The rakshasas then started covering Hanuman’s tail with rags made of cotton and soaked in oil.
Valmiki uses the word
‘karpasakaha’ which translates as a cotton rag. It is very important to note that
in those times they grew cotton and also spun them and wove cloth. Hanuman grew
into a big form. Generally, it is said that as they tried to cover Hanuman’s
tail it grew and the rakshasas had difficulty wrapping it with rags. But Valmiki
does not say so. Hanuman was again tied with ropes. He thought that he would
liberate himself and attack all the rakshasas. But he calmed himself because he
thought that he would make use of the situation to study better the layout of
the city and find its strength and weaknesses. Hanuman could not see well the
city because he landed there at night. The rakshasas dragged Hanuman with
his tail ablaze into the streets and he too went willingly.
Hanuman saw the well-planned
city with well-laid-out streets. They were lined with houses, palaces, and
so on. A big crowd had gathered in the streets to see this strange vanara and
they all abused him too. Hanuman tolerated everything patiently for the sake of
Rama. He did not want to rebel. Soon the rakshasis went and told Sita that the
monkey which was talking to her was being dragged in the street with its tail
in flames. Sita was very sad to hear that and wanted to bless Hanuman. She
prayed to Lord Agni, the God of fire, “If it is true that I am a devoted and
chaste wife of Rama and a lady who follows her Dharma correctly then the fire
should not hurt Hanuman but be cool to him. If I am going to be liberated by my
husband soon then the fire should not hurt Hanuman”. Hanuman did not feel the
heat of the fire and also his father the God of wind blew to cool his tail.
Hanuman too wondered why the fire was not hurting his tail at all. He said to
himself that it was all due to the blessings of Rama. He remembered his
encounter with the Mynaka Mountain in the mid-ocean when he crossed it, which
offered him hospitality.
Hanuman then grew to the size of a mountain and jumped onto the top of a tower. Then he decreased his size suddenly so that the rope that bound him got loose and slipped off from his body and he was freed. Then again he grew big and killed all the guards using a big stick.
Then Hanuman thought about how
best he could bring about destruction in Lanka. He decided to destroy the huge
palaces. He simply jumped from one to another and set them on fire using the
flames from his burning tail. Thus he burnt the palaces of important Rakshasas
such as Indrajit, Prahasta, Jambumali, Vajradamshtra, Kumbhakarna, and others.
He did not touch the palace of Vibheeshana. In no time he brought the places to
ashes creating a panic. He then reached Ravana’s palace which was lavishly
decorated with diamonds and other precious stones and looked so beautiful. He
just set it on fire using the tip of his burning tail and roared loudly. The
whole palace was ablaze and got destroyed and fell to the ground. The rakshasas
ran in all directions in a panic to save themselves crying that the monkey was
surely the fire God Agni. They thought he was the veritable God of death Yama.
Valmiki gives a very realistic description of what happened in the city which
was on fire. It is interesting to note that the situation is very similar to
what prevails even in our times. In their fright, some even jumped with their
children from the top of their houses. Hanuman saw that the various jewels that
decorated the palaces got melted in the heat and flowed on the ground. The
flames reached the sky and the whole place shone like crores of Suns (Koti
Surya parkasha is a popular phrase in Indian literature). The smoke rose up
like big clouds and filled the sky. All thought that it was going to be the end
of the world and the monkey was in reality Rudra, Vayu, or Agni. They thought
it was Lord Indra who sent the monkey to destroy the rakshasas. People wailed
in agony. Hanuman went around and saw that the city and the surrounding gardens
and woods were all in ashes. He climbed Thrikoota Mountain and stood there.
He resembled the sun with flames emanating from his tail. He then quenched the
fire on his tail by dipping it in the ocean.
All the Gods praised Hanuman for his deed. He cleverly used the situation to bring destruction to Lanka, created a panic among rakshasas including Ravana, and gave an Avant goût so to say, of what it was going to be when Rama comes to fight the war.
Strangely Valmiki does not mention anything about how the rakshasas fought the fire to quench it. They were so evolved in many things and they had astras (missiles), a vimana that could fly, and so on. It is quite probable that they also had devices to put out the accidental fire, particularly because a lot of inflammable materials were used in those times for construction. However, Valmiki does not give us any clue about this.
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