Shloka 5.54.25
लङ्कादाहः — The Burning of Lanka (Catuḥpañcāśaḥ Sargaḥ)
क्रन्दन्त्यस्सहसा पेतुः स्तनन्धयधराः स्त्रियः।।।।काश्चिदग्निपरीतेभ्यो हर्मेभ्यो मुक्तमूर्धजाः।पतन्त्यो रेजिरेऽभ्रेभ्यस्सौदामन्य इवाम्बरात्।।।।
krandantyaḥ sahasā petuḥ stanandhayadharāḥ striyaḥ | kāścid agniparītebhyo harmyebhyo muktamūrdhajāḥ | patantyo rejire ’bhrebhyaḥ saudāminya iva ambarāt ||
Crying out, some women—still holding their suckling infants—suddenly leapt down from mansions encircled by fire, their hair loosened in terror. As they fell, they shone like lightning dropping from the clouds in the sky.
A few she-demons at once jumped out of their burning mansions surrounded by fire. They held their breast-feeding babies in their arms, their hair let loose shouting as they jumped. As they were alighting, they glowed like lightnings dropping from the clouds.
The verse highlights the human cost of adharma-driven conflict: even non-combatants (women with infants) suffer when rulers choose unrighteousness. Dharma in governance includes protecting the vulnerable; when that fails, society bears the consequences.
After Hanumān ignites Laṅkā, the city’s mansions burn. In panic, women holding nursing babies leap down from flaming buildings, their loosened hair and cries conveying terror and disorder.
Indirectly, Hanumān’s unwavering commitment to Rāma’s mission is emphasized; simultaneously, the verse invites the virtue of karuṇā (compassion) in the audience by foregrounding civilian suffering amid righteous retribution.