Hanumanji Devastates Ashoka Vatika

Lord Hanumanji met Seetha Matha in Ashoka Vatika, handed over the mudra and message of the Lord to her, and got her blessings also — that he will be ajara and amara.
He will never become old.
There will not be any death for him.

That’s why Hanumanji is still alive, right here on earth — he is present here.
The Lord has gone back to Vaikuntha, but Hanumanji is physically present here.
Hanumanji is called Amrityu — there is no death for him.
He is Ananthaka — nobody can kill him, there is no Anthaka for him.

So far, Hanumanji had only seen Lanka in the night.
He had not confronted anyone after coming to Lanka except Lankini, the protective goddess of Lanka.
He thought, before I go back, I should know what Lanka looks like during the day.
The Rakshasa are awake during the night, but to understand the topography of Lanka, he should see it during the day.

Once he comes to Lanka, the Lord may ask him to navigate the army. He should know where each commander lived. He should know the camps of the soldiers. He should know the secret tunnels and paths.

There was one more thing.
He should know how strong or how weak the Rakshasas were.
It was already resolved that he was not going to touch Ravana.
He was himself not going to rescue Seetha Matha, even though he was very much capable of both.

So, he told Seetha Matha, 'I have not eaten anything since yesterday. I am hungry. Can I eat some fruits from this garden — the Ashoka Vatika?'

He was only hoping that Matha would not give him another boon — that you will never feel hungry again, just as she gave him ever youth and immortality.

Seetha Devi gave him permission.
He said, 'Please don’t mind. We monkeys are not very quiet when we eat.
We enjoy eating only if we jump around, play around a bit.
But I will make sure that I don’t come near the Shimshupa tree where you are sitting.'

Seetha Matha understood the mischief that Hanumanji was planning in his mind.
She just smiled and said, 'Be careful. This is Ravana’s personal garden — heavily protected. Be careful.
They are all very strong, very cruel, and they know illusory magic also.'

There is a beautiful description of what Hanumanji thought to himself as he went about his rampage of Ashoka Vatika.

He would pluck and eat a fruit from a tree. Then say, 'Oh, this tree has become ucchishta now — impure now.
An impure tree should not remain in this beautiful garden.'
In this manner, he started uprooting the trees one by one.

He would jump from branch to branch, tree to tree, and they would crush under his weight.
He would say, 'Ravana calls himself the emperor of the three worlds.
See what kind of weak, fledgling trees he has planted in his own personal garden.
They can’t even bear the weight of a monkey.'

The huge monstrous guards of the garden started rushing towards Hanumanji.
They started hitting him with their weapons, showering arrows upon him.
None of them were touching him — they were all just bouncing back.

Hanumanji went about relishing fruits of Ashoka Vatika as if he was not bothered.
Once in a while, he would pluck a tree and throw it towards the Rakshasa guards.
They would crush under the tree and die.

Hanumanji thought, 'I should not fight these weaklings.
If at all there is anyone worthy of fight in this island, they are just three — Ravana, Kumbhakarna, and Meghanada.'

'Why are these trees so weak? Ravana should have been more thoughtful.
He should have planted stronger trees, at least in his personal garden.'

Hanumanji devastated Ashoka Vatika.
Then he found a temple on the shore of a lake.
He went near it and realized that it was a Shiva temple.

Earlier he had thought that there was only one temple in Lanka, where Ravana used to practice black magic.
But here is one more. Of course, Vibhishana’s Vaishnava temple is also there.

'What is the Lord who is the destroyer of all sins doing in this land of the worst sinners?'

Hanumanji requested the Lord, 'Please go back to Kailasa.
This is not a place that deserves to be blessed by your presence. Please go back.'

Once Hanumanji realised that Lord Shiva has left, he demolished that temple.
He pulled out a huge pillar from the remains of the temple and sat there waiting.

Now Ravana will send someone stronger.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi