Lanka Dahanam Was Like a Nuclear Holocaust

As per Ravana’s order, the soldiers of Lanka were tying clothes around Hanumanji’s tail, soaking it with oil and then setting it on fire.

'When it starts burning, he will start jumping up and down. The hair on his body will also catch fire and eventually he will die. Or at least he will go back without his tail. Those who have sent him will know whom they are playing with.'

But something strange started happening. Lanka Dahanam is a very, very important part of the Ramayana. From the serial, you hardly get any idea of the enormity of what really happened there.

The strange thing that happened was — as the rakshasas started tying clothes around Hanumanji’s tail, it went on elongating. Initially, the rakshasas did not notice. But then they started running out of clothes. Every used cloth from every rakshasa household was brought. Then they started bringing new clothes. They would wrap the clothes around the tail and then fix them in place by tying ropes above them.

Not only clothes — every drop of oil including ghee, fat — everything was brought to soak the clothes with. Except what was required for the personal use of Ravana and his immediate family, everything was brought. Finally, there were no more clothes left in Lanka. Not a drop of oil or fat was left in Lanka.

Then Prahasta, the minister, said, 'Stop.'

Then the procession started. They took Hanumanji around the whole of Lanka. Hanumanji was happy and thought, 'How foolish are these rakshasas.' He was getting to know every nook and corner of Lanka now, and all the information was registering as a map within his mind. This would be quite useful when the Lord comes for the real battle.

Throughout the procession, loud announcements were being made:
'This is the monkey who created problems in the garden. See what punishment our king has given him. All of you come and watch.'

Rakshasa men and women had lined up on both sides of the road. They were abusing Hanumanji. Some even hurled stones at him, attempted to punch and kick him.

Finally, Hanumanji was brought to a big junction of roads, and they set his tail on fire. Hanumanji was tied up with chains and huge ropes. His tail was miles long. Keeping the tail as it is, he suddenly shrunk his body. All the chains and ropes fell off. He kept the tail as it is, because otherwise the clothes also would have fallen off. Then, once the chains and ropes fell off, he assumed his original size.

He jumped onto the top of a building and set it on fire. Like this, he jumped from roof to roof and set every building on fire. Not just roofs — wherever he found an opening like a door or a window, Hanumanji would send in his tail and set the inside also on fire.

In some time, the whole of Lanka was burning. Hanumanji kept on going back to every building and made sure that the intensity of the fire was maintained. Wherever he found the flames going down, he would set them on fire again. All efforts by rakshasas to extinguish the fire failed.

Ravana told the Lokapalas to catch Hanumanji. He told Yama, one of the Lokapalas, to take his life. They had no other option. They were like his prisoners. When he saw Yamaraja, Hanumanji just picked him up and kept him in the pouch of his mouth, inside his cheek.

Seeing this, the other Lokapalas just disappeared. Brahmaji appeared in the sky and told Hanumanji, 'They are helpless.'

Hanumanji took Yamaraja out of his mouth and offered pranamas to him. Yamaraja said, 'I know your purpose. After you are done with, I will tell my brother Shani Deva to burn to ashes whatever remains. He can do that with his look. We are all fed up with this Ravana.'

Hanumanji did not even leave Ravana’s place. He went back again and again and made sure that it was completely burned down. Ravana took shelter in the underground chamber. Even many other rakshasa commanders had underground chambers in their homes. They all started hiding there.

Ravana told the clouds to pour and extinguish the fire. But as it rained, the flames became more intense. He again called the Meghas and asked them what was happening.

They said, 'We don’t know. We can extinguish the Pralayagni. We have seen the heat of Pralayagni. That is nothing compared to this heat.'

Rain was like adding fuel to fire. Every drop of rain exploded as it touched the fire. Every drop turned into a hydrogen bomb. Every molecule of water split into oxygen and hydrogen. Oxygen fed the fire. Hydrogen worked like nuclear fusion — made itself into a hydrogen bomb.

It was like a nuclear holocaust. In that heat — Lanka, we know, is Swarna Puri — made of gold — every gram of gold melted. Streams of molten gold were seen everywhere. The heat was so intense. Roofs of houses which were earlier covered with gold were now bared.

The rakshasa women started cursing Ravana:
'The lust of this one king — he is never satisfied, no matter how many women he uses. He is never satisfied. This lust is going to bring this rakshasa kingdom to its end. This is the wrath of that one woman he brought last to Lanka. It is her anger which is burning Lanka now. And this monkey is none other than Kalagni Rudra. We are all finished now — because of the acts of this foolish, arrogant, lustful king of ours.'

Hanumanji left Vibheeshana’s and Kumbhakarna’s houses alone. He had gone to Kumbhakarna’s palace also. Kumbhakarna’s wife pleaded with him,
'My husband is sleeping. He is innocent. He is not party to any of this.'

And once Hanumanji was satisfied that the whole of Lanka was finished, he jumped into the ocean and doused the fire in his tail.

Suddenly he remembered, 'Oh, what have I done? What about Matha — Seetha Matha? I didn’t bother to protect her. What if something bad has happened to her?'

He started weeping in pain, taking the Lord’s name. He immediately went back to Ashoka Vatika. There, except the shimshupa tree, everything was gone. The shimshupa tree under which Seetha Matha was — was untouched. That is the Lord’s power.

Hanumanji looked around. As Yamaraja had told, Shani Deva had finished whatever remained of Lanka. There were only stone pillars, walls around. Rest was completely gone — as if a nuclear bomb had dropped.

Ramaswamy Sastry and Vighnesh Ghanapaathi