1. Philosophical Elements in the Hanumannāṭaka

The Hanumannāṭaka of Śrī Dāmodara Miśra is a mahānāṭaka full of literary elements. However, some philosophical elements are also not wanting in it. The author Śrī Dāmodara Miśra uses some words which indicates his keen acquaintance with philosophical ideas.

The word ‘ātman’^[1] (self) indicates that the Hanumannāṭaka of Śri Dāmodara provides some information regarding the orthodox system of Indian philosophy. In the Hanumannāṭaka, the word ‘ātman’ is used in 4^th nāndī verse to refer to Rāma as the ‘ātman’ of all beings.

The word ‘ātman’ is of frequent use in almost all the philosophical texts including the Upaniṣads. The individual self is the thing which is known to all, and it is the nearest approach to the Absolute, though it itself is not the Absolute. In fact the individual self is a mixture of the real and the unreal, not of the existent and the nonexistent, and a coupling of the true and the false. The real nature of this is pure consciousness, self-shining and self-proved and always the same. So it is called the ultimate witness or the sākṣin.

The original meaning of the word ‘ātman’ is life, breath and then gradually acquired the meanings of feelings, mind, soul and spirit. The true self has been the main topic of investigation in the Upaniṣads. Socrates of ancient Greece has also persistently advocated the supreme necessity of ‘Know Thyself”^[2]. The Gītā believes in rebirth until the ultimate state is reached. In the Kaṭhopaniṣad, it is said that ‘Ātman’ is the ultimate reality.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

taṃ rāmaṃ rāvaṇāriṃ daśarathatanyaṃ lakṣmaṇāgryaṃguṇāḍhyaṃ pūjyaṃ prājyaṃ pratāpāvalayitajaladhiṃ sarvasaubhāgyasiddhim
vidyānandaikanandaṃ kalimalapataladvaṃsinaṃ saumyadevaṃ sarvātmānaṃ namāmi tribhuvanaśaraṇaṃ pratyayahaṃ niṣkalaṅkam// Hanumannāṭaka, I.4

[2]:

Sharma, C.D., A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy, p.19