5.56. The accomplisher assures and leaps back

Hari Om.

Let us begin the fifty sixth sarga of the sundara kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.

The fire that was lit on the tail of hanumAn engulfed lanka in an inferno of unimaginable proportions. It was in fact the raging fire in the belly of vaidEhI on account of her forced abduction and captivity that distanced her from her beloved rAma. Not only that the gutted feeling of being away from rAma was compounded time and again by slighting comments, threats and allurements to accept rAvaNa in place of rAma. The pent up fury that the noble lady contained in her heart found an expression through hanumAn in the form of raging fire that all but gutted lanka while doing no harm to the bearer of the flame!!! The vAnara was quick to realize that he was unhurt by the grace of rAma but momentarily he sank into grief since he thought vaidEhI also must have been consumed by the fire which he so widely spread in lanka. But he could recollect the marvellous signs of grace of rAma through out the mission and that gave him a premonition that sItA must be safe! The wandering sages of the skies just confirmed the good news. In absolute delight hanumAn headed to the aSOka grove one more time to inquire the welfare of sItA and get back to rAma with the news of the success of the mission. In fact he had already reached rAma in his mind! Onwards…

hanumAn quickly made it to the aSOka grove and saw sItA who was standing under the SimSupa tree and finding her unhurt, he expressed joy and in relief felt lucky to be seeing no harm coming to her. sItA looked at hanumAn who was ready to leave and moved by her love for her husband, she spoke to hanumAn –

“O sinless one, if you want please relax in an appropriate place for a day and leave tomorrow. The grief of this unfortunate me has been momentarily removed by your presence. O great vAnara I am not even sure if I will be alive by the time you come back. Not seeing you makes me nervous as I am immersed in the ocean of grief. I have this doubt haunting me as to how those two princes or the large and mighty vAnara army will be able to cross the impossible ocean. I believe only garuDa, wind god and you are capable of crossing the ocean. That being so, O expert accomplisher what solution do you foresee by which the vAnara army will cross the ocean and lay siege over lanka. O destroyer of the foes, you are very capable of accomplishing my rescue all by yourself and that will bring great laurels to you. However if kautstha (rAma) seizes lanka by his arrows and takes me with him it will befit him.

शरैस्तु सङ्कुलां कृत्वा लङ्कां परबलार्दनः।

मां नयेद्यदि काकुत्स्थस्तत्तस्य सदृशं भवेत्।।5.56.4।।

Let your actions be such that the great rAghava who is a warrior of the battlefield is enabled to showcase his valour”. Listening to the words that were filled with meaning and logic, hanumAn replied –

“O dEvi, the vAnara king sugrIva with his substantial might surrounded by crores of vAnaras is determined for your sake. Surrounded by the vAnaras and the bears, at once sugrIva with kakutstha and lakshmaNa will reach lanka and vanquish the enemy. The duo will wipe out your grief and take you back to your place (ayOdhyA). As the demon king is wiped with his kin, you shall unite with rAma like the rOhiNI united with chandra. Be assured O vaidEhi and await the good times”.

Calming vaidEhI with these words, hanumAn bowed to sItA and took leave of her. Having vanquished scores of illustrious demons, announcing himself to the lanka, demonstrating his might and calming vaidEhI, took leave of her and go ready to leap back across the ocean.

Eager to meet his lord he scaled the arishTa mountain. The colourful carpet of various flowers and greenery was the upper clothing of the mountain. As it woke up to the rays of the sun, tts various minerals shone brightly and resembled its eyes. The sounds of the waterfalls and flowing waters seemed as if the mountain was chanting the hymns and singing. The towering dEvadAru trees made it feel like it was standing with upstretched arms and performing penance. Wind passing through the bamboos and the screeches of crickets produced musical notes. With wind blowing through its deep caves, it looked like a hissing serpent. The passing clouds over the mountains gave the feeling as if it was yawning! The delightful mountain with variety of trees, creepers, flowers and beasts appeared like it was meditating. It was home to many a sage, demigods and was frequently visited by the gods.

Such a mountain was climbed by hanumAn who was prodded by the anticipatory joy of meeting rAma soon. He grew in size to vast proportions and looked over the ocean with a desire to leap across it. Under the force of his feet, big boulders got crushed and rolled down the mountain. Taking a good look at the ocean, to go north, he took a giant leap from the mountain. The impact of his take off shook the peaks of the mountain, trees on it fell and the mountain got even with the ground! Under the impact of his thighs trees in full bloom fell off as if they were struck by the thunderbolt. The inhabitants of the mountain with their clothes and ornaments slipping in disarray fled from there. The mountain that was ten yOjanas wide and thirty yOjanas tall got even with the ground as the yakshas, kinnaras and everyone else fled from there. Thus hanumAn rose into the sky in one giant leap to cross the deep and vast ocean that was lashing with waves.