The verse and its meaning · Sundarkand · Sundarkand — Lanka Burns

Hanuman Razes the Grove

Sundarkand 18

चलेउ नाइ सिर पैठेउ बागा। फल खायेसि तरु तोरइ लागा । रहे तहाँ बहु भट रखवारे । कछु मारेसि कछु जाइ पुकारे ॥१ । नाथ एक आवा कपि भारी। तेहि असोकबाटिका उजारी । खायेसि फल अरु बिटप उजारे । रच्छक मर्दि मर्दि महि डारे ॥२ । सुनि रावन पठये भट नाना । तिन्हहिँ देखि गर्जेउ हनुमाना । सब रजनीचर कपि सङ्घारे । गये पुकारत कछु अधमारे ॥३ । पुनि पठयेउ तेहि अछयकुमारा । चला सङ्ग लै सुभट अपारा । आवत देखि बिटप गहि तर्जा । ताहि निपाति महाधुनि गर्जा ॥४ । कछु मारेसि कछु मर्देसि, कछु मिलयेसि धरि धूरि । कछु पुनि जाइ पुकारे, प्रभु मर्कट बल-भूरि ॥१८

Meaning · English

Bowing his head, he went into the garden, ate the fruit and broke the trees. The many guards there, some he killed, some ran off crying out. Ravana sent warriors, and Akshaya with a countless host; Hanuman struck them all down. Some he crushed, some he mixed into dust. Some ran back: Lord, the monkey is full of strength.

Shiva tells Parvati what follows Sita's permission in 17. Hanuman bows and enters the garden. Three words carry the scene. Bagha is the garden, and the Ashoka grove where Sita was held. Rakhavare are its guards, the rakshasas posted by Ravana. Bhaṭa means a warrior, so the first men sent are soldiers, not watchmen. Hanuman eats the fruit and pulls down the trees, as he told Sita he would. Some guards fall to him and some run to Ravana. They report that one great monkey has wrecked the grove, eating fruit and flattening trees, and that the watchmen were crushed. Ravana sends more warriors, and Hanuman roars as he sees them and kills them all. A few, beaten, escape. Ravana then sends his son Akshaya with an army. Hanuman sees him coming, seizes a tree as his weapon, strikes him down and roars. The doha sums up the fight: some killed, some crushed, some ground into dust, and the survivors run back with a verdict. The last words, prabhu markaṭa bala-bhūri, are spoken by the frightened guards: this monkey is brimming with strength. Tulsidas lets the enemy testify to Hanuman's power. He tells it as a story, and the strength he shows is the strength Hanuman said in 16 came from the Lord's majesty, not his own size.

A single stone dropped into a still pond sends ripples to every bank, and every frog and heron on the shore sees it. Hanuman's one entry into the grove is the stone. The fleeing guards are the ripples, carrying word of what happened to Ravana's door.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

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