Shloka 5.54.37
लङ्कादाहः — The Burning of Lanka (Catuḥpañcāśaḥ Sargaḥ)
किं वैष्णवं वा कपिरूपमेत्य रक्षोविनाशाय परं सुतेजः।अनन्तमव्यक्तमचिन्त्यमेकं स्वमायया साम्प्रतमागतं वा।।।।
kiṁ vaiṣṇavaṁ vā kapirūpam etya rakṣo-vināśāya paraṁ sutejaḥ |
anantam avyaktam acintyam ekaṁ sva-māyayā sāmpratam āgataṁ vā ||
Or is it Viṣṇu’s supreme, blazing power—boundless, unmanifest, unthinkable, one—come now by its own māyā, taking a monkey’s form for the destruction of the rākṣasas?
'Can he be the vast boundless energy, the unthinkable and infinite lord Visnu assuming the monkey-form? Is he the peerless, unmanifest form beyond all imagination who has arrived here by virtue of his Maya (illusory power) in order todestroy the demons'?
The verse aligns with the Rāmāyaṇa’s dharmic worldview: when adharma threatens the world, divine power is believed to manifest in fitting forms to uphold righteousness.
In panic, the rākṣasas interpret Hanumān’s extraordinary feat as possibly the manifestation of Viṣṇu’s supreme energy in a kapi-form.
Hanumān’s tejas and īśvara-bhakti (devotion expressed through fearless service) are implied, since his might is perceived as divinely sourced.