Preface — The Authentic Rasika Tradition

Wandering in the house of delusion, the mind and understanding hang entangled;
Without the teaching that breaks the gate of austerity, one speaks awkward and incoherent words.
Quarrelling with tender-hearted saints, one makes conquest of sense-objects dance upon one’s head;
Yugalananya says: above all stands the true tradition of the rasikas.
The tradition of Lady Sita, the sovereign mistress, is known to those who know the Veda;
Great Shambhu, Hanuman—the crown of rasikas—and Agastya have proclaimed it.
By the grace of their feet, the great sage churned the mantra’s supreme nectar;
Yugalananya Sharan says: the coward in the dark age strains to speak of something else.

The Artha-pañcaka, drawn from within the Śrī Hanumat Saṃhitā, was explained by the commentator Pandit Ramavallabha Sharan Ji Maharaj. The Mahant of the monastery of Sri Maniram Das Ji Maharaj had it printed and distributed among the Vaishnava community to make the five truths known. The Śrī Hanumat Saṃhitā is therefore an ancient work.

Without air, how could gods, Dakshas, Gandharvas, human beings, or indeed any living creature remain alive? In the same way, every spiritual discipline should be regarded as lifeless without worship of and grace from Sri Hanuman, the son dear to Vayu as Vayu’s own life—even if that discipline could bestow immense sovereignty, the eight powers, and the nine treasures.

For this reason the four traditions—the Sri, Brahma, Rudra, and Sanakadi lineages—stand as vigilant guardians of eternal Vaishnava dharma. Tender-hearted followers of all four traditions, and all who adhere to Sanatana Dharma, gladly honor and worship Sri Hanuman in one form or another and thereby fulfil their heart’s desire.

According to the Vedic teaching, the five vital airs are indispensable for bodily health. When the five prāṇas become disordered, the body becomes ill; when the disorder reaches its extreme, the body perishes.