Ramayan Part 44 - Hanuman Meets Ravan Poem by Rajaram Ramachandran

Hanuman stood upright,
The King Ravan in his sight,
Appeared to be majestic,
In his royal court artistic.

He pitied for Ravan,
A scholar of a person,
A most powerful demon,
In wealth second to none.

He wasn’t offered a proper seat,
As a messenger normally sat,
So, his long tail, he curled it,
And sat equal to Ravan’s seat.

To Ravan’s query why,
He gave him a reply,
That he was an envoy,
Of Sugreeva, his King-monkey.

He was from Kishkinda,
Where the prince Rama,
As their friend was ready,
To attack Lanka and destroy.

He advised softly Ravan,
To ask for Ram’s pardon,
Give Sita freedom to return,
Or face his death soon.

“What an outrageous message? ”
Ravan shouted out with rage.
“Kill the monkey” he ordered,
To stop it Vibhishana pleaded.

He told that no purpose served,
If a messenger’s head was severed,
As it was an unlawful act,
To kill a messenger in fact.

Ravan agreed, but ordered,
To set fire to its tail end,
Flog it and release it out
Never allow it to repeat.

They tied up his tail,
With a cloth soaked in oil,
Thereafter set fire to it,
And led him in every street.

Sita who heard, in her anxiety,
Prayed for Fire-God’s mercy,
Hanuman felt the fire cool,
Despite its presence on the tail.

Shrinking his size small,
Shaking off the ropes all,
He came out of his bondage,
And back to his shape huge.

To every mansion he set fire,
The whole city was under fire,
People ran hither and thither,
In utter panic and fear.

His dipped the tail in water,
To put out the burning fire.
The fire played havoc,
But didn’t touch Asoka Park.

Climbing up the hill top,
He jumped and flew up,
On the beach, he alighted.
His friends were delighted.

They saw his face bright,
And guessed that news right,
He would have brought,
That he met Sita at last.