Journal of Vaishnava Studies

Abstract

Hanumån is prominent in the Råmåya∫a (but much more so in later versions of the Råma narrative than in Vålmîki), absent from the
HarivaµΩa (as Mary Brockington pointed out at the last Dubrovnik conference), and present only to a limited extent in the Mahåbhårata.
Here I examine Hanumån’s portrayal in the Mahåbhårata, which, I believe, has not yet been the subject of a separate study.2
Essentially, Hanumån’s presence in the Critical Edition text is restricted to two passages, both found in the Åra∫yakaparvan: Bhîma’s encounter with him on Mount Gandhamådana, the Hanumadbhîmasamågama (3.146-150), and the Råmopakhyåna (3.258-275). Apart from these two passages, there is no other direct reference to Hanumån anywhere in the text of the Critical
Edition, and even in the * and App. I passages (that is, the material excluded from the text for lack of sufficient manuscript support, which is most probably of later date), the number of references is quite limited, with the largest number also in the Åranyakaparvan and other mentions by name occurring only in the Ådi, Udyoga, Dro∫a and Kar∫a parvans. In addition, there is the monkey depicted on Arjuna’s standard, unnamed elsewhere in the text but claimed by Hanumån to be himself at the end of his dialogue
with Bhîma.