Hanumanji Turns Devi Against Ravana

If you see the Ramayana, most of the special situations were handled by Hanumanji—searching for Seetha Matha, giving Ravana and Lanka the first taste of the Lord's power, reviving Lakshmana, and rescuing the Lord and Lakshmana from Ahi Ravana.

Now, one more.

Ravana was alone; all his commanders, even Meghanada and Kumbhakarna, were dead. Only ordinary soldiers were left. He decided to do Sahasra Chandee Patha, a chanting of Saptashati in a special way. It is called Samputeekarana Parayana. Before and at the end of each verse of Saptashati, the Kalaratri mantra is chanted. 

Kalaratri is a very ferocious Devata. Ravana was seeking the help of Kalaratri. She is the Devata of pralaya, of destruction. Durga Saptashati itself is very powerful. When you do Samputeekarana Parayana, it becomes even more lethal. In this way, it was going to be chanted 1000 times. Ravana had so many Brahmin purohits in Lanka who were meant for such rituals.

Vibhishana said, 'If Ravana completes the Sahasra Chandee Patha, then nobody will be able to touch him.'

The task of obstructing it again fell upon Hanumanji. Hanumanji disguised himself as a Brahmin and went to the place where the purohitas were doing the chanting. He started serving them, bringing whatever they wanted, getting them water, drying their wet clothes—all with a lot of respect.

The purohitas had never seen respect in Ravana’s Lanka. Ravana used to treat them like servants, ordering them around. When they saw someone treating them with respect for the first time ever, they felt love and affection towards Hanumanji.

They asked Hanumanji, 'You are doing so much for us. What do you want in return?'

Hanumanji told them, 'Will you promise me that you will do whatever I ask?'

They replied, 'If it is possible for us, we will do it.'

'Then, will you slightly modify the mantra of Kalaratri that you are chanting?

जय त्वं देवि चामुण्डे जय भूतार्तिहारिणि।  

जय सर्वगते देवि कालरात्रि नमोऽस्तु ते॥  

Will you just replace the ‘hakara’ in भूतार्तिहारिणि with ‘kakara’? Instead of भूतार्तिहारिणि, chant भूतार्तिकारिणि?'

What does this mean? आर्तिहारिणी means 'remover of troubles,' while आर्तिकारिणी means 'causer of troubles.' By this, he was asking Devi to cause trouble for Ravana himself.

The purohitas knew what they were going to do, but they wanted to be with the Lord in this battle. They were not in Lanka out of free choice; they were there because they feared Ravana. And they didn’t want Ravana to win. Hanumanji gave them the idea, and they readily agreed to it.

When the Sahasra Chandee was completed, this led to the death of Ravana.

Knowledge Bank

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