The Burning of Lanka

Taking leave of Sita, Hanuman thought: "My task is done, but an envoy's work does not end here. I should also learn how strong the enemy is. And Ravana should see once, with his own eyes, what an ordinary servant of Ram can do. Then perhaps his reason will return."

The grove laid waste

He fell on Ravana's favourite grove. He uprooted trees, tore down bowers and churned up the ponds. He left untouched only the place where Sita sat. Then he climbed the gateway, sat down and roared:

"Victory to Ram! Victory to Lakshmana! Victory to King Sugriva, whom Ram protects! I am the servant of Ram, king of Kosala; I am Hanuman, son of the Wind. A thousand Ravanas could not face me in battle."

The rakshasis ran to tell Ravana. He sent eighty thousand guards. Hanuman pulled an iron bar from the gateway and struck them down. Then came Jambumali, son of Prahasta, then seven sons of ministers, then five generals. None returned.

Aksha

Then Ravana sent his young son Aksha. He came in a chariot drawn by eight horses and sent such a rain of arrows that even Hanuman paused a moment to watch. "He is a boy, but a brave one. I have no wish to kill him. Yet a fire that is growing cannot be ignored." With the flat of his hand he killed the eight horses, then caught Aksha by the feet, whirled him round and dashed him to the ground.

Indrajit and the weapon of Brahma

Now Ravana called his eldest son, Indrajit Meghanada, who had once bound Indra himself. The two fought for a long time. Seeing that Hanuman could not be killed, Indrajit released the weapon of Brahma.

Hanuman had Brahma's boon that this weapon could not hold him for more than a moment. Even so he bowed his head in honour of Brahma and let himself be bound. "This is well," he thought. "Now I shall come before Ravana." The rakshasas tied him further with ropes of hemp. At the touch of a second bond the weapon of Brahma released him of itself, but Hanuman stayed quietly bound.

Ravana's court

Hanuman looked at Ravana on his throne of gold, gems in his crown, ministers all round him. He said to himself, "What beauty, what composure, what fire! Were it not for his unrighteousness, he could have been protector even of the world of the gods."

When questioned, he spoke without fear. "I am a minister of Sugriva and the envoy of Ram. I laid waste the grove only in order to see you. Ravana, you have practised austerity and you know dharma. To keep another man's wife in your house does not become one like you. You will not stand before Ram, who killed Vali with a single arrow. Your boon protects you from gods and demons. Ram is neither god nor demon; Sugriva is neither yaksha nor gandharva. Give Sita back. What you keep in your house is not Sita but a five-hooded serpent. She is the night of death for Lanka."

Ravana shook with rage. "Kill him."

Vibhishana stood up. "King, this is against all law. Whatever an envoy says, he is not put to death. Give him some other punishment." Ravana said, "Very well. Vanaras are fond of their tails. Set fire to his tail and parade him through the city."

The tail on fire

The rakshasas wrapped his tail in old cloth, soaked it in oil and lit it. Beating drums, they led him through street after street. Hanuman thought, "Good. I could not see the city properly at night. Let me see it by day."

The rakshasis told Sita, laughing. Sita prayed to the god of fire: "If I have served my husband, if I have practised any austerity, be cool to Hanuman." Hanuman wondered, "The fire burns, yet why does it feel cold to me? This is Sita's grace, and the power of Ram."

It had gone on long enough. Hanuman made his body small and the ropes fell away. Then he grew huge and leapt to the roof of a mansion. From one roof to the next, and the next. The house of Prahasta, the house of Indrajit, the house of Kumbhakarna. The wind was strong. Palaces of gold melted and ran. Screams rose everywhere. He spared only the house of Vibhishana.

A fear

Having quenched his tail in the sea, Hanuman looked back at burning Lanka, and suddenly his heart shook. "What have I done in my anger? If Sita too has burned, I have destroyed my master's work with my own hands. Shame on anger. He alone is a man who can put off anger as a snake puts off its skin."

Then he heard celestial singers speaking in the sky: "A wonder! All Lanka has burned, and the fire has not so much as touched Janaki." Hanuman ran to the Ashoka grove. Sita sat under the same tree. He bowed, comforted her once more, climbed Mount Arishta and leapt towards the north.