Story: The king's dilemma

  

 Story: The king's dilemma

Dasharatha lost his composure on hearing Vishvamitra's words and cried, "O great sage! My lotus-eyed Rama isn't even 16 years of age." The king volunteered to accompany the sage instead, along with his army. He implored the great sage to tell him about the Rakshasas, their strength and their protector.

Vishvamitra told Dasharatha about Ravana, the powerful lord of the Rakshasas, and how he had urged Maricha and Subahu to obstruct the sages and their sacrifices.

The king, overwhelmed by grief for his son's life, begged the sage to reconsider. "The enemies you describe are fierce and skilled, and Rama is a child," he said. Maricha and Subahu were impossible to defeat, he said. Even he, as the king of Ayodhya with the might of his army, would only be able to battle one demon at a time. "I cannot give Rama to you," he said.

Vishvamitra looked at the king who had, but a short while ago, pledged to give him whatever he had wanted. Anger laced his words as the sage reminded the king that he came from the exalted Ikshvaku lineage.

"You are like the god of dharma yourself. If you break your pledge, you will destroy the fruits of all the sacrifices that were performed in the past. So, do not resort to adharma," he thundered.

So intense was Vishvamitra's rage that the earth shook and the gods trembled. Sage Vasishtha quickly intervened and convinced Dasharatha that Vishvamitra was an ideal guardian and would protect Rama. The king finally acceded to the sages' wishes.

The brothers set forth

As Rama and Lakshmana left Ayodhya, flowers rained down from heaven. They walked half a yojana (about 6.5 km or 4 miles), until they reached the southern banks of the River Sarayu.

Vishvamitra asked them to touch water from the river and receive the divine powers, Bala and Atibala. With this, he said, Rama would not face hunger or thirst and would have incomparable strength.

The next morning, they walked to the confluence of the rivers Ganga and Sarayu, where they came upon Anga. home to a group of fierce sages who were disciples of Shiva, the god of Destruction. The princes and Vishvamitra decided they would spend the night here.