Hanuman is an 'amsha' of Lord Shiva

This is a story related by Swamiji – Shri Shri Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj to me Dasari Jagadish Kumar.

When Lord Shri Rama, Mother Sita and Laxmana returned to Ayodhya from Sri Lanka along with Hanuman, the citizens received them with immense joy. Then there were celebrations all over for several days for Lord Shri Rama’s coronation. Mother Sita was so pleased with all the love and respect she received from them that she wanted to host a meal for all the citizens in return. Lord Rama agreed to her proposal and she started preparing for the massive event. Hanuman supported her through all the activities of procuring the groceries and making all the arrangements working hard day and night. Mother Sita was very pleased with Hanuman’s service. She was already grateful for all the help she received from Hanuman over the past few months and was looking for an opportunity to express it. Finally, when the food was ready and the citizens were arriving to have the meal, she felt that Hanuman must be very hungry. She was concerned that Hanuman will get busy in serving the guests and he may not get the chance to eat for a long time. Besides, she wanted to serve him herself as he was like her child. She asked him to be seated and have his meal first and offered to serve him.

Hanuman obeyed mother Sita and sat down to have the meal. As she served the food one dish after the other, Hanuman kept eating. To her surprise, she found that Hanuman did not appear satiated. He kept on eating. He was eating so much that that she started wondering if he would eat all the stuff that was cooked for the thousands of citizens. She started worrying but could not stop serving him. She excused herself and ran to Lord Rama and explained her fear to him. Lord Rama asked her, “Who do you think Hanuman is? He is an ‘amsha’ of Lord Shiva. Therefore, any amount of either food or any material stuff - however precious will not satisfy him. The only thing that satisfies him is devotion.” Mother Sita agreed, “I thought he was your obedient devotee and I consider him my child. Thanks for disclosing who he really is. But please tell me how to satiate him now. Otherwise I will be in trouble. We will have to start procuring all the groceries and begin cooking again and the citizens won’t be able to wait for long.” Lord Rama responded, “Sita, you will have to prostrate to Hanuman to satiate him. But, because he also considers and respects you as his mother, he won’t tolerate it if he sees you prostrate to him. Prostrate to him from behind him so he does not see you, and pray to him.” Mother Sita rushed back, and quietly prostrated to Hanuman from behind him and prayed to him, “My lord, forgive my ignorance. I realize who you are now. It is my mistake to think that I could feed you enough to satiate you.” Within a few moments, Hanuman burped and got up saying, “Mother, I had enough of this wonderful food. Thanks. Let me now make sure that all the guests are served properly. They must be waiting.”