Shloka 20
प्रमदावनविध्वंसः | The Devastation of the Pleasure-Garden
Ashoka Vatika
सा विह्वलाऽशोकलताप्रताना वनस्थली शोकलताप्रताना।जाता दशास्यप्रमदावनस्य कपेर्बलाद्धि प्रमदावनस्य।।।।
sā vihvalā 'śoka-latā-pratānā vanasthalī śoka-latā-pratānā |
jātā daśāsya-pramadāvanasya kaper balād dhi pramadāvanasya ||
सा अशोकलताप्रतानसमृद्धा वनस्थली शोकलताप्रतानवतीवाभवत्। कपेर्बलप्रभावाद्धि दशास्यस्य प्रमदावनं विध्वस्तं बभूव॥
The pleasure-garden of Ravana appeared as though it was spreading the creepers of sorrow, since it was totally destroyed by the monkey who had set out to protect a woman. pramadā+vanasya = of the pleasure garden, pramadā+avanasya of the hero who came to protect a lady.
FAQs
Adharma turns pleasure into grief: the verse’s wordplay teaches that unlawful enjoyment (Rāvaṇa’s) inevitably flowers into sorrow when confronted by dharma.
After the devastation, the narrator interprets the garden’s transformation—once a place of delight, now a symbol of grief caused by Hanumān’s force.
Moral agency through strength—Hanumān becomes an instrument that converts the oppressor’s pleasure-space into a sign of impending justice.