RAMA SHARES HIS FOOD WITH HANUMAN

 RAMA SHARES HIS FOOD WITH HANUMAN

RAMA SHARES HIS FOOD WITH HANUMAN

 After winning over rAvaNa and retrieving seetA dEvi, Shree rAma took off to ayOdhyA in the pushpaka vimAna along with vibheeshaNa and his votaries, sugreeva and the other vAnaras, seetA dEvi and LakshmaNa.  On the way, they halted for refreshment at bharadwAja muni's Ashram at prayAg, the beautiful confluence of the rivers gangA and yamunA.

Sage BharadwAja instantaneously brought forth a variety of food with his spiritual powers.  He welcomed Lord rAma and his associates, and offered a feast to each one of them on a separate banyan leaf.  Just then, rAma was reminded of bharata's vow to jump into the fire if He did not return from exile after 14 years. So, rAma told HanumAn to go immediately to bharata and inform him the good news about the retrieval of seetA and their return to ayOdhyA. 

   When HanumAn came back to BharadwAja ashram after duly informing Bharata, rAmA was waiting. Even before the sage placed a separate leaf for hanumAn, rAma asked HanumAn to sit in front of him and partake some fruits from one side of his banyan leaf. This incident that is mentioned in vashiShTha rAmAyaNam is quoted by Tirumangai AzhvAr to highlight the "graciousness" or "sausheelya guNa" of Lord rAma. This quality of simple kindness which takes the property of water that flows from a higher level to lower level is called as"neermai நீர்மை" in tamizh.  Though HanumAn belonged to a different species unlike human, Lord rAma shared his palate with him. Lord rAma felt that HanumAn's act of talking to seetA and uniting them when they were craving to see each other, was selfless and had no hidden agenda. Hence, He considered this unmatchable support of Hanuman beyond reward. 

PERIYA TIRUMOZHI 5.8.2.

வாத மாமகன் மர்கடம் விலங்கு* மற்று ஓர்சாதிஎன்று ஒழிந்திலை*  உகந்து 
காதல் ஆதரம் கடலினும் பெருகச்* செய்தகவினுக்கு இல்லை கைம்மாறு என்று*
கோது இல் வாய்மையினாயொடும் உடனே*  உண்பன் நான் என்ற ஒண் பொருள்*  எனக்கும 
ஆதல் வேண்டும் என்று அடிஇணை அடைந்தேன்*  அணி பொழில் திருவரங்கத்து அம்மானே.

 The story of Lord rAmA's sahabhOjanam with HanumAn is explained by Tirumangai AzhvAr in the above pAsuram.