Hanumanji burns Lanka
Hanumanji saw Ravan’s royal court, wealth and sons like Meghnad and thought, “Ravan, you are so wealthy, strong, educated and from a good family. Even then you thought so evil and kidnapped the mother of this universe!”
Ravan asked Hanumanji, “Who are you?”
Hanumanji replied, “I am the messenger of Lord Ram”.
“Why did you eat those fruits?”
“I was hungry”.
“Then why did you uproot the trees?”
“That’s not my fault. God made me a monkey and monkeys can’t live without breaking things.”
Now Hanumanji said, “Ravan, answer one question. Why did you kidnap my mother? You have made a huge mistake. I have come to explain to you as a messenger. You still have time. God will forgive you.”
Ravan said, “Great! This is a knowledgeable monkey! He is teaching me. Kill him!”
At that moment Vibhishan arrived and said, “Wait! It is against the legal rules to kill an envoy. Give him some punishment instead.”
Ravan agreed. Hanumanji did not like this. Something must be done to separate Vibhishan from Ravan as Ravan (attachment) and Ram cannot be together.
Ravan commanded Hanumanji’s tail to be burnt. Thus, Hanumanji burnt the entire Lanka except Vibhishan’s house, as we will see ahead. This created suspicion in Ravan’s mind and Ravan banned Vibhishan from Lanka, after which Vibhishan went to Lord Ram’s refuge.
Hanumanji thought, the creator must be inspiring you to set fire to my tail. The demons began to tie clothes on the tail and put oil on it in jest. Hanumanji looked behind him and thought, “Lanka is huge. It will need a large amount of fuel and therefore clothes and oil.”
So, Hanumanji continued to increase the length of his tail. Eventually all the clothes and oil were used up. The only ones that remained were the ones worn by people at that time. Hanumanji said, “Now you will not get a chance to change your clothes as you will change the cloth of your body soon.”
Oil and clothes were not brought from Vibhishan’s house. This is the other reason why Hanumanji did not set fire to his house.
Now the demons set fire to Hanumanji’s tail. Hanumanji took Shri Ram’s name and freed himself from the noose of the snakes. He jumped on Ravan’s palace and set fire to it first followed by the rest of Lanka. The female demons screamed and cried, “Catch that monkey!” Hanumanji’s father, the God of Wind, also came to his assistance.
Finally, Hanumanji landed into the ocean and extinguished the fire on his tail. Hanumanji ran to the Ashok gardens to ensure Maa Sita was safe. Then, he requested Maa Sita to sit on his shoulders so that he could take her to Lord Ram.
Sitaji removed the jewel from her hair and said, “No son, give this to Lord Ram; give him my salutations and inform him that he will not get Sita if he doesn’t arrive within one month. Sita will lose her life.”
Hanumanji said, “Don’t worry mother, in one month these demons will die.”
Thereafter Sitaji blessed Hanumanji:
Ashta sidhi nav nidhi ke dātā, as bar dīn janki mātā
May you become the bestower of 8 supernatural powers and 9 divine treasures.
On departing, Hanumanji roared as he uttered, ‘Jai Shri Ram’. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, to announce his departure and secondly to cause miscarriage of the wives of the demons who were pregnant, so that the future evil progeny was not born.