Shloka 5.54.3
लङ्कादाहः — The Burning of Lanka (Catuḥpañcāśaḥ Sargaḥ)
वनं तावत्प्रमथितं प्रकृष्टा राक्षसा हताः।।।बलैकदेशः क्षपितश्शेषं दुर्गविनाशनम्।
hanūmatā vegavatā vānarēṇa mahātmanā | laṅkāpuraṃ pradagdhaṃ tad rudrēṇa tripuraṃ yathā ||
That city of Laṅkā was burned by Hanumān—the great-souled vānarā of swift force—just as Rudra burned Tripura.
'All the trees of the garden are broken, powerful demons have been killed, and a contingent of the army is destroyed. Only the destruction of the citadel is left.
It frames Hanumān’s act as punitive consequence aligned with cosmic justice: when adharma hardens into oppression, corrective force arises to restore moral order.
The narration summarizes the scale of the conflagration: Hanumān’s fire consumes Laṅkā, and the poet invokes the mythic burning of Tripura by Rudra as a parallel.
Mahātmatva and śaurya (greatness of spirit and heroism): Hanumān acts with extraordinary power in loyal service, becoming an instrument of righteous retribution.