The Nar, The Narayan, and The Vanar!

The Vanar Sena

The great battle of Ramayana was fought and won by Lord Ram with the help of his Vanar Sena. But who were these Vanars? If we go by the depiction and the stories, they were a half-monkey and half-human. A monkey face and a human body. Being ruled by Kings, living in the monkey kingdom of Kiskindha(किष्किंधा), and moving in an organized mighty army. And to top that, they spoke to humans as well. 

Ram marching ahead with his mighty Vaanar Sena

All this seemed a bit odd to me. How can animal-like creatures speak human language, besides having the same societal structure? And when did these creatures walk the earth, co-existing with humanity? I don't have the answer to it, so I tried to dive deeper in search for one.

Who is a Vanar?

We all know, Nar (नर) is actually a proxy to the word human or man. Let's analyze the word 'Vanar' or वानर.  It is actually Van+nar (वन+नर). Its literal translation means forest people. People who dwell in the forest. Suddenly it starts making sense. Maybe what Ramayan represents as Vanars are in essence people living in the forest. They might even be less advanced being, the pre-historic man, still in its evolutionary stage, thereby meeting the above description. 

See the pictures below, and you will get my point. 

The less evolved man!

Vanar as depicted in contemporary art

3 Stage of awareness

When I dug deeper into the scriptures, I came across an enlightening and enchanting concept. 

"Vanar, Nar, and Narayan are 3 stages of awareness of man". 

If this were true, then why are Varans depicted as creatures with a monkey face, human body, and a tail? 

It is unclear that Vanars were monkeys people. It has not been mentioned anywhere as to what these people actually were. The description just suggests forest dwellers. In other words man of lesser wisdom and control of the mind. Monkeyface depicted the animal instincts they still possess. 

But why monkey? Well, these are in-fact artistic liberties, which led to depicting a Vanar as a monkey man. This is a symbolic representation of the state of mind of a Vanar. After all, the monkey is one animal that can symbolize our unruly mind. Mind, as we know, is Chanchal (चंचल), has a tendency to wander aimlessly, jump around and do mischiefs like monkeys do. 

How does an animal brain think?

The animal mind is less developed, thus reacts in a basic fashion. When encountered with another being, animals judge to figure out, whether the being across them is a:

• prey or predator, Or
• mate or enemy 

Point to be noted here that deeply driven by basic instincts, animal judge JUDGE! 

We, the Nar!

Humans, or the Nar, have a well-developed brain. Over time our brain grew in size and developed layers above the primitive brain. It is like adding a layer of a computer program to a rudimentary device making it more capable. Just like augmenting the processor of a computer. As a result our thinking became deeper and nuanced. However the animal brain, hidden deep inside our head, continues to enslave us to a certain degree, thus we continue to judge. 

But thanks to our well developed outer brain, which gives us the ability to think creatively, make our judgments more nuanced. Humans (नर) are able to go beyond the basic judgment to more complex forms. Right or Wrong, fair or unfair, just or unjust, slavery and freedom, moral or immoral, the list goes on. Society delivers a collective judgment on every aspect of our world and grades the entire spectrum of our social life. We are seen and see people are Rich-Poor, Happy-Unhappy, liberal-conservative, skilled-unskilled, positive-negative and so on. 

Bottom line is- We still judge!

Who's Narayan?

Narayan(नारायण) is the highest and the most evolved state of the human mind. It is attained when one stops judging and becomes an observer. There is no bias, no differentiation, no judgment. You just see things, events, people for what they are. There is no standard for comparison for there is no judgment. 

In essence, this is the state when you move above your nature and relinquish the lens of judgment. Everyone becomes the same in your eyes. This is when you become part of the collective and collective becomes a part of you. You blend in nature. You become infinite. 

Blend with Nature

Ego(अहम्)

Dropping judgment is possible only when you shed your EGO (अहम्). Ego can be defined as the image of self in one's own mind. Until you have a sense of self, you will be ruled by deep-rooted fears to preserve self. Ego is a collection of all such fears. For when there is a sense of I, there is a possibility of a loss. But when you drop the idea of self, there is no fear, for nothing exists. It is like your sense of self melts away into a drop of water, and that droplet immerses itself into an infinite ocean.

Like a drop you blend into the infinite, to become the Infinite!

The Journey from Vanar to Narayan

Ramayan actually tells us about the journey from being a Vaanar(वानर), to a Nar(नर), to becoming a Narayan(नारायण). Ram made the journey from being born as a Nar to becoming Narayan, and is thus revered a god. However, even greater is the story of Hanuman, who transitions into Narayan from a Vanar. He is able to recognize the Narayan in Ram, and this belief in Ram, helps him make his own journey. By believing in Ram, Hanuman rises and becomes Ram. This is shown symbolically when Hanuman tears his heart, and Ram is seen. 

Kan Kan main Ram, Mere Man main Ram!

Perhaps that is the reason Lord Hanuman is revered with so much passion and respect across India. It is not just because of fact that he is a Ram bhakt, but it is because of his journey which made him rise from his animal instincts, see the bigger picture, and recognize his true potential. Under Ram's mentorship, out of love for Ram, out of the devotion, Hanuman transforms himself by going through a hard journey. In the end, Hanuman is no more a Vanar, he has become Narayan himself. 

Hanuman has become Ram! 

Conclusion

We all have our journeys. We all judge. At times the animal instincts take over, other times we act without judgment. The key here is to understand the state of mind is like a long journey. As we move along, we transform into different mental states. It is dynamic and happens every day. It is a perpetual process. We can be a Vanar at times, we act like a Nar at most time, and the beauty is, we all can be Narayan as well. All we need to do is to throw away judgment by shedding our ego. The same ego, which is nothing but the fear encapsulated part of our mind. What is left behind once the ego is shed, is just Aatma(आत्मा). Ego is finite, Aatma is infinite. Ego is the only barrier between you and nature. It filters all the inputs you get from the outside. Aatma has no judgment, for it has no sense of self. It is just a small piece of the divine that encapsulates the entire universe and yet is a universe in itself.  Aatma connects us with nature, thereby making us nature, making us infinite. Just like the droplet of water, which when mixed with the ocean, becomes the ocean itself.


I would like to end this post by quoting these beautiful lines by Swami Vivekanada:

"The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him - that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free. I become infinite." 

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