Hanumán’s assault on Lanka is a calculated escalation within his mission there. After judging that conciliation, gifts, and division would not move Rávaṇ, he chooses force in the form of destroying the king’s pleasure grounds. The attack makes Hanumán’s presence an open challenge and leads from damage to the royal grounds to confrontation with Lanka’s rulers and defenders.

Causes and Choice of Tactics

The commentary explains Hanumán’s decision through four ways of dealing with an enemy: conciliation, gifts, division, and force or punishment. He considers the first three useless in this case and chooses punishment, directing his attack at Rávaṇ’s pleasure grounds. The destruction is therefore not presented simply as incidental damage during reconnaissance: it is the deliberate means by which Hanumán answers Rávaṇ’s refusal to yield.

The target also gives the action a political edge. By striking a royal pleasure ground, Hanumán carries his resistance into the ruler’s domain. The chosen tactic changes his role from a concealed visitor gathering information to an adversary whose actions require a response.

Confrontation and Capture

The assault brings Hanumán into combat with Lanka’s Rákṣasas and ultimately into Rávaṇ’s presence. The commentary records that Indrajít’s magic weapon cast a spell on Hanumán; when Hanumán was bound with cords, Indrajít released him from that spell. This distinction between magical restraint and ordinary bonds is part of the account’s explanation of how the capture unfolded.

A small textual detail in the commentary concerns a chariot described first as drawn by asses and later as drawn by horses. The commentator notes the discrepancy and explains that the later reference to horses means asses. The note preserves a variation in the battle description rather than treating the two accounts as separate events.

Envoy and Aftermath

Before Rávaṇ, Hanumán identifies himself as an envoy sent by the ruler of the Vánaras. That declaration reframes the assault as more than an individual act: Hanumán is also a messenger representing a political power. The commentary underscores the consequence of that status by citing the rule that killing an ambassador brings punishment. His identity as an envoy thus places a limit on how Rávaṇ may respond, even after Hanumán has inflicted deliberate damage.

The episode’s movement—from a strategic choice, through the destruction of the pleasure grounds and capture, to the declaration of envoy status—sets force against the obligations governing diplomacy. Hanumán has punished Rávaṇ’s authority on its own ground, but the encounter also makes his representative role explicit and brings the protection due to an envoy into the confrontation.