Shloka 5.54.26
लङ्कादाहः — The Burning of Lanka (Catuḥpañcāśaḥ Sargaḥ)
क्रन्दन्त्यस्सहसा पेतुः स्तनन्धयधराः स्त्रियः।।5.54.25।।काश्चिदग्निपरीतेभ्यो हर्मेभ्यो मुक्तमूर्धजाः।पतन्त्यो रेजिरेऽभ्रेभ्यस्सौदामन्य इवाम्बरात्।।5.54.26।।
krandantyaḥ sahasā petuḥ stanandhayadharāḥ striyaḥ || 5.54.25 || kāścid agniparītebhyo harmyebhyo muktamūrdhajāḥ | patantyo rejire ’bhrebhyaḥ saudāminya iva ambarāt || 5.54.26 ||
Crying out, some women carrying their suckling infants suddenly leapt down; with their hair loosened, they sprang from mansions wrapped in fire. As they fell, they flashed like lightning descending from cloudbanks in the sky.
A few shedemons at once jumped out of their burning mansions surrounded by fire. They held their breastfeeding babies in their arms, their hair let loose shouting as they jumped. As they were alighting, they glowed like lightnings dropping from the clouds.
It underscores that adharma destabilizes the social order and harms the innocent. Dharma requires restraint and protection of dependents; when leadership violates it, fear and suffering spread through the populace.
The burning of Laṅkā forces residents to flee. The poet depicts women escaping fire with infants in their arms, falling from high mansions like streaks of lightning.
The verse primarily paints the scene rather than praise a single virtue; ethically, it reinforces the epic’s focus on responsibility—how a ruler’s adharma (Rāvaṇa’s) precipitates collective calamity.