[Thread]
Bajrang, Vajrang (vajrāṅga, वज्राङ्ग), Hanumān, and Guru Hanuman
Bajrang Punia won a bronze in the men’s freestyle 65kg wresting event at the Tokyo Olympics yesterday. I was asked about the origin of the name ‘Bajrang’.
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The name ‘Bajrang’ comes from Sanskrit ‘vajrāṅga’ (वज्राङ्ग), a word which means “he whose body/limbs (aṅga) is/are [hard/strong] like ‘vajra’ (diamond or Indra’s weapon)” (वज्रमिवाङ्गं यस्य स वज्राङ्गः, यद्वा वज्रमिवाङ्गानि यस्य स वज्राङ्गः).
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As many of you know, Bajrang (or Bajrang Bali) is an epithet of Hanumān in Hindi. There was a famous Bollywood Hindi movie named ‘Bajrangbali’ (1976), in which Dara Singh, who was also a wrestler, played the role of Hanumān. Wrestling scenes in this movie were a treat.
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In Sanskrit also, ‘vajrāṅga’ is a name of Hanumān in the the Hanumat-sahasranāma of the Mantramahārṇava: “vajrāṅgo vajravaktraśca bhaktavajranivārakaḥ”.
Bajrang is an apt name for a wrestler since many traditional Hindu wrestlers are ardent devotees of Hanumān.
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One such wrestler was the legendary Vijay Pal Yadav (1901–1999). He was such a staunch devotee of Hanumān that he even took on the name of his ‘iṣṭa’—Vijay Pal Yadav became ‘Guru Hanuman’. Not only that, just like his ‘iṣṭa’, Guru Hanuman followed brahmacharya for life.
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He founded an akhada to train wrestlers in 1925 with the help of K. K. Birla. Guru Hanuman coached or mentored the brightest Indian wrestlers for decades. His students got Arjuna Awards, won medals at Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, and represented India at the Olympics.
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Guru Hanuman was fit and actively coaching, consuming large amounts of ghee and milk, even in his late 90s. He died on 24 May 1999, at the age of 98, not of old age or any ailments, but in a car crash! He was on his way to Haridwar to bathe in the holy Ganga.
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Guru Hanuman’s legacy lives on. After K. D. Jadhav’s bronze in 1952, India did not have a wrestling medal in Olympics for 56 years. Then came Sushil Kumar, a ‘praśiṣya’ (grand-disciple) of Guru Hanuman. Sushil Kumar was coached by Satpal Singh, a disciple of Guru Hanuman.
Sushil Kumar won a bronze in 2008 and silver in 2012. Yogeshwar Dutt (bronze in 2012) also trained under Satpal Singh. So did Ravi Kumar Dahiya (silver in 2020). With his ‘praśiṣya’s and others like Bajrang winning Olympic medals now, Guru Hanuman’s dreams are coming true.
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