Sundara Kanda, Sarga 55

Meaning

Perceiving the city of Laṅkā blazing and alarmed with its multitudes of ogres panic stricken, Hanumān became thoughtful. (1)

Meaning

A grave apprehension entered his mind and there arose in him a feeling of self-reproach. He said to himself: “What an abominable act has evidently been done by me in burning Laṅkā consummately ! (2)

Meaning

Blessed indeed are those broad-minded great souls who in their wisdom curb the anger born within them even as they quench a blazing fire with water. (3)

Meaning

What angry man would not perpetrate a sinful act? He who is angry may kill even his elders. Nay an angry man may insult even pious souls in harsh tones. (4)

Meaning

He who is enraged can never discern what is worth uttering and what ought not to be uttered. There is no iniquity anywhere which cannot be perpetrated by an angry man and no abusive language which cannot be uttered by him. (5)

Meaning

He alone is truly called a man, who drives away by virtue of sheer forbearance the anger that has sprung up in his heart even as a snake casts off its slough. (6)

Meaning

‘Woe be to me, the greatest sinner, utterly perverse and impudent, who, practised incendiarism without giving any thought to the aforesaid Sītā and in this way proved (indirectly) responsible for taking the life of my master, Śrī Rāma. (7)

Meaning

‘If this whole city for its part has been burnt, the noble daughter of Janaka too has surely been burnt. By doing this the purpose of my master has unconsciously been frustrated by me. (8)

Meaning

‘That very cause for which this enterprise (in the shape of my journey across the sea and the destruction of Laṅkā) was undertaken has been marred in that Sītā has not been protected by me while burning Laṅkā. (9)

Meaning

‘This feat of burning Laṅkā has been accomplished by me as an insignificant act: there is no doubt about it. Overwhelmed as I was with anger, the very root of that achievement has, however, been cut at by me. (10)

Meaning

‘Sītā, the daughter of Janaka, has obviously perished; for no part of Laṅkā appears to have remained unburnt. The entire city lies in ashes. (11)

Meaning

‘If that cause in the shape of Sītā’s recovery has been marred by me through perversity of judgment, it appears agreeable to me even to yield up my life at this very spot this very day. (12)

Meaning

‘Shall I throw myself into the fire or into a submarine fire or offer my body to the denizens of the deep today? (13)

Meaning

‘How can Sugrīva, the lord of monkeys, or those two tigers among men, Śrī Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, be faced by me while I am alive, since the purpose has been marred by me in its entirety? (14)

Meaning

‘Through the culpability of my anger indeed the same simian nature has been exhibited at this juncture by me, which is well-known in all the three worlds (heaven, earth and the intermediate region) and has been characterized as unsteady. (15)

Meaning

‘Woe be to my movements dominated by Rājas (passion or anger), which are incapable of yielding desired results and are uncertain in the matter of results, because it was due to anger (born of Rajoguṇa) that Sītā was not protected by me, even though I was capable of doing it. (16)

Meaning

‘Sītā having perished, both those princes Śrī Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa too will perish. On their ceasing to exist, Sugrīva too will yield up his life with all his kinsfolk. (17)

Meaning

‘Even on hearing this report how will Bharata, who is fond of his brothers and whose mind is set on virtue, be able to survive with his younger brother, Śatrughna? (18)

Meaning

‘Of the most pious race of Ikṣwāku having met with extinction, all created beings will undoubtedly be tormented with grief and agony. (19)

Meaning

‘Having thus forfeited my stock of religious merit and earthly good, and hence devoid of good luck, my mind dominated by evil in the form of anger, I am evidently guilty of having compassed the destruction of the world.’ (20)

Meaning

While he was pondering thus, good omens appeared to him, whose welcome results had already been directly experienced by him. He pondered again as follows : (21)

Meaning

‘Or, it is possible the lady, who is charming of all limbs, has been protected by her own glory. The blessed lady would not perish; for fire does not burn fire. (22)

Meaning

‘Surely fire would not dare to touch the consort, protected on all sides by her own immaculate character, of that pious-minded prince Śrī Rāma, who is endowed with immeasurable energy. (23)

Meaning

‘Surely it was because of Śrī Rāma’s glory and the virtue of Sītā, a princess of the Videha territory, that this fire (lit., the bearer of sacrificial offerings), whose natural function it is to consume whatever comes into touch with it, could not burn me. (24)

Meaning

‘How could she, who is an object of adoration to the three brothers of Śrī Rāma, Bharata and others, and is beloved of Śrī Rāma’s heart, perish? (25)

Meaning

‘Or, how should this fire, whose, natural function it is to burn whatever comes into contact with it and has power over all, yet which could not burn even my tail, consume the noble lady because of whom this miracle has happened?’ (26)

Meaning

Hanumān then recalled once more with wonder on that spot the appearance in the midst of sea-water of the hill Maināka having gold in its cavities. (27)

Meaning

He said to himself : ‘By virtue of her asceticism, truthful speech and exclusive devotion to her husband, she can consume fire itself; fire, on the other hand, cannot consume her.’ (28)

Meaning

While pondering as aforesaid at that time the steadfastness of Sītā, a godlike lady in the path of virtue, Hanumān heard on that spot the following words of the high-souled Cāraṇas (heavenly bards) : (29)

Meaning

“Indeed a marvellous and difficult feat has been accomplished by Hanumān in igniting a fierce and terrible fire in the dwellings of the ogres. (30)

Meaning

“Thickly crowded with ogres, their womenfolk, children and the aged in rapid flight and filled with the noise of the people, this city of Laṅkā, which is shrieking, as it were, in the form of its denizens, has been burnt with its mountains, caverns, attics, defensive walls and archways; yet Sītā, Janaka’s daughter, has not been even touched by fire. This is an unprecedented wonder to us.” (31-32)

Meaning

Hanumān heard the aforesaid talk, which was sweet as nectar, and the joy which sprang up in his heart at that moment pervaded his soul. (33)

Meaning

On account of good omens whose welcome results had been perceived by him on many an occasion in the past; nay, for very potent reasons such as the glory of Śrī Rāma and Sītā’s exclusive devotion to her husband, which led him to conclude that Sītā was alive as also on the strength of the words of the Cāraṇas, who could see everything, the aforesaid Hanumān felt delighted in mind. (34)

Meaning

Coming to know of that princess having escaped unscathed, and then seeing her once more with his own eyes, Hanumān, who had attained his end and acquired the speed of thought, made up his mind to return to the presence of Śrī Rāma. (35)