The Survivors Carry One Message to Ravana: the Monkey's Strength Is Immense
Sundara Kanda, Doha 18
Doha 18 · Movement 2 of 2
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Hanuman moves through the demon warriors without allowing their numbers to become one enclosing force. Some he kills, some he crushes, and some he seizes and grinds into the dust.
A remnant survives the garden. Wounded bodies pull themselves away from the roar and return toward the palace where the lord of Lanka waits for news.
Their report contains no strategy and no reassurance. The monkey possesses immeasurable strength. Ravana must now hear from his own soldiers that the creature he has not yet seen has broken garden, guard, army, and prince.
The half-dead return from the garden carrying the simplest warning: this monkey cannot be measured.
Read the passage from the Manas
कछु मारेसि कछु मर्देसि कछु मिलएसि धरि धूरि। कछु पुनि जाइ पुकारे प्रभु मर्कट बल भूरि।।18।।
Some he killed, some he crushed, some he ground into the dust. Some ran crying to their lord: "The monkey possesses tremendous strength!"