Shloka 34
लङ्कादाहः — The Burning of Lanka
Catuḥpañcāśaḥ Sargaḥ
तत्राम्बरादग्निरतिप्रवृद्धो रूक्षप्रभः किंशुकपुष्पचूडः।निर्वाणधूमाकुलराजयश्च नीलोत्पलाभाः प्रचकाशिरेऽभ्राः।।।।
tatrāmbarād agnir atipravṛddho rūkṣaprabhaḥ kiṁśukapuṣpa-cūḍaḥ |
nirvāṇa-dhūmākula-rājayaś ca nīlotpalābhāḥ pracakāśire ’bhrāḥ ||
Dort wuchs das Feuer gewaltig in den Himmel empor und loderte in rauem Glanz, als sei es mit dem Rot der Kiṁśuka-Blüten gekrönt. Und die Wolken, dicht und von Rauch der erlöschenden Glut durchzogen, schimmerten wie blaue Lotosblumen.
The dazzling flames of fire red like kimsuka flowers shot up violently into the sky. The clouds engulfed by the smoke rising from the subsiding fire was shining like the lustre of blue lotuses .
FAQs
The verse underscores karmic consequence in the moral universe of the Rāmāyaṇa: destructive forces arise as a response to adharma, and the narrative frames even terrifying spectacle within an ordered ethical cosmos.
After Hanumān sets Laṅkā ablaze, the conflagration surges upward; smoke and clouds fill the sky, and the epic describes the scene with vivid natural imagery.
Hanumān’s vīrya (heroic power) is implied through the scale of the blaze, reflecting steadfast resolve in service to Rāma’s righteous mission.