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Is Hanuman an incarnation

of Lord Shiva?
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T
hanks Saksham Mehta for the A2A.

Yes, Hanuman is an incarnation of Lord Shiva.

Lord Hanuman is a Hindu God who is one of the central characters in


Ramayana and whose immense devotion for Lord Rama is
unmatched. He was the chief aid to Lord Rama in the war against
demon king Ravana. Lord Hanuman is the son of Anjana and Kesari
and has also been described as the son of God of Wind (Vayudev).
Lord Hanuman was named after the incident where Lord Indra’s
thunderbolt (vajra) struck his jaw while he was still a child. The
child then received the name combining Sanskrit words ‘Hanu’ means
jaw and ‘man’ means disfigured. Lord Hanuman is also known as
Anjaneya, Anjaniputra, Kesarinandan, Marutinandan, Pavanputra,
Bajrang Bali, etc.

SOURCE - Is Lord Hanuman An Incarnation Of Lord Shiva?

How Lord Shiva & Lord Hanuman Are Related?

In many ancient scriptures, it has been stated that when Lord Vishnu
incarnated as Lord Rama on earth and Lord Shiva took the form of
Lord Hanuman to serve Lord Rama in Treta Yuga. In puranas it is also
said that Lord Shiva was in a dilemma as to in which form he must
incarnate to serve his master. It was not considered good to incarnate
in the same human form as Lord Rama because a human requires to
cook food, seek shelter and wear clothes and ornaments. Lord Shiva,
therefore decided to take a lower form of monkey who can adapt to
any condition for his master without any demands.

It is known that Lord Hanuman is the 11th rudra avatar of Lord


Shiva and since Lord Shiva is known as the destructor of evil, Lord
Hanuman is known as the destructor of troubles (sankat mochan).
As per the Valmiki Ramayana, it is said that Anjana performed intense
prayers for 12 long years and pleased Lord Shiva to get the blessing
for a child. Lord Hanuman is therefore, a result of Lord Shiva’s
blessing. But Lord Hanuman is also known as Pavanputra or
Vayuputra. There are three different notions about his birth where
the Lord of Winds had a role to play:-

• When Anjana was praying to Lord Shiva for a child, King


Dashratha of Ayodhya was performing a Putrakama Yagna
to have children. After the yagna, the sacred pudding was
the prasadam that was to be distributed amongst his three
wives. But by some divine power, a kite snatched a part of
the pudding and the wind took the kite towards Anjana in
the forest she was praying in. Anjana took the pudding
delivered to her by Vayudev and consumed it, due to which
Lord Hanuman was born.
• In another version, it is said that Anjana and Kesari prayed
to Lord Shiva for a child and by Lord Shiva’s instructions,
Vayudev transferred his male energy into Anjana’s womb.
Hence, Lord Hanuman is known as Vayuputra and an
incarnation of Lord Shiva.

• To understand Hanuman's birth, we must go back long ago


when the gods churned a great ocean of milk. Many
treasures began to surface and a great battle was fought
between the gods and demons over the vessel containing the
Amrita Nectar. The demons managed to snatch up the
vessel. When they saw what happened, the gods went to
Lord Vishnu and asked him to do something. Lord Vishnu
took on the beautiful feminine form Mohini so that he could
infiltrate their castle and distract the demons long enough
for the gods to drink the nectar. Vishnu did so and created
multiple women to trick the demons. The demons snatched
up the women and took them to the Netherworld. The gods
came and drank the nectar, and the demons returned. When
they saw what had happened they were enraged and
another battle ensued. The gods won the battle and returned
home with the nectar. When Lord Siva heard of the battle,
he wanted to see this Mohini for himself. When he did,
Shiva became very attracted to Vishnu’s beauty. Shiva
released his seed on to the ground. With the permission of
Lord Shiva, the Saptarishis or seven sages placed Shiva’s
seed inside the womb of Anjani, who had been praying
diligently to Lord Shiva. And so, the great and mighty
Hanuman came into being.

Being an avatar of Lord Shiva on earth, Lord Hanuman was blessed to


be immortal and he was even witnessed by many sages during the
beginning of Kaliyuga. Even today, people have belief that Lord
Hanuman lives in India because there is no mention of his death in
any of the scriptures. You will be astonished to know these 10 lesser
known facts about Lord Hanuman that will compel you to believe in
his existence as the most ardent devotee ever:

1. Lord Hanuman Fought Lord Rama In A Battle & Won

In an instance, sage Vishwamitra ordered Lord Rama to kill Yayati


and on knowing this, Yayati asked Lord Hanuman’s help. Lord
Hanuman promised to protect her life. Without using any weapon on
physical force, Lord Hanuman stood chanting Lord Rama’s name in
the war field. The arrows that Lord Rama directed towards Lord
Hanuman were ineffective and seeing this Lord Rama accepted his
defeat. After seeing such love and devotion for Lord Rama, sage
Vishwamitra relieved Lord Rama from the task of killing Yayati.

2. Lord Hanuman’s Insatiable Hunger Was Satisfied By A Tulsi


Leaf
Once Lord Hanuman visited Sita Maa in sage Valmiki’s hut and asked
to have food cooked by her. Overwhelmed with his desire, Sita Maa
cooked numerous dishes and started serving Lord Hanuman. He loved
the food cooked by Sita Maa so much that the food was unable to
satisfy his hunger. Gradually all the groceries were about to finish
and still he was hungry. Seeing this, Sita Maa prayed to Lord Rama to
help her. Lord Rama suggested her to serve a morsel of food with a
tulsi leaf. Sita Maa did as advised and eventually, Lord Hanuman’s
hunger was satisfied.

3. Panch-Mukhi Hanuman Defeated Ahiravana

Lord Hanuman appeared in the form of panch-mukhi (five headed)


Hanuman only once and that too for a special purpose. He assumed it
to kill Ravana’s brother, Ahiravana who ruled the Nether world (patal
lok). Ahiravana had kidnapped Lord Rama and Lakshmana and to free
them from the shackles of Ahiravana, Lord Hanuman had to
extinguish 5 lamps in 5 different locations at the same time to kill
him. He therefore, assumed this panch-mukhi form, where apart from
himself, the faces were of Narasimha, Varaha, Hayagriva and Garuda.

4. Lord Hanuman Was Cursed

Lord Hanuman has been known for his many mischiefs during his
childhood. He didn’t know how to control his powers and being
immature, he used to tease or make fun of the sages praying in the
forest. But on one occasion, the furious sages were unable to bear the
interference and knowing that he is a child, they gave a mild curse
that he will forget about all his powers and abilities and will be able
to remember it once someone reminds him.

5. Lord Hanuman In Mahabharata

Arjuna met Lord Hanumana, who appeared as a small talking monkey


at Rameshwaram, where the Rama setu was built. Arjuna wondered
why Lord Rama took help of monkeys instead of building the bridge
using arrows. Upon hearing him, Lord Hanuman challenged Arjuna to
build such a bridge on his own. Since Arjuna was unaware that the
small monkey was Lord Hanuman itself, he accepted the challenge
and Lord Hanuman began destroying the bridge made by Arjuna.
When Arjuna started feeling depressed about his failure, Lord Vishnu
appeared in front of them and scolded both for showing immaturity.
Lord Hanuman apologised and promised to help Arjuna by
strengthening his chariot and providing it stability and protection
during the battle of Kurukshetra.

Lord Hanuman was present in the chariot in the form of a flag during
the complete battle. After the battle, Lord Krishna asked Arjuna to
step down from the chariot and thanked Lord Hanuman for protecting
them. Lord Hanuman bowed and left the place. The chariot then
immediately turned into ashes. Seeing Arjuna astonished, Lord
Krishna explained that if it was not Lord Hanuman’s powers, then the
chariot would have burned into ashes long back due to the continuous
attack through celestial weapons.

6. Lord Hanuman Rejected Sita Maa’s Gift


Once Sita Maa gave Lord Hanuman a pearl necklace as gift. But Lord
Hanuman politely refused to accept it as he accepted anything only
when he could find Lord Rama’s name in it. People in the court
laughed off disbelieving about the deep devotion he had for Lord
Rama. To prove his love for his Lord, he ripped off his chest and
everyone saw the image of Lord Rama and Sita Maa. Such was his
loyalty and love towards them.

7. Women Are Not Allowed To Touch Lord Hanuman’s Feet

Hanuman Jayanti is quite popular festival and devotees apply sindoor


on their foreheads and offer bananas to monkeys considering them as
Lord Hanuman’s form. Most men perform fast during the day. All the
prayers and puja proceedings are performed by men only. However,
women are allowed to worship Lord Hanuman but they are abstained
from touching his feet as Lord Hanuman is a bal brahmachari.

8. Lord Hanuman Has His Body Smeared With Sindoor

Once Sita Maa was applying sindoor on her hair and on seeing this,
Lord Hanuman asked the reason for applying it. She replied that it
was for long life and good health of Lord Rama. Lord Hanuman
thought that when a pinch of sindoor can ensure long life for Lord
Rama, then it is better to apply it on the complete body. He applied
sindoor all over his body and seeing his innocence and intention
behind doing it, Lord Rama blessed him that whenever people will
speak of devotion, his name would be taken first.

9. A Mighty Fish Gave Birth To Lord Hanuman’s Son

After burning the entire Lanka by igniting his tail, Lord Hanuman had
taken a dive in the sea to cool off his body. Many scriptures have
mentioned that his sweat was swallowed by a fish and then the fish
conceived a son named Makar Dhwaja. The fish was captured by
Ahiravana and was taken in Nether world. When Makar Dhwaja grew
up, his immense strength and bravery appealed Ahiravana, who made
him a soldier. Despite losing the battle with Makar Dhwaja, Lord
Hanuman killed Ahiravana who had kidnapped Lord Rama and
Lakshmana. He then announced his son Makar Dhwaja as the king of
the Nether world.
10. Gods Blessed Lord Hanuman

Lord Brahma blessed Lord Hanuman that nobody will be able to kill
him with any weapon and he was given the power to induce fear in
enemies, destroy fear from innocent people and that he could change
forms as per his will. Even Lord Shiva blessed him with immortality,
wisdom and ability to travel easily to any location. Lord Varuna
blessed him that he would never get hurt by water and Lord Agni
blessed him saying that fire would never burn him. Lord of Sun
blessed him that he had inbuilt two siddhis of yoga, laghima and
garima, where with laghima he could obtain smallest form and with
garima, he could attain the largest form of life. Lord of Winds blessed
him with highest possible speed and Lord of Death (Yama) blessed
him with healthy life and immortality.

Hope this helps!!

Ranodip Das, Implementation Manager at Wells Fargo


Answered Aug 9, 2017 · Author has 139 answers and 296.6k answer
views

Several texts also present him as an incarnation of Shiva. Hanuman is


the son of Anjana and Kesari and is also son of the wind-god Pawan,
who according to several stories, played a role in his birth.

His theological origins in Hinduism are unclear. Alternate theories


include him having ancient roots, being a non-Aryan deity who was
Sanskritized by the Vedic Aryans, or that he is a fusion deity who
emerged in literary works from folk Yaksha protector deities and
theological symbolism.

707 Views · View 4 Upvoters

In many ancient scriptures, it has been stated that when Lord Vishnu
incarnated as Lord Rama on earth and Lord Shiva took the form of
Lord Hanuman to serve Lord Rama in Treta Yuga. In puranas it is also
said that Lord Shiva was in a dilemma as to in which form he must
incarnate to serve his master. It was not considered good to incarnate
in the same human form as Lord Rama because a human requires to
cook food, seek shelter and wear clothes and ornaments. Lord Shiva,
therefore decided to take a lower form of monkey who can adapt to
any condition for his master without any demands.

It is known that Lord Hanuman is the 11th rudra avatar of Lord Shiva
and since Lord Shiva is known as the destructor of evil, Lord
Hanuman is known as the destructor of troubles (sankat mochan). As
per the Valmiki Ramayana, it is said that Anjana performed intense
prayers for 12 long years and pleased Lord Shiva to get the blessing
for a child. Lord Hanuman is therefore, a result of Lord Shiva’s
blessing. But Lord Hanuman is also known as Pavanputra or
Vayuputra. There are two different notions about his birth where the
Lord of Winds had a role to play:-

* When Anjana was praying to Lord Shiva for a child, King Dashratha
of Ayodhya was performing a Putrakama Yagna to have children. After
the yagna, the sacred pudding was the prasadam that was to be
distributed amongst his three wives. But by some divine power, a kite
snatched a part of the pudding and the wind took the kite towards
Anjana in the forest she was praying in. Anjana took the pudding
delivered to her by Vayudev and consumed it, due to which Lord
Hanuman was born.

* In another version, it is said that Anjana and Kesari prayed to Lord


Shiva for a child and by Lord Shiva’s instructions, Vayudev
transferred his male energy into Anjana’s womb. Hence, Lord
Hanuman is known as Vayuputra and an incarnation of Lord Shiva.

Being an avatar of Lord Shiva on earth, Lord Hanuman was blessed to


be immortal and he was even witnessed by many sages during the
beginning of Kaliyuga. Even today, people have belief that Lord
Hanuman lives in India because there is no mention of his death in
any of the scriptures.

Source : Is Lord Hanuman An Incarnation Of Lord Shiva?

Thanks Sakhsam bhai for the question:

Previously I have given my opinion that Hanuman is incarnation of


Shiva.Incarnation of Gods means supreme spirit on a earthly vehicle
i.e body.This spirit posseses all essence of supreme.
So let us see why Hanuman ji is a form of Bholebaba.

• Absolute control over senses like Mahadeva


• He is a great yogi like Adiyogi himself
• He is as innocent as Bholebaba
• He is the great perceptor of Rama tatwa
• He is all auspicious like Bholebaba
• He is panchanana like Bholebaba

Atlast I will say He is a great devotee of Mahadev and there is no


diffference between God and His child.Above all without Shiva the
universe is lifeless.

And otherfacts my quoran friends have already described about


Hanuman ji being Shivansh.

Another thing God is what you want to see.What you feel about the
supreme power will give a certain kind of imagery in your mind.For
example in Mahabharata,Pandavas being the weakest had faith in Sri
Krishna.They saw his Godliness.Whereas Duryodhan and someothers
were skeptical.Although they saw proof of everything ,they were
blinded by ego.Man will never understand when he argues with little
knowledge and his brain jammed by primordial animalistic
perceptions.

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