The Five Faces of Lord Hanuman

Bajrang Bali is the true and greatest devotee of Lord Rama; the deity who is worshipped with great devotion at all places in the world. Lord Rama is also known as Raghuvar or the best among Raghus.

Lord Rama went on to become the hero of the divine Vedic epic of Ramayana in which he conquers the demon king Ravan to put an end to the evil and bring Seeta Mata back to Ayodhya.

A lesser known tale from the Ramyana is that of Ahiravana, and how he was defeated by Lord Hanuman. Ahiravana was the king of the paathal lok, and the master of magic. He was the brother of Ravana as well, and when Ravana was losing the war against Rama, he requested Ahiravana to help him out.

Ahiravana decided that he shall take Rama and Lakshman to his kingdom and sacrifice them before Goddess Mahamaya. Vibhishana heard about Ahiravana's plans and conveyed the message to Rama and Lakshman, while telling Hanuman to keep a watch over them.

Ahiravana is a master of illusion and tries out many disguises to reach Ram and Laxman, but fails to reach them as they are guarded by Lord Hanuman. Finally, he disguises himself as Vibhishana himself, and takes Rama and Lakshman to Patal Lok by luring them.

Upon reaching the palace of Ahiravana to find Ram and Lakshman, Hanuman comes to realize that the only way to kill Ahiravana is to extinguish five different lamps at the same time, even though the lamps are placed in different directions. It was then that Lord Hanuman takes the form of Panchmukhi Anjaneya; he has five faces, wherei
Hanuman, Varaha, Garuda and Narasimha face East, South, West and North. The fifth face or the Hayagriva faces upwards. Lord Hanuman thus extinguishes the five lamps at the same time, and kills Ahiravana.

In practice, every profile, or each of the five faces of Lord Hanuman is worshipped with great sincerity and devotion. As Sri Hanuman faces east, it bestows the human mind with purity and brings success in all endeavors.

Narsimha, which faces south, stands for fearlessness and victory.

Garuda faces west and helps us overcome negativity in all forms; it is the most potent remedy against black magic.

Similarly, as Varah faces north, it showers a worshippers life with prosperity.

Hargriva which faces towards the sky signifies potency and is worshipped when a couple intends to bear children.

In essence, the five faces of Lord Sri Hanuman have a deep spiritual significance, and it is through these five faces that Prabhu Hanuman reveals true gnana or knowledge to a worshipper when a devotee meditates upon him. The human soul is nothing but jivatma. But while the soul is taken over by worldly desires, it cannot overcome the cycle of birth and rebirth by forming a union with the parmatma, which is the universal soul.

The first three faces represent the past, present and future, which are just phases in life of a soul. The fourth face of Lord Hanuman liberates the soul of the burdens of past, present and future; the individuality is dissolved into the infinite universality of the Supreme Being. It is through the fifth face that Prabhu Hanuman starts the journey wherein the soul unites with God. And this exemplifies the divine glory of Prabhu Bajrang Bali.

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