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 The vanara army that came back to life with the divine herbs that Hanuman brought revived their efforts without wasting a moment and set Lanka on fire. Hanuman was moving in from the Western gate and Indrajit appeared before him with the maya held firmly in his hand. ‘Look here!’ he thundered. ‘You came here in war against us, for the sake of this woman. My father was indifferent. I will not be so. I am going to kill her now’. Thus speaking, he unsheathed his sword. That rendered Maruti, the great communicator, speechless.
This is the only place in the entire epic that we see Hanuman in a bewildered, perplexed and blank state of mind. He looked at the woman once again.
‘kaNdavale ivaL enbadhu kaNdaan.’ He realised that this was the same woman whom he saw earlier. The verse continues.
‘koNdu idai theervadhu Or koL arigillaan.’ He was unable to find a solution.
‘Undu uyirO ena vayum ularndhan.’ He remained as though he was lifeless, with a parched mouth. ‘I don’t have an option,’ thought Hanuman, ‘but to appeal to his moral
sense.’
It was one of those moments when you don’t afford to take any risk however least it would appear. There was no time to think or act. Even if he chose to pounce on Indrajit, he may let his sword slice Sita. Though it was an illusory Sita, it has to be remembered that there was no time for Hanuman to go into that question at all. Immediately he started saying:
‘Naanmuganukku oru naalvarin vandhai.’ ‘You belong to the fourth generation of Brahma’s lineage. You have studied and understood the finer points of Vedas. Do not kill a woman. Killing a doe-eyed and innocent woman would attract censure and lead you to infamy. Hanuman goes to the extent of saying
‘kodhu ill kulathu oru nee gunam mikkai’. You come from a family that is blemishless and you possess very high qualities.
‘envayin nalginai Egudhi endral’
If you grant me (what I beg of you) ‘nin vayam aam ulagu’ the entire world would come under your fold. Observe the use of the word ‘nalginai.’ It means anything given with mercy. The mighty Hanuman pleading for mercy? Yes. He decided that this was no moment for valour. He could not take chances. Had anyone who knew Sita happened to be there, it would have been a different story altogether.
However, Indrajit had the luxury. He could kill Sita, for it was only an illusory form. He would not have been able to do this but for this fact. In fact, the very Ravana attempted to kill the real Sita when Indrajit was killed. He did not do so for wise counsel prevailed on him. Slaying of a woman was despised to such an extent that even Ravana was afraid of doing so.
The message from Hanuman is crystal clear. ‘Do not hesitate to stoop. If the situation demands, do so with all your heart, despite the fact that you may be more powerful, more wise and more just.’ Stooping down before an enemy in a difficult situation demands a different kind of chivalry. Hanuman did that too.
To recall the words of Rt. Hon’ble Srinivasa Sastriyar,
 "We want a man who is not a superhuman; that has no value to us. We want a man essentially human in his feelings, in his outlook on life, in his struggles and triumphs. We want him to be human, and being human, to triumph over his human limitations, develop his divinity and in the end establish himself in the throne of human hearts as King, unsurpassed…You must read the story as a human story, lived among human beings, by a human being…"
The news of slaying of (maya) Sita reached Rama. We see Rama in a melancholic, depressed, perplexed and dazed condition. We see Lakshmana questioning the need to follow Dharma. We have been through similar situations. This question has always haunted our minds. ‘What do I gain in following this path of righteousness? It has not taken me anywhere. What have I gained except suffering, in my pursuit of Dharma?’ Such questions haunted Lakshmana too. Rama had no answer, too.
He lived like us. He rejoiced; enjoyed and was mirthful and witty like us. He encountered problems like us. He went through depressive moods like us. But he came through them, remaining steadfast and always unswerving from the path of righteousness. We will see Rama and his decision making skills and will return to Hanuman, soon.
(To be continued)
Hari Krishnan
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