Shloka 24
द्विचत्वारिंशः सर्गः (Sarga 42): Omens in Laṅkā, Report to Rāvaṇa, and the Kinkara Assault
आत्मनस्सदृशान्शूरान्किङ्करान्नाम राक्षसान्।व्यादिदेश महातेजा निग्रहार्थं हनूमतः।।5.42.24।।
ātmanas sadṛśān śūrān kiṅkarān nāma rākṣasān | vyādideśa mahātejā nigrahārthaṃ hanūmataḥ || 5.42.24 ||
അപ്പോൾ മഹാതേജസ്വിയായ രാവണൻ, തനിക്കു തുല്യമായ വീര്യമുള്ള ‘കിങ്കര’ എന്ന പേരിലുള്ള ശൂരരാക്ഷസന്മാരോട് ഹനുമാനെ പിടിച്ചു കീഴടക്കുവാൻ ആജ്ഞാപിച്ചു।
Eighty thousand powerful kinkaras (a clan of demons), large-bellied, with large teeth and of dreadful appearance, swift in action, armed with hammers and clubs marched from there, resolved to capture Hanuman.
FAQs
Power used for unjust ends becomes adharma: command and obedience are ethically neutral only when aligned with righteousness. Here authority is deployed to suppress a messenger acting for a just cause.
Rāvaṇa responds to the disturbance by ordering his elite Kiṅkara forces to capture Hanumān.
On the opposing side, Hanumān’s steadfastness in duty is implied; on Rāvaṇa’s side, the verse highlights militarized control rather than moral governance.