The Arsonist

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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