Service nonpareil

‘Dasya bhakti’ is one of the many kinds of Bhakti. ‘Dasya bhakti’ is to look upon the Lord or the Guru as the Master and deem oneself as His servant and serve Him submissively in every way.
Hanuman exemplified ‘Dasya bhakti’. Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya on the completion of his life in the forest. The coronation of Lord Rama was performed. When he ruled over the kingdom Hanuman remained with him and involved himself in unparalleled ‘Rama seva’ (service to Rama).
Considering it a great fortune, Hanuman served Lord Rama in every way from the moment He (Lord Rama) woke up until He retired to bed at night. He knew the Lord’s every need and served Him single handedly. Was he not the personification of humility! He performed the services with deep devotion, bereft of any egotistic thought (‘it is I who am verily doing everything’) and deeming it to be Lord Rama’s mercy. Sita devi, the constant companion of Lord Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrugna marveled at Hanuman’s service.
One day, Lord Rama highly praised the services of Hanuman. Hearing His praises, Sita and Rama’s brothers began to deeply yearn to serve the Lord like Hanuman, at least for a day. They sat down to discuss the issue and felt that they could also certainly serve the Lord in like manner. They decided to give it a try. They approached Lord Rama to speak to Him about their decision. They prayed to Lord Rama, “Hanuman single handedly takes care of all your needs. For a single day tomorrow we desire to carry out all the services that Hanuman has been rendering you. Kindly permit us to do so.”
Moving out, they listed out the various services that have to be rendered since Rama’s waking up from bed at dawn till His return to the bed at night. They then decided on how the various work had to be divided between them. They returned to Lord Rama and showed it to Him for approval. Lord Rama glanced through it. It held the details of who would perform the various services. It contained all but Hanuman’s name.
Pointing to this, Lord Rama remarked, “It does not contain Hanuman’s name!” They explained, “We four shall divide all the work between us and serve you!”
Lord Rama asked, “Have you listed out all the services?”
In one voice they exclaimed, “Oh! Yes! We have!”
Lord Rama enquired, “Can any service that has been omitted in this be rendered by Hanuman?”
Without the least hesitation they said, “Oh! No! Such a situation will not arise!”
Lord Rama said, “Think again and give me your reply.”
In one voice they repeated, “Yes. Such a situation will not arise!”
Lord Rama final gave the go to their request.
Hanuman learnt of the instruction of Lord Rama. The next day Sita devi and Lord Rama’s brothers joyfully and wonderfully began to render all the services from the time Lord Rama woke up.
It was a day of much rejoicing for them. They could stay in Lord Rama’s physical proximity and they could also serve Him. As per Lord Rama’s order Hanuman sat at the doorstep silently chanting “Rama! Rama!” He was also watching if all the service were being rendered properly!
The day was gradually closing down and at last it was time for Lord Rama to go to bed. Sita devi came into the room to offer ‘tamboola’ (betel leaf and nuts taken after meals) to Lord Rama. Just then Lord Rama opened His mouth. The mouth did not close! Time passed and Lord Rama’s mouth remained open!
There was no movement of any kind. Sita Devi was horrified. She feared that something had gone wrong seriously and rushed out. She called out to Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrugna. They came rushing. They called out, “Oh! brother! Oh! Brother!” There was absolutely no response from Lord Rama.
The royal doctor was brought in. Testing the Lord’s pulse the doctor declared nothing was wrong with him and left the room.
For a moment the thought, ‘shall we seek Hanuman’s help?’ rose up in them. It was but short lived. The thought, ‘No! We shall do something about it,” came up. After deep thought they decided to call the family Guru Vasishta.
They thought, ‘Is he not the family Guru. He will certainly offer a solution.’

They brought Vasishta to the Lord.
Vaishta looked at Lord Rama in sheer astonishment. He had never before seen Lord Rama’s mouth remaining open in this manner. He tried out all the ideas that he could conceive of. He chanted some Mantras in Lord Rama’s ears. But it was of no avail. He sat down in meditation for sometime. No, he could not comprehend what had gone wrong.
A little while later Vasishta suggested, “Call Hanuman. Only he can solve this problem.”
The moment Hanuman heard this he came inside in a single leap and snapped his fingers in front of Lord Rama’s mouth. At once Lord Rama’s mouth closed! All breathed a heave of sigh. Their sorrow filled faced cleared up and they rejoiced. Lord Rama began to speak, “When I yawn, Hanuman would snap his fingers in front of my mouth. At once I would close my mouth. He knew even this need of mine and served me. You know not this.” All bent their heads in shame.
They realized that none could equal Hanuman in Dasya bhakti. He was unparalleled. They praised him whole-heartedly.