The new assembly hall, Dasaratha's latest pride, was crowded all day with visiting dignitaries, royal emissaries, and citizens coming in with representations or appeals for justice. The King was always accessible, and fulfilled his duties as the ruler of Kosala without grudging the hours spent in public service.On a certain afternoon, messengers at the gate came running in to announce, "Sage Viswamithra." When the message was relayed to the King, he got up and hurried forward to receive the visitor. Viswamithra, once a king, a conqueror, and a dreaded name until he renounced his kingly role and chose to become a sage (which he accomplished through severe austerities), combined in himself the sage's eminence and the king's authority and was quick tempered and positive. Dasaratha led him to a proper seat and said, "This is a day of glory for us; your gracious presence is most welcome. You must have come from afar. Would you first rest?"
"No need," the sage replied simply. He had complete mastery over his bodily needs through inner discipline and austerities, and was above the effects of heat, cold, hunger,fatigue, and even decrepitude. The King later asked politely, "Is there anything I can do?" Viswamithra looked steadily at the King and answered, "Yes. I am here to ask of you a favor. I wish to perform, before the next full moon, a yagna at Sidhasrama. Doubtless you know where it is?"
"I have passed that sacred ground beyond the Ganges many times."
The sage interrupted. "But there are creatures hovering about waiting to disturb every holy undertaking there, who must be overcome in the same manner as one has to conquer the five fold evils4 within before one can realize holiness. Those evil creatures are endowed with immeasurable powers of destruction. But it is our duty to pursue our aims undeterred. The yagna I propose to perform will strengthen the beneficial forces of this world, and please the gods above."
"It is my duty to protect your sublime effort. Tell me when, and I will be there."
The sage said, "No need to disturb your august self. Send your son Rama with me, and he will help me. He can." "Rama!" cried the King, surprised, "When I am here to serve you."
Viswamithra's temper was already stirring. "I know your greatness," he said, cutting the King short. "But I want Rama to go with me. If you are not willing, you may say so."The air became suddenly tense. The assembly, the ministers and officials, watched in solemn silence. The King looked miserable. "Rama is still a child, still learning the arts and practicing the use of arms." His sentences never seemed to conclude, but trailed away as he tried to explain.
"He is a boy, a child, he is too young and tender to contend with demons."
"But I know Rama," was all that Viswamithra said in reply. "I can send you an army, or myself lead an army to guard your performance. What can a stripling like Rama do against
those terrible forces … ? I will help you just as I helped Indra once when he was harassed and deprived of his kingdom." Viswamithra ignored his speech and rose to leave. "If you cannot send Rama, I need none else." He started to move down the passage. The King was too stricken to move. When Viswamithra had gone half way, he realized that the visitor was leaving unceremoniously and was not even shown the courtesy of being escorted to the door. Vasishtha, the King's priest and guide, whispered to Dasaratha, "Follow him and call him back," and hurried forward even before the King could grasp what he was saying. He almost ran as Viswamithra had reached the end of the hall and, blocking his way, said, "The King is coming; please don't go. He did not mean …" A wry smile played on Viswamithra's face as he said without any trace of bitterness, "Why are you or any one without any trace of bitterness, "Why are you or anyone agitated? I came here for a purpose; it has failed; no reason to prolong my stay."
"Oh, eminent one, you were yourself a king once."
"What has that to do with us now?" asked Viswamithra, rather irked, since he hated all reference to his secular past and wanted always to be known as a Brahma Rishi. Vasishtha answered mildly, "Only to remind you of an ordinary man's feelings, especially a man like Dasaratha who had been childless and had to pray hard for an issue…."
"Well, it may be so, great one; I still say that I came on a mission and wish to leave, since it has failed."
"It has not failed," said Vasishtha, and just then the King came up to join them in the passage; the assembly was on its feet.
Dasaratha made a deep obeisance and said, "Come back to your seat, Your Holiness."
"For what purpose, Your Majesty?" Viswamithra asked.Easier to talk seated …"
"I don't believe in any talk," said Viswamithra; but Vasishtha pleaded with him until he returned to his seat.
When they were all seated again, Vasishtha addressed
the King: "There must be a divine purpose working through
this seer, who may know but will not explain. It is a privilege that Rama's help should be sought. Do not bar his way. Let him go with the sage."
"When, oh when?" the King asked anxiously."Now," said Viswamithra. The King looked woebegone and desperate, and the sage relented enough to utter a word of comfort. "You cannot count on the physical proximity of someone you love, all the time. A seed that sprouts at the foot of its parent tree remains stunted until it is transplanted.
Rama will be in my care, and he will be quite well. But ultimately, he will leave me too. Every human being, when the time comes, has to depart and seek his fulfillment in his own way."
"Sidhasrama is far away … ?" began the King.
"I'll ease his path for him, no need for a chariot to take us there," said Viswamithra reading his mind."Rama has never been separated from his brother Lakshmana. May he also go with him?" pleaded the King, and he looked relieved when he heard Viswamithra say,
"Yes, Iwill look after both, though their mission will be to look after me. Let them get ready to follow me; let them select their favourite weapons and prepare to leave."
Dasaratha, with the look of one delivering hostages into the hand of an enemy, turned to his minister and said, "Fetch my sons."Following the footsteps of their master like his shadows,
Rama and Lakshmana went past the limits of the city and reached the Sarayu River, which bounded the capital on the north. When night fell, they rested at a wooded grove and at
dawn crossed the river. When the sun came over the mountain peak, they reached a pleasant grove over which hung, like a canopy, fragrant smoke from numerous sacrificial fires. Viswamithra explained to Rama, "This is where God Shiva meditated once upon a time and reduced to ashes the god of love when he attempted to spoil his meditation. time immemorial saints praying to Shiva come here to perform their sacrifices, and the pall of smoke
you notice is from their sacrificial fires." A group of hermits emerged from their seclusion, received Viswamithra, and invited him and his two disciples to stay with them for the night. Viswamithra resumed his journey at dawn and reached a desert region at midday. The mere
expression "desert" hardly conveys the absolute aridity of this land. Under a relentless sun, all vegetation had dried and turned to dust, stone and rock crumbled into powdery
sand, which lay in vast dunes, stretching away to the horizon. Here every inch was scorched and dry and hot beyond imagination. The ground was cracked and split, exposing enormous fissures everywhere. The distinction between dawn, noon, and evening did not exist here, as the sun
seemed to stay overhead and burn the earth without moving. Bleached bones lay where animals had perished, including those of monstrous serpents with jaws open in deadly thirst;
into these enormous jaws had rushed (says the poet) elephants desperately seeking shade, all dead and fossilized, the serpent and the elephant alike. Heat haze rose and singed the very heavens. While traversing this ground, Viswamithra noticed the bewilderment and distress
on the faces of the young men, and transmitted to them mentally two mantras (called "Bala" and "Adi-Bala"). When they meditated on and recited these incantations, the arid
atmosphere was transformed for the rest of their passage and they felt as if they were wading through a cool stream with a southern summer breeze blowing in their faces.
Rama, ever curious to know the country he was passing through, asked, "Why is this land so terrible? Why does it seem accursed?"
"You will learn the answer if you listen to this story—of a woman fierce, ruthless, eating and digesting all living creatures, possessing the strength of a thousand mad elephants."