‘Hanuman as devotee is greater than Rama’

In India to participate in the Jaipur LitFest, PHILIP LUTGENDORF, professor of Hindi and Modern Indian Studies at the University of Iowa and president, American Institute of Indian Studies, spoke to RANJENI A SINGH on his abiding interest in Indic scripturesWhat attracts you to India?■ Tea and scriptures! In the 1960s, I read translations of the Bhagwad Gita and upanishads,which set me thinking about life and its meaning. In 1971, during my first visit to India, I got fascinated by the tea hawker’s cries of “Chai, chai garam,” at a railway station. Gradually, I fell in love with north Indian culture. I kept coming back as I felt very comfortable here. Also, anybody who was interested in the religion and culture of north India sooner or later encounters the Ramcharitmanas and its extraordinary popularity. The more I get to know about India, the more I realise that unless I read the Manas, I won’t understand certain things. So I started reading the Ramcharitmanas with help from Kali Charan Behl, one of my professors at the University of Chicago. Prof Behl would insist that all his students — we were three in his class — chant it along with him.He would make us chant each ardhali several times till we got it right.Does the Ramcharitmanas have a global message?■ People’s interest in local culture is declining, especially in urban areas. I hope the English translation of Ramcharitmanas will attract English-speaking readers in cities.What should have remained in the domain of culture and history is now being politicised. Though I don’t present myself as a pracharak of the Manas, it does have a lot of eternal messages and people can take from it what they need and learn. The world needs great spiritual works, particularly right now with so much discord and fighting in the name of dharam and mazhab.Tell us about your work on Hanuman.■ I translated some poetry about Hanuman for the book that I wrote on Hanuman’s tales, (Oxford University Press, 2007) but there is no Indian edition. I translated the Hanuman Chalisa, the Bajrang Ban, and some prayers from the Hanuman Bahuk. I would like to do a full translation of the Bahuk, may be after I finish the Ramcharitmanas… Prabhu ki kripa se, if I am still alive because it is a wonderful collection of songs by Tulsidas — 44 padas and very spectacular poetry, and perhaps among the last thing that Tulsidas composed. Hanuman is a popular god.How relevant is he today?■ The subject of my book — Hanuman’s Tale:The Messages of a Divine Monkey — deals with Hanuman’s popularity. It addresses the question, why Hanuman is so popular, since when and where because Hanuman’s popularity varies in different parts of the country. In certain areas, he is not as popular and in certain areas, he is extremely popular…bahut lokpriya hain. Tulsidas has said in the Uttara Khand that ‘More man Prabhu as biswasa,Ram te adhik, Ram kar dasa’ — meaning Rama’s devotee is greater than Rama. So that is the epigram at the beginning of my book.The book is about the lokpriyata of Hanuman. He is for all times. People relate to him easily as he does not have a larger-thanlife persona. Devotees have no trouble going to Hanuman and they endearingly call him Sankatmochan, one who delivers you from trouble.How has translating these works changed you as a person?■ I find it difficult to say because how would I know? It’s for others to find out. I have my own spiritual path, a kind of sadhana, yes. Some true Rama and Hanuman bhaktas that I have had the honour to know, I have learnt and benefitted a lot from them. As Tulsidas said, ‘Sujana samaj sakal gun khani, karaun pranam saprem suvani —Acche logon ka samaj, sab gunon ka khajana hai, Achche vani se, prem se, mein unka namskar karta hoon.That means, ‘I salute those who are real bhaktas and who don’t harm others.’ I would not have been able to translate Tulsidas’ works, if I did not have the scholarship from the American Institute of Indian Studies.That is why I am happy to serve it. I have been its president since 2010.The institute is doing wonderful work in preserving India’s cultural heritage