Ramayana Reflection – Hanuman in Lanka 3 – Exceeding Expectations

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
Continue with our discussion of the exploits of Hanuman in Lanka and here we’ll talk about the theme of meeting expectations and exceeding expectations.
When we are given a particular task to do, at that time, we may have an opportunity to do more and e plus exceeding expectations as you say, that is considered to be a sign of an outstanding performer. So, Hanuman demonstrated himself to be such an extraordinary performer in the service of Ram. He had been sent to find out the locations of Sita.
He had met her, reassured her of Ram’s love for him, for her and he had told her how Ram, just as Sita was pining in separation from Ram, Ram too was in agony in separation from her and he assured her that soon Ram will return. Ram will come there and rescue her and Sita, she felt grief struck to hear about how Ram was in grief and then she told Hanuman, tell Ram to make haste. We have only one month remaining, otherwise Ravana will kill me.
When Hanuman heard this, he became alarmed because he knew to get an army all the way across to attack Lanka and to overcome, Ravana may take much more time. So, he says, oh Sita, if there is such danger, you come with me right now. I will take you back from here.
At this point, now Hanuman was fully aware of his strength, but Hanuman was still in the small form and Sita was actually looking down at him while talking with him and Sita started laughing, oh monkey, you are really talking like a monkey now. How will you be able to carry me? For any man to have his strength challenged is very difficult. In front of a woman to challenge his strength, Hanuman felt piqued.
He just suddenly expanded his form and became giant and Sita was looking down at him, she looked up at him as if looking at the sky and Sita smiled to see this mystical powers exhibition of Hanuman. He said, oh monkey, I am sure you can carry me, but still I would not like to touch any other man except Ram. Ravana touched me forcibly, but I do not want to touch any other man and when you are carrying me, the Rakshasas will see us and they will attack and you will have difficulty fighting with me on your back and I may also not be able hold on to you while we are flying across the ocean very fast and more importantly, it is Ram who should take revenge against Ravana for the insult that he has done to his wife.
So tell Ram to come soon and I will be waiting for him. As Hanuman had seen the arrogance of Ravana, he had seen the threats that Ravana’s Rakshasas were subjecting Sita to. As he could see the distress that Sita was going through, Hanuman felt angry.
He felt that he should do something more, just did not feel that he would be satisfied just coming here, sneaking in and going away. So he had done his service to Ram, but he wanted to do something more and he left Sita and he decided to get a sense of the strength of the forces of Ravana and to also give them a sense of the strength of Ram’s forces. So they were in the Ashok Vatika and going a significant distance away from Sita, Hanuman started breaking the trees, disrupting the forest.
His purpose was that the disruption will attract the attention of Ravana and the Rakshasas were guarding, they were alarmed, who is this? And they saw this giant being and he started scarily roaring and growling and Rakshasas shrank in fear and they ran to Ravana and told him. Ravana was infuriated to hear that his special garden, his favorite garden is called Ashok Vatika. It had actually been brought down practically.
Ashok Vatika had become for him Shok Vatika now. He was struck with grief and anger and he told an elite force of gods named the Kinkaras to go and kill this wretched upstart monkey. Who could this monkey be? Where did he come from? From wherever he might have come, he would now go to death’s abode.
So planned Ravana. Hanuman was waiting for these Kinkaras. He had broken down a gate of the garden and had actually taken the bar that had made the gate and he held that in his hand like a weapon and as those Kinkaras came, countless soldiers, they came and Hanuman just whirled around the bar as if it were a mace.
When Hanuman had flown across to Lanka, he had not carried any weapon with him. Because it was a long flight, he did not want to be burdened by any weight. So he had gone weaponless and now he had improvised, taken this bar as a weapon and started smashing all the soldiers.
There were large contingent of soldiers but they all got crushed by the force of Hanuman’s attack. The few that survived fled and told Ravana what had happened. He was infuriated.
He sent one of his foremost generals named Jambumali. Jambumali climbed on top of his magnificent chariot and charged out to meet and destroy this foolish monkey as he thought. Jambumali was also amazed to see the huge form of Hanuman but still he was proud of his prowess and started attacking Hanuman, shooting arrows at him from various directions and Hanuman was wreaking havoc in the vicinity while still trying to dodge the arrows of Jambumali and finally as Jambumali’s arrows pierced him more and more, he lost patience and as Jambumali was trying to shoot arrows and till now Hanuman had been trying to parry the arrows but now suddenly Hanuman pounced on him and he brought the huge bar that he was carrying straight down on the head of Jambumali and Jambumali’s head got crushed into his body and his body got crushed into the ground and he was finished.
When Ravana heard this, he was aghast. What kind of being could have killed Jambumali? He sent seven more powerful commanders and they were also destroyed by Hanuman. Then he sent five even more powerful commanders and even they were destroyed.
At this point, Ravana was shocked and he started thinking what to do. As Ravana contemplated his options, he felt that this wretched monkey, I can go and kill him myself but he felt let my sons deal with him. He was a king and for a king to go on a petty mission did not look dignified.
So he looked at his son Akshaya who was an extremely powerful warrior. Akshaya charged out and Akshaya was amazed to see the size and the power of this monkey and started shooting arrows and he started using celestial weapons and his arrows were like thunderbolt. They hit Hanuman on his body and Hanuman started dodging the weapons, started flying into the sky here and there trying to avoid the weapons but eventually the weapons were just too strong for him.
Just too strong for him and he started getting more and more wounded. At this point, Hanuman lost patience. He swung around as he was fleeing away from the chariot and chariot was chasing him.
He suddenly spun around and with one huge blow of his fist, just destroyed all the steeds, the horses that were carrying the chariot and with another blow he smashed the chariot. As the chariot scattered into pieces, Akshaya stunned by this sudden attack recovered and he leapt into the sky using his mystic powers. He was also flying in the sky.
Hanuman was flying in the sky and both of them were fighting and Akshaya undaunted kept shooting arrows at Hanuman. Hanuman was dodging the arrows still but some arrows kept hitting him. As the wounds on his body increased, so did his anger.
Hanuman turned around and suddenly as Akshaya was charging towards him, Hanuman suddenly dodged downwards and then he came right under Akshaya and he caught Akshaya by his feet and whirled him around and Hanuman charged down. Before Akshaya could understand what was happening and before he could do anything to recover, Hanuman smashed him on the ground and his skull crashed at the ground and cracked apart. Soldiers who had been watching were horrified.
They ran back to Ravana. Ravana was aghast and enraged. His own son Akshaya had been killed.
He said this monkey must die. He looked around and he spotted Indrajeet. Indrajeet was his most formidable son.
He had got this title because he had defeated Indra. Indrajeet, one who kills Indra and he looked at him. Without any words being spoken between father and son, Indrajeet got up and he charged out and Indrajeet observed Hanuman.
He started shooting arrows at Hanuman. Hanuman started dodging the arrows. Hanuman, now there are many many of the warriors who had been slain, they had their weapons.
Hanuman picked up some of their weapons, started countering and counterattacking and as the battle went on and on and on, at a particular time Indrajeet realized that Hanuman is no ordinary being and he had tried his normal Rakshasa weapons, he had tried his weapons and none of them worked against Hanuman. Although Hanuman, some of the weapons were hitting Hanuman, many of them were missing him but none of them were weakening him. At that time, Indrajeet decided to take his most formidable weapon.
He chanted my prayers for invoking the Brahmastra and as he chanted the prayers for Brahmastra, the Brahmastra appeared in his hand and shot it. It spread through the air and it went straight to Hanuman and as it went to Hanuman, immediately Hanuman was bound. When Hanuman had been a small child, at that time the various gods had come and given him benediction that how he would be protected from various dangers and Brahmaji had told him that his weapon Brahmastra is actually uncounterable.
So one who is targeted by that weapon, that person has to fall but Brahmaji had told him that this weapon, it will attack you, it will paralyze you, it will bind you but it will not kill you and that binding effect will also stay for a short time. Hanuman, as soon as he realized that he had been bound, he recognized that this must be the Brahmastra and he started thinking carefully what to do now. He had already given a taste of the power of Brahma’s forces.
Throughout when he had been fighting, he had been shouting Jai Shri Ram, he had been shouting like me, thousands of monkeys will soon come and destroy all of you. He had given the Lakshis of the taste of his powers and it had taken one of their most powerful generals, the foremost son of Ravana himself to kill him, to imprison him. So Hanuman thought that he could do, he had fulfilled one purpose of creating fear in the hearts of the Rakshasas.
He thought that in his bound state, he could create one more, he could do one more thing. Two more things actually. He thought that he could, if he was now taken to the court of Ravana, he would be able to go in daylight through the streets of Lanka and thus he would be able to assess the strengths, the weaknesses, the points where they could be attacked, the points where they were strong.
He could do a reconnaissance of Lanka and secondly he could deliver a stern warning to Ravana himself. So here we see although Hanuman is bound in body, he is not bound in spirit. His spirit is still to serve Ram, still to march forward in his service to Ram and although his body is bound, he is still making plans about how to serve and thus he continues his service.
Sometimes we may find ourselves in circumstances which are just overwhelming, where we are overpowered by forces bigger than ours. But even in such situations, we need not lose hope. We can still plan how can I continue my service.
We may not be able to do the same service. Till now Hanuman had been doing the service of crushing the forces of Ravana. Now he could not do that service but still he could do service, some other service and that service was the service of doing reconnaissance and giving a warning.
With that in mind, Hanuman allowed himself to be dragged along by the soldiers who had accompanied Indrajeet. They tied him up and they dragged him along. While they were being dragged along, some of them insulted him, some of them kicked him, some of them spat at him.
They thought this is a defeated enemy and they wanted to mock him and humiliate him. Hanuman was ready to do all this for the service of Ram. He is ready to undergo all this and while this was happening to his body, Hanuman’s eyes were alert.
He is observing Lanka carefully as he was taken to the palace of Ravana. Then when he came to the palace of Ravana, what was Hanuman’s first thought? Hanuman had seen Ravana earlier in the night when he had been sleeping. But now he saw Ravana in his majestic glory.
He saw that Ravana looked splendorous, so powerful, so great. Hanuman had such a devoted heart that the first thought that came in his mind on seeing Ravana was, alas, such a gloriously powerful person. If only he had been a virtuous person, he would have become the leader of the gods.
Unfortunately, he was given to vice and thus he has acted viciously and thus he will meet with his destruction. As he thought thus, Ravana, the Rakshasas who were there, Ravana suddenly started shouting. He says, you know, chop him off, cut him, roast him and eat him.
They were thinking of various ways to punish Hanuman and Ravana was curious. Ravana stopped. He was angry, of course, but still he wanted to know.
He says, who are you? Why did you come here and do such devastation? Hanuman decided to play the innocent over here. He said, actually, I am simply a messenger of Ram. I came here looking for Sita and I gave Ram’s message to Sita and I am taking Sita’s message back to Ram.
He said, but why did you destroy the forests? Before answering that question, Hanuman said, I want to give you a message also, Ravana. And he says, because I am a messenger of Ram, therefore, you should give me a seat. Ram is a great king and I am his representative.
Ravana was infuriated at what he felt was the insolence of this monkey, his demanding a seat. When Hanuman saw that Ravana or his followers were not inclined to give him a seat, then suddenly right in that assembly, Hanuman expanded his tail and as he expanded his tail, he expanded himself in size and his tail became huge and he sat at a position higher than Ravana. Ravana was incensed.
Nobody had had that audacity to sit in his own court at a height higher than him. Now, Hanuman did not think of himself as greater than Ravana, but he thought of himself as a representative of Ram and he wanted to give the message of Ram from a position of authority. He wanted to stamp into the heart of Ravana and the hearts of all the assembled Ravana’s or Rakshasas over there, what the power and the position of Ram was and he said, oh Ravana, Ram is undefeatable.
He has killed thousands of demons. Even the gods combined together cannot defeat him. You along with all your Rakshasas will be destroyed if you don’t hand Sita over right away.
I am the least powerful and the least among the monkeys and see what I have done to your forces. If you do not hand Sita over, then Ram and Lakshman will come at the head of an army of thousands of monkeys like me and your whole city will be destroyed and you will be destroyed. If you want to avoid such destruction, return Sita to Ram right now.
Ravana was incensed. He said, kill this wretched monkey. What is his audacity to speak like this to me? At that time Vibhishan, who was Ravana’s virtuous brother, caught up and he said, stop.
He said, he is a messenger. You cannot kill a messenger. Even if his messages made you angry, still he is simply doing his job of delivering a message.
You cannot kill him for that. Ravana said, he is not a messenger. He has acted evilly.
He has acted sinfully. He has destroyed my forest. A messenger is supposed to come peacefully and go peacefully.
So Hanuman said, oh I had come across an ocean. I was tired. I was hungry.
So I just took some fruits and ate it. While eating the fruits, some trees fell off and while the trees fell, your soldiers came and started attacking me and I defended myself. So Hanuman played the innocent over here.
So he said, you will have to die. Vibhishan argued against it. He said, no.
He said, give the code of conduct to kill a messenger. So Ravana, although he did not like the words of Vibhishan, he could not deny the truth of what he was saying. He felt that his pride, his name would be spoiled if it came to be known that he had killed a messenger.
So he decided, still wanted to punish this insolent monkey. He said, monkeys are very proud of their tails. He says, burn the tail of this monkey.
And they brought oil, they brought burning cloth. They put it on Hanuman’s tail and started burning it. Hanuman steeled himself.
He focused his thoughts on Rama and he tolerated the pain. In the meanwhile, what was happening in the assembly, it was being told to everyone nearby because it was such a sensational, stunning, shocking event. Nobody before had been able to penetrate Lanka and here this monkey had penetrated.
So the news reached Sita and when Sita heard that Hanuman’s tail was being burned, Sita prayed. She said, whatever virtue I have, please, oh Agnideva, if you are pleased with me, please become cooling. Please do not burn Hanuman’s tail.
And Hanuman, who had just steeled himself and was tolerating the pain of the heat by his absorption in Rama, suddenly felt a cooling sensation. He was stunned. He said, how is this? He looked back and he saw the fire was still there.
The monkey, the sharks were jeering. He said, oh, this must be the result of the mystic power of Rama or maybe it is the mystic power of Sita. As he saw that his huge tail had caught fire, he saw this as an opportunity.
Suddenly, he expanded himself in his size and the rope that had tied him up, they just fell apart and he called Jai Shri Rama and before the eyes of all the Rakshasas, but before they could do anything, he just leapt out and he started burning Lanka. He went to one house and he kept his burning tail over there and he still kept it there. Now, he himself was not feeling any burning, but the fire was so like inferno that the house caught fire.
Then he jumped to another house, a third house, a fourth house. Rama was infuriated. As he watched, his own ploy had turned against him.
The very tail that he had desired to burn, that very tail was now leaving a trail of destruction and he told his Rakshasas, attack this monkey, kill him, but the trail of fire, the inferno that was going all around, that just blinded the Rakshasas. Some of the Rakshasas tried to attack, but Hanuman easily repels all of them and after he had set a large part of Lanka on fire and the fire was jumping from one tree to one house to another house to another house and he loomed high above Lanka and he said, I am the least among the servants of Ram and many monkeys greater than me will come and destroy all of your Rakshasas. Return Sita or be destroyed and he turned and he flew back gloriously victorious, not only having found Sita, not only having delivered the message of Ram to Sita, not only having assisted the forces of Ravana, not only having struck terror in the forces of Ravana, but also having destroyed a significant amount of the resources of Ravana.
In this way, Ravana, Hanuman and his mission, he not only fulfilled the expectations, but he exceeded the expectations. Such was the heroism of Hanuman. Thank you.
Hare Krishna.