Ramayana — Sundara Kanda, Sarga 50, Shloka 12
रावण-प्रहस्त-हनूमद्वार्ता
Ravana and Prahasta Question Hanuman
एवमुक्तो हरिश्रेष्ठस्तदा रक्षोगणेश्वरम्।।।।अब्रवीन्नास्मि शक्रस्य यमस्य वरुणस्य वा।धनदेन न मे सख्यं विष्णुना नास्मि चोदितः।।।।जातिरेव मम त्वेषा वानरोऽहमिहागतः।
evam ukto hariśreṣṭhas tadā rakṣogaṇeśvaram |
abravīn nāsmi śakrasya yamasya varuṇasya vā |
dhanadena na me sakhyaṃ viṣṇunā nāsmi coditaḥ |
jātir eva mama tv eṣā vānaro ’ham ihāgataḥ |
Thus addressed, the foremost of the vanaras said to the lord of the rākṣasa hosts: “I am not an envoy of Indra, nor of Yama, nor of Varuṇa. I have no friendship with Kubera, and I have not been sent by Viṣṇu. This is simply my birth: I am a vanara, and I have come here.”
FAQs
Satya (truthfulness) and clarity of intention: Hanumān refuses false mystique and states plainly who he is and who did not commission him.
In Rāvaṇa’s court, Hanumān answers suspicion about whether he is a divine messenger, denying those attributions and asserting his identity as a vanara.
Truthful speech with fearlessness—Hanumān speaks directly to an enemy king without deception about his status.