Shloka 5.55.8
लङ्कादाहानन्तरचिन्ता — Hanuman’s Post-Conflagration Self-Examination and Assurance of Sita’s Safety
यदि दग्धा त्वियं लङ्का नूनमार्याऽपि जानकी।दग्धा तेन मया भर्तुर्हितं कार्यमजानता।।।।
yadi dagdhā tv iyaṁ laṅkā nūnam āryā ’pi jānakī | dagdhā tena mayā bhartur hitaṁ kāryam ajānatā ||
If this Laṅkā has been burned, then surely even noble Jānakī has been burned; thus, through my ignorance, I have destroyed my lord’s beneficial mission.
'If this Lanka is burnt, even noble Janaki is burnt, my master's work is spoilt by me unknowingly.
Dharma includes foresight and protection of the innocent; service to a righteous cause must not become reckless harm that undermines the very goal.
Hanumān imagines the worst—that Sītā may have perished in the fire—and worries that Rāma’s entire mission would be ruined through his mistake.
Conscientiousness: he measures success not by destruction of the enemy but by safeguarding Sītā and fulfilling Rāma’s purpose.