Nand Lal Ji and Akali-Nihung Guru Gobind Singh Ji.
The Dasam Granth.
Aiming to preserve the spirit of Hirday Ram's quill, Akali-Nihung Guru Gobind Singh Ji employed the pseudonym of Ram, and made distinctive references to the
Hanuman Natak in his canonical omnibus. An exemplar can be drawn from the
Ram-Avatar, 'the tale of how the monarch assisted Indra to secure victory, is narrated in the Hanuman Natak as well as the Guru's own Charitropakhyan.' (4) It is important to acknowledge that despite the latter references, the Guru never incorporated the
Natak in his own omnibus.
A watercolour depicting Akali-Nihung Guru Gobind Singh Ji and his entourage.
The Sikh Empire and Beyond.
Distinguishable from the greater body of Hinduism, the Khalsa nevertheless employed the latter system's mythology in order to broadcast it's own views
. For many historic Sikhs the Hanuman Natak served as a template for the profound relationship between the Guru and the Sikh. Hanuman served Ram Chandra as a divine deity, the Sikh too was instructed to render the same servility to his spiritual master. Simultaneously the martial arts, depicted in the manuscript, were systematically revived by the Khalsa and employed in battle. In a parallel vein to the Guru's court, the work was recited during the morning and the evening. Under the aegis of the Udasi and Nirmala bodies, educational institutes were born which readily taught the Hanuman Natak as an essential text. The work had such a profound influence over Punjab, that even the respected historian Ratan Singh Bhangu constructed his own mimic detailing his genealogical heritage. It was the latter which assisted Giani Gurditt Singh in establishing a full profile of Bhangu.
Scriptural recitations during the Sikh empire.
Post-Empire.
The Singh-Sabha ultimately identified the work as being highly antagonistic to the Khalsa ethos and attempted to remove it from the greater Sikh psyche. It succeeded up to a great extent but failed to affect the Nihungs, Udasis and the Damdami Taksal with it's antagonistic afflictions.
Puritanical Bodies and the Hanuman Natak.
Amongst the Nihungs, Udasis and Taksal an equivocal atmosphere of acceptance exists regarding sub-continental figures. As envisioned by many scholars the Khalsa's acceptance of certain Hindu deities does not ensure deification, as many pro-nationalistic and anti-nationalistic camps argue. The latter are only metaphorical devices employed to disseminate profound spiritual concepts. The
Hanuman Natak, if perceived from the latter perspective, has had an ineffaceable effect on the Khalsa psyche. It depicts the potential relationship between the Guru and the Sikh, whilst educating one is different martial and societal concepts. It is a honorific work, and one which should be preserved for future generations.
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