Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
The Arsonist
We acclaim the glorious story of Sri Rama as an epic par excellence. It is for
us a guidebook to righteous conduct, a pre-eminent work on psychology depicting
ideal human relationships, a compendium on military strategy and war craft and
a manual of administration. All these and other aspects are portrayed by Sri
Valmiki through appropriate characterisation.
If we consider the totality of the Epic, we find that but for the Divine Duo,
the most complete character appears to be Sri Hanuman. His wondrous, amazing
and astounding exploits fill us with astonishment-the crossing of the ocean to
Lanka, his dealing summarily with the hurdles that crop up in the process, his
dare-devilry in the opponent's capital, his affording reassurance both to the
beleagured Janaki Devi and the sorrowful Chakravartthi Tirumagan, his exploits
on the battle field, his transportation of the Sanjeevi Parvatam for the
rejuvenation of Lakshmana-all these fill us with a feeling of incredulity,
chiefly because of our inability to imagine anyone being capable of doing all
this and emerging totally unscathed.
After achieving his avowed mission of locating the whereabouts of Sri Mythily
and instilling in Her fresh hope of imminent rescue by Sri Raghava, Sri Maruti
decides to let the Rakshasas have a taste of his prowess. Instead of quietly
returning to Kishkindha as he should have done, Sri Hanuman indulges himself by
disposing of several hundred Rakshasas, including some distinguished ones like
JambhumAli and seven other sons of Ravana's ministers, five of his top military
commanders, AkshakumAra (the youngest son of Ravana's) et al. And again in
sport, he lets himself be bound by the BrahmAstra, out of regard for Brahma and
permits himself to be brought to Ravana's court, availing the opportunity to
insult Lankesvara and sing the glorious praises of Sri Rama.
Burning with rage, Ravana wants to kill Hanuman, but is deterred by
Vibhishana's quoting the scripture in support of not killing a messenger.
Instead, Ravana deems it a fit punishment for the monkey, to set fire to its
tail, which he considers to be the worst humiliation that can be inflicted on
the creature. Enthusiastic underlings immediately tie a lot of old clothes to
Maruti's tail, pour gallons of oil over it and set fire to the tail. And
thousands of them join to pull Hanuman all over the streets of Lanka, bursting
with pride at having captured and humiliated the incredible intruder.
When news of this is carried by Her jailers to Sri Janaki, She immediately
prays to Agni Bhagavan not to hurt Hanuman-"SeethO bhava HanUmata". At the
other end, Sri Anjaneya is extremely surprised to find his tail burning
furiously but generating little discomfort for him. He decides to teach the
Rakshasas a lesson they wouldn't forget in a hurry.
With his burning tail, Maruti leaps over the houses of Ravana's courtiers,
choosing with care the magnificent residences of ministers and military
commanders. With a mild swipe of his tail, Hanuman sets fire to these
residences, which crumble to mere embers in a matter of minutes, due to the
intensity of the heat. Paradoxically, Agni Bhagavan, who has no effect on the
Monkey God, rages with all the fury at his command while burning down the
Lankan houses. The list of victims reads like a Who's Who of the Lankan high
society-Prahasta, MahApArsva, Vajradamshtra, Suka, SAraNa, Indrajit,
JambhumAli, SumAli, RashmikEtu, Suryashatru, HrisvakarNa, Damshtra, ROmasa,
Vidyutjihva, KumbhakarNa and so on. Amidst all this spree of arson, Sri Maruti
carefully spares the residence of Sri Vibhishana, venting his fury instead on
the splendorous palace of Ravana.
>From a glorious and teeming city filled with beautiful mansions with towers
>studded with gems, pearls and precious stones, roads and pathways full of rich
>adornments and valuable vehicles, Lanka is transformed within seconds into a
>blazing inferno, with huge tongues of fire leaping with facility from one
>beautiful building to another. The raging fire is fuelled by strong winds
>fanning the flames and fuelling their destructive potential. Hanuman's act was
>akin to that of Rudra's, in burning down the TripurAs. Unsatisfied with the
>havoc he has wreaked so far, Maruti leaps atop the TrikUta mountain and sets
>fire to its crest. Fanned by winds and due to the altitude, this fire spreads
>to all the hitherto unaffected parts of Lanka. It is as if Agni and Vayu, who
>had hitherto been held under tight leash by Ravana, had regained their freedom
>and were intent on wreaking vengeance on their tormentor. Viewed from the sky,
>Lanka resembles a huge burning ground, with most of its dastardly inhabitants
>forming live fuel for the raging fire. In the space of an hour, the entire
>city of magnificence and incredible beauty is reduced to glowing embers and
>burnt cinders.
The question now arises as to whether Sri Maruti exceeded his brief in burning
down Lanka, when his principal mission was to find Vaidehi and report to Sri
Rama accordingly.
After meeting Sri Mythily at Ashoka Vanam, Sri Hanuman lets himself be
overpowered by Ravana's minions and dragged to DasagrIvA's presence, to deliver
to him a message of goodwill and friendship from SugrIva and to convey his
sincere request for setting Sita Devi free from captivity. Sri Hanuman's speech
at Ravana's court is a model of diplomacy, containing not a single offensive
word and aimed at achieving through tact and subtlety, what was possible
normally only after a terrible war with lost lives and rivers of blood flowing
freely. However, when Ravana turns a deaf ear to these pearls of wisdom and
instead, turns firmer in his resolve to hold on to Sri Janaki and to inflict
harm on Hanuman, the latter decides to teach the Lankans an object lesson,
which would stay in their mind for long, if not forever. Through his fiery
action, Sri Maruti was also conveying a message to Ravana about the shape of
things to come, if he were to choose a path of confrontation with Sri Raghava.
The Ramayana Parayana sloka tells us that it was no ordinary fire that scorched
Lanka, but one which had its origins in the sorrow of a PativratA, who was
separated by force from Her beloved, incarcerated against Her wish and was
being threatened to engage in adulterous affairs. The flames were stoked by no
ordinary winds, but the deep distress of the LOkamAtA, who had sworn never to
be separated from Her Consort, at being forced to be apart from Him for what
appeared to be unending aeons. The tongues of fire were fuelled by the anger
and fury of the chastest of women, at the Rakshasa's attempts to force Her into
adultery. It was thus the invisible but intense fire of sorrow and grief that
was eating away the innards of Sri Mythily, almost driving Her to suicide, that
transformed the lovely Lanka into a city of ashes and embers. All that Maruti
did was to transfer the fire from the tormented mind of Janaki to the towering
buildings of Lanka-
"ullanghya sindhO: salilam saleelam ya: shOka vahnim JanakAtmajAyA:
AdAya tEnaiva dadAha LankAm namAmi tam prAnjali: AnjanEyam".
That the fires of hell are nothing before the destructive potential of a chaste
woman who is wronged, is also borne out by more recent occurrences as that of
the burning down of Madurai by KaNnagi, narrated in SilappadhikAram.
Srimate Sri LakshmINrismha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana
Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:
dasan, sadagopan
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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