Shatashloki 84: Hanuman burnt down the entire city of Lanka

Tato dagdhvaa pureem lankaam rte seetaancha maithileem
Raamaaya priya maakhyaatum punaraayaanmahaakapih

Meaning of the hymn- After speaking to Ravana, Hanuman burnt down the entire city
of Lanka, barring the Ashoka Vana where Seeta was living. Having completed this
task, he speedily rushed back so as the deliver the good news to Lord Rama.
Enraged by the words of Hanuman, Ravana ordered that he be instantly killed. At
this juncture, Ravana‟s brother Vibhishana intervened and said that, as per the
scriptures, it was wrong to kill a messenger.

Ravana then ordered Hanuman‟s tail should be wrapped in old rags and torched. He
further said that Hanuman should be taken in a procession throughout the city with
this burning tail.

As dictated by their king, the demons quickly brought forth all the cloth and tied
Hanuman‟s tail with it. They then poured oil and set it ablaze. Hanuman was taken in
a procession along the entire city. Hanuman anyway had desired to tour the city
once more and hence he quietly put up with all this insult. Men, women children and
old and enthusiastically came out into the streets to watch him who was being led in
a procession.

Hanuman‟s tail was burning fiercely. Along with it, his heart was also burning. He
was extremely angry. The demons took him to the crossroads at the city centre and
were making loud proclamations that he was a spy of Rama. He were goading every
citizen to take a look at the monkey with a burning tail.

This news reached Mother Seeta. She was deeply saddened. She was distraught that
he was undergoing all this torture for her sake. She prayed to Lord of Fire (Agni) and
beseeched him to look after Her son Hanuman. She prayed that the flames should
have a cooling effect on him.

The Fire God immediately responded to her prayers. Standing in the city square,
Hanuman could no longer feel the heat from the burning tail. He thought that he
could experience this coolness only because of the grace of Lord Rama.

The very next instant, Hanuman shrunk and became very tiny. He freed himself from
all those shackles. Within a fraction he grew enormously large. Picking up a huge
iron pillar near the main entrance, he smashed all those demons who had been
proclaiming their victory so far.

Then observing the city of Lanka, he pondered as follows, “My mission has been
accomplished. I have met Mother Seeta. I have seen the demon Ravana. I have
completely assessed his valour and might. I have walked through the entire city and
identified all their secrets and assessed the extent of their weaponry. I have killed a
few prominent among their army and damaged their garden. Now only the beautiful
buildings and the forts remain intact. Anyway my tail is burning. I can now offer
some food to this fire that is seated in my tail. Let me now destroy all these
buildings”.

He immediately flew up again and jumped from one building to another setting them
on fire. As it is these buildings were made of lac. Firstly he spotted the house of the
minister Prahasta. Very happily he jumped into that house. He was moving around
as if someone was chasing him and he was trying to escape. He was jumping out of
one window and hopping in from another, swiftly running through the corridors,
nevertheless at every step he was leaving a trail of fire behind. From that building he
jumped onto another and repeated the process.

The Fire God appeared to be very pleased with this offering. The flames began to rise
quickly and he began to devour all the buildings. The Fire God must have thought
that no one had ever given him one entire city as food! Each house in this city was
as vast as a huge city itself. The wind only strengthened the flames.

The cries of the citizens filled the air. How were they to bring adequate water to
douse the fire? The entire ocean would have to be brought in to control the fire of
this size. People were running helter-skelter, not knowing how to save themselves.
Hanuman however appeared like fierce Rudra at the time of the destruction/ burning
of Tripura. Barring the Ashoka Vana whether Seeta was living, he doused the entire
city. He also spared a few houses belonging to Ravana. All the others, he burnt
down.

Lanka had lost all its sheen and splendour. It was totally devastated. Only the
shrieks and screams of the demons could be heard.

Having completed this task, Hanuman went to the ocean and dipped his tail into the
waters. The fire on his tail was extinguished. He then stood there and contemplated
on Rama. All of a sudden he recollected Mother Seeta. He was remorseful that in his
hurriedly burning down the entire city, inadvertently he could have harmed Seeta as
well. He was extremely sorrowful. He began to reproach himself. Exactly at that time
charanas (celestial bards) who were moving about in the sky were speaking amongst
themselves- “Hanuman has burnt down the entire city of Lanka. But he has spared
the Ashoka Vana where Seeta resides. She is safe”.

Hanuman was deeply elated upon hearing these words. Immediately he took a long
leap and began to fly back home. As soon as he was able to spot the land where the
Vanaras were awaiting his arrival, Hanuman, who was still flying, let out a loud
thunderous roar.

The Vanaras hearing this roar jumped and danced in great jubilation. There was no
limit to their excitement. Hanuman greeted Angada and all of them upon his arrival
and said, “I have seen Seeta”. Firstly he used the word-‟seen‟. He then narrated the
entire story in brief to them.

The Vanaras in great jubilation proceeded back home. On the way they entered the
garden Madhuvana, the private garden of Sugriva. They trashed Dadhimukha, the
Vanara who tried to prevent their entry into it. Through this action, they sent an
advance signal to Sugriva of the success in their mission.

Sugriva understood that Angada and Hanuman had successfully completed the
mission and he gave this good news to Rama. Further he sent a message asking the
Vanaras to return home.

Angada, accompanied by Hanuman and the others, returned.

Om Seeta Ramabhyaam Namaha.