Snake and Hanuman

When I had a comment on a previous post on Hanuman andsnakes, it got me thinking.

I am aware of the Ramayana talking of how Hanuman came across Surasa, the mother of serpents, who tried to test him, when he was on his way to Lanka.

When I tried to read and see if there is something else, I came across a very interesting fact.

The picture is from a Balinese painting, which shows Hanuman fighting a snake.

In Bali, Indonesia, Hinduism is a widely practiced religion. Somewhere in the 5th century, Hinduism came to Bali and gradually replaced Buddhism. While Islam had a big influence in Indonesia, Bali retained the Hindu religion or philosophy. There is a belief that the South Indian traders brought Hinduism here.

Balinese Hinduism added many aspects to the religions. They added Gods, added anecdotes and legends. 

In one of those, Hanuman encounters a poisonous snake and fights it. The snake tries to wrap itself around Hanuman, but is defeated. Today, in Cambodia, there is a green poisonous snake, that is called a Hanuman snake.

I am not sure if the serial makers took this aspect. Hanuman is considered an avatar of Shiva. Shiva is the Lord of Snakes and has a snake wrapped around his neck.

The snake stands for all the evil  in the world. By wearing the snake around his neck, Lord Siva gives us the assurance that no evil can touch us or destroy us once we surrender to him, seek his protection and worship him with deep devotion. 

The snake also stands for the power of kundalini, which is described as a coiled serpent lying dormant in the muladhara chakra of all human beings and descends upwards when one starts ones spiritual journey and becomes increasingly divine oriented. The snake around the neck of Siva conveys the meaning that in him the kundalini not only has arisen fully but is also actively involved in the divine activity by keeping an eye on all the devotees who approach Siva with their individual problems.

This may be a reason why Hanuman is shown with a snake.

The stories that our epics related are fascinating and all of them have a deeper meaning behind them.