Passage 4

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In plain words

Such Ānanda is not to be had by us on any other path. Nārada, Tumburu, Mīrā, Sakkubāyi and all the great devotees took the Name alone as their support, made it a boat on the ocean called their worldly life, and reached the shore. A life without the Name, a thing without the Name, the true devotee will not accept at all. After the slaying of Rāvaṇa, Rāma came to Ayodhyā, and at the time of the coronation He went on handing out many gifts to many people. But in Hanumān's case … He showed no such care at all. Sītā reminded Him.

He is the crest-jewel of monkey kings, who fulfilled the task of Raghupati; he is Hanumān the guru, who … came forth in the worlds; he is the one who entered the city of Laṅkā again and again and searched the city through; he is the one of boundless valour, who sought Jānakī in every way.

‘He is the crest-jewel of monkey kings. He is the one who offered up his very life in Rāma's work. You have not given him a gift of any kind!’ she said. Rāma answered. ‘I have nothing with Me that I could give him. One can satisfy ordinary people with some thing or other, more or less. To Hanumān, who is merged in My Name, I am giving Myself,’ He said. But with the thought that, when so many in the court had been honoured in this way, Hanumān might be deeply hurt if he alone were not given this worldly honour, Sītā gave Hanumān the pearl necklace that was on her neck. In worldly terms it was very precious. But he bit each pearl in that string, one by one, biting and biting, and threw them away. Right there in the court. But everyone thought, ‘Alas, where can this monkey nature go? Biting precious pearls, holding them to his ear, throwing them away!’ Everyone was pained that he was doing this. Sītā, who recognised this truth, questioned him. ‘Hanumān, I have understood what you mean, but people do not understand it; tell them the reason for it,’ she said. And Hanumān: ‘Every hair of my body is filled with the Name of Rāma. That being so, I do not need these precious pearls that lack the Name of Rāma. They are no better than stones,’ he said. That is why, having become so great a devotee, having become one of great resolve who won even Rāma, he went on asking for this one Name alone; he did not crave these worldly things. There is nothing else in the world that cannot be achieved through the Name.

But how are we to experience this Name? By describing God without end, by praising Him without end, God goes further away from man. God does not accept descriptions of Himself or praise of Himself.