Canto III – Hanuman’s Wrath
Hanuman was so angry at the way that Sita was being treated that he decided to show his prowess to Ravana before he left. He wanted him to realise the might of the army, he would have to face. He thought of a method to rouse the ire of the rakshasa king and decided that the best way would be to destroy this garden, which was obviously one of his favourites. He set about this destruction in a most methodical manner. Like a raging tempest, he uprooted every tree and trampled it with his feet, the creepers were twisted, the temple smashed, the pools splattered with the copper coloured buds of the Ashoka trees. Lakes were churned and made muddy, the little hillocks were ground to powder and the beloved garden of Ravana was made into a desolate waste. Having accomplished this much, Hanuman climbed to the top of the archway to the garden and waited expectantly for things to happen. He did not have long to wait. There was a great commotion in the garden itself. The birds were screeching in terror and the deer and the peacocks were crying loudly.
The rakshasis who were in charge of Sita now woke up from their drunken stupor and demanded to know what was happening. They saw the monkey and wanted to know who he was. Sita said she knew nothing about him. They saw the huge monkey sitting on the arch and ran to report to Ravana. “There’s a huge monkey who has laid waste the whole garden. The only place he has not destroyed is the tree under which Sita sits. He was seen talking to her but she denies knowing anything about him”.
Ravana was furious when he heard of the fate of his favourite garden. He sent some strong rakshasas to kill the monkey. Hanuman was delighted. He had been waiting for an opportunity to show his valour. They surrounded him and tried to beat him. He grew in size and clapped his hands on his shoulders in the manner of wrestlers and said in a reverberating voice, “I am Hanuman, the servant of Lord Ram. Not a thousand Ravanas are capable of withstanding my powers. I will return only after devastating Lanka”.
Pulling up a pillar on which the arch was supported, he beat and killed all the rakshasas who had come to subdue him. This was reported to Ravana who found it very difficult to believe. He sent a young warrior called Jambumali, who was the son of his minister, with a large contingent and Hanuman killed him in a trice, thus causing great confusion amongst the soldiers. Next Ravana sent another contingent with the sons of his other ministers and they were also killed. Streams of blood flowed down the main highway of Lanka leading to the palace carrying with it the mangled bodies, legs and arms of rakshasas. Ravana was quite bewildered by this unexpected turn of events and decided to send his youngest son, Aksha Kumara to subdue the monkey. Wearing an armour of gold and looking like the morning sun, the young boy went forth in his chariot, sure of success. There was a terrible encounter between the two of them. Hanuman was greatly impressed by the boy and did not feel like killing him, but he knew that in war, there was no question of showing mercy.
He killed the horses first and then smashed the chariot. The boy flew up into the air and Hanuman jumped up and caught him and dashed him to death on the ground. Ravana was sunk in gloom when he heard about the death of his dear son. He summoned his eldest son, Meghanatha, who was also known as Indrajit after he had defeated Indra, the king of the gods in battle. Ravana told Indrajit to go and punish the monkey, for he feared that there was something unusual about him and the army could not handle the situation. Indrajit was an invincible warrior and set out with delight.
He hurled missile after missile at Hanuman who evaded them with great dexterity. Indrajit was amazed at this monkey’s powers and realised that it was impossible to kill him, so he decided to invoke a divine missile which would paralyse him. The impact of this celestial astra called the nagapasa, knocked out Hanuman and made him feel, as if he was bound. He recovered immediately but he decided that it would be good to pretend to be senseless, so that he would be taken into the presence of Ravana. He was tied up with stout hemp ropes and dragged before the demon king. The moment the gross ropes touched his body, the subtle effects of the astra were nullified. Indrajit saw this and knew that the effect of the astra must have gone but to his surprise the monkey allowed himself to be dragged to the court. Indrajit was puzzled but he went and reported the matter to his father.
Hanuman was kicked and pulled into the hall where Ravana was seated, surrounded by his retinue of ministers. Hanuman had to admit that he was indeed a magnificent personality. He was clad in the softest of white silks which looked like billows of surf on the seashore. Many wonderful gems were round his neck and bracelets on his strong arms. His green eyes were gleaming with strange lights and looked piercingly at Hanuman. For a few minutes Hanuman was dazzled by his charisma and could not help but gaze admiringly at him. He thought to himself that if Ravana had only been a righteous person, he could easily have been the king of gods, so glorious was his personality.
Ravana looked deep into the tawny eyes of the monkey and some unknown fear assailed him. He remembered the incident long ago when Shiva, his favourite deity, had failed to comply with his demands. This had infuriated him so much that, in his arrogance, he had put one finger under the mountain of Kailasa, the abode of Shiva and tilted it perilously. Parvathi had been frightened and Shiva, to comfort her and to quell Ravana’s pride, had simply pressed the mountain down with his big toe and crushed Ravana’s finger. Ravana is supposed to have placated Shiva by composing the fantastic hymn, known as the “Shiva Thandava stotra”. However, Shiva’s bull-vehicle, Nandi, had cursed Ravana that he would suffer defeat, when Nandi himself came in the form of a monkey. For a moment, Ravana thought, that this was the time foretold by Nandi and then he dismissed the incident as of no concern and asked his minister to question the monkey about his purpose in coming to Lanka.
“0 monkey! Have no fear. Answer truthfully and no harm will come to you. It is obvious that you are no ordinary simian but one who has come in disguise, sent by one of the gods. If you lie you will be killed”? said the minister. Hanuman did not deign to reply to him.
Turning to Ravana he said, “I am not an emissary of the gods, neither am I in disguise. I am a monkey by birth and I destroyed the garden because I wanted to meet you face to face. 0 king! I have come here as a messenger of Sri Ram, whose wife Sita has been abducted by you. No one who has wronged Ram will escape death. Decide to act according to dharma and then perhaps you will be allowed to go free. Your life has been blessed by many gods and is filled with glorious things. Why should all this glory come to an end, because of a woman. You are wise and you should know the dictates of dharma. Is it correct to abduct another man’s wife, against her wishes? There is no power in-all the three worlds which can withstand the might of Ram. Let dharma and self-interest guide you. Restore Sita to her rightful husband. I have seen her and she is in the grip of grief. My valour alone is enough to destroy the whole of Lanka, what then if Ram comes? Sita is like the noose of death, which you have placed securely round your neck. Ram’s anger is deadly. Your duty is to protect your subjects, kinsmen, children, wives and wealth. Think well about what I have said and then act”
Ravana’s anger was mounting, with every moment. He could hardly contain himself till the end of the talk and roared to the guards to kill the precocious monkey.
Ravana’s wise brother, Vibhishana, now intervened and said, “My Lord, please consider before you put this monkey to death. I admit that he has done a lot of damage but remember he is a messenger and it is against all rules of etiquette to execute a messenger”.
Ravana was in no mood to listen to such wise counsel and ordered that Hanuman should be killed immediately.
Again Vibhishana said, “He is here only to convey a message sent by the enemy and is himself guiltless. The rules are very clear on this point that a messenger should not be put to death. You can torture him, shave off his hair or whip him, but you cannot kill him or else there will be a blot on your fair name. Attempts should be made to attack the princes who have sent him. Only a small portion of your army need be sent to kill those two human beings, but do not kill this monkey”.