Ramayana — Sundara Kanda, Sarga 55, Shloka 12
लङ्कादाहानन्तरचिन्ता
Hanuman’s Post-Conflagration Self-Examination and Assurance of Sita’s Safety
यदि तद्विहतं कार्यं मम प्रज्ञाविपर्ययात्।इहैव प्राणसंन्यासो ममापि ह्यद्य रोचते।।।।
yadi tad vihataṃ kāryaṃ mama prajñāviparyayāt |
ihaiva prāṇasaṃnyāso mamāpi hy adya rocate ||
यदि मेरी ही बुद्धि-विपर्यय से वह कार्य नष्ट हो गया हो, तो आज यहीं प्राण-त्याग करना मुझे भी उचित प्रतीत होता है।
'If my work has been destroyed by my perversity of judgement, I will give up my life now and here itself'.
FAQs
Radical accountability: Hanumān accepts personal responsibility for failure and contemplates self-sacrifice as expiation—showing seriousness toward dharma and truth.
Believing he may have destroyed the objective (Sītā’s rescue), Hanumān considers ending his life immediately.
Integrity and responsibility: he refuses to excuse himself and measures his worth by the mission’s moral outcome.