Into the forest of sages

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Namaste. Come, let us sit together.

Last time, Bharata came all the way to Chitrakuta to bring Rama home, and went back with Rama's sandals on his head. Today, the three travellers leave Chitrakuta behind.

**

Why did Rama leave that lovely hill? Valmiki gives two reasons. Everything there reminded him of Bharata, of his mothers, of the crowds from Ayodhya who had come and gone. And the sages living nearby told him that the forest had become unsafe; some of them were moving away. So Rama decided to go further south.

Their first stop was the ashram of the sage **Atri**. Atri was very old, one of the great rishis. He received Rama like a son. And he called his wife, **Anasuya**, to meet Sita.

Anasuya was even older than her husband. Valmiki describes her as bent with age, her hair white, her body trembling, and shining with the power of her long tapas. Atri told Rama that in a time of great drought, when there had been no rain for ten years, it was Anasuya's tapas that made fruits and roots grow, and brought the Ganga to flow near their ashram.

Sita bowed to her. And Anasuya took Sita's hands and spoke to her the way a grandmother speaks to a young bride. She praised Sita for following her husband into the forest. She talked to her about love and loyalty in a marriage.

Then she gave Sita gifts. A garland of flowers, fine clothes, ornaments, and a fragrant paste for the body. She said these would never fade, never lose their freshness, and would always make Sita look lovely.

And then Anasuya did something that shows how human these old sages are in Valmiki. She said, "I have heard that you were won in a contest. Tell me the story yourself." And Sita sat by the old woman and told her everything: how King Janaka found her as a baby in a furrow of the earth, how he set Shiva's great bow as the test, and how Rama lifted it. Anasuya listened with delight, like any grandmother hearing a love story. By the time Sita finished, night had fallen, and Anasuya told her to go and adorn herself with the new gifts and go to Rama.

**

The next morning they entered the great forest of **Dandaka**. It was full of ashrams. Sages lived there in simple huts, with sacred fires, grass mats and deer wandering between the trees. When they saw Rama, they gathered round and said, "You are our king, even here in the forest. Protect us." They told him they were being troubled in their worship and their peace. Rama promised to help them.

They met the sage **Sharabhanga**, and then the sage **Sutikshna**, who welcomed them with great love and asked them to come back to him whenever they wished.

**

Here, as they walked on, comes one of my favourite passages in the Aranya Kanda. It is a conversation between husband and wife.

Sita had been thinking about the promise Rama made to the sages. She said to him, very gently, "You are righteous. But there are three faults that can grow in anyone. Speaking untruth. Desiring another's wife. And harming those who have done no harm. The first two you will never have. But the third worries me. You have promised to protect the sages. I only ask, do not strike at anyone who has not wronged you."

And then she told him a small story. Once, she said, there was an ascetic who lived in peace. The god Indra wanted to disturb his tapas. So Indra came to him in disguise and left a sword with him, asking him to keep it safe. The ascetic kept it faithfully. He carried it everywhere, so it would not be lost. Slowly, carrying the sword day after day, his mind began to change. He grew used to it. He grew harsh. And in the end he lost the peace he had come to the forest for. "Weapons are like fire," Sita said. "Keeping them close changes a person."

She ended by saying, "I say this out of love, not to teach you. You know dharma better than I do."

Rama was touched. He said, "Only someone who truly cares for me would speak like this. Your words are worthy of you, Sita. But I have given my word to the sages, and I cannot take it back."

I love that Valmiki gives Sita this voice. She is not only following her husband. She is thinking alongside him.

**

Then Valmiki does something surprising. In just a few lines, he tells us that ten years passed. Ten years. Rama, Sita and Lakshmana moved from one ashram to another, staying a few months here, a year there, living simply among the sages. Valmiki says they were happy.

After those ten years, they came back to Sutikshna, and he told them to visit the great sage **Agastya**.

Agastya is a giant among the rishis. Many stories are told of him, how he made the Vindhya mountain bow down, how he carried knowledge to the south. When Rama came to his ashram, Agastya welcomed him warmly and gave him divine weapons, a great bow, arrows that never run out, and a sword. And he gave Rama advice on where to live. "Go to **Panchavati**," he said, "by the river **Godavari**. It is a beautiful place, with plenty of fruit and water. Sita will be happy there."

**

On the way to Panchavati, they met a great bird sitting on a tree. He was huge and very old. Rama and Lakshmana were cautious. But the bird spoke kindly. He said, "I am **Jatayu**. I was a friend of your father, King Dasharatha." Rama bowed to him with great respect. Jatayu offered to watch over Sita whenever the brothers went out into the forest. And from then on he was like an elder in their family.

At Panchavati, Lakshmana built a hut once again, this time a large and beautiful one, with walls of earth, pillars of bamboo, and a roof of reeds and leaves. Rama was so pleased with his brother's work that he embraced him and said, "Having you with me, I feel as if our father is still alive."

The days at Panchavati were simple. A bath in the Godavari in the morning, then the morning prayers. Lakshmana brought wood and fruit. Sita looked after the flowering plants around the hut. In the evening the three sat by the fire and talked, sometimes about Ayodhya, sometimes about the birds and animals of the forest. Jatayu sat on a nearby tree, the way an elder sits on the veranda of a house. These are the kind of days we do not recognise while we live them, and miss very much later.

**

Winter came to Panchavati. Valmiki gives us a lovely picture of it. Mist on the Godavari in the morning. The sun weak and far away. Early one morning, walking to the river, Lakshmana spoke of Bharata. He said, "Right now, on this cold morning, Bharata must be going down to the Sarayu to bathe, in his bark clothes, just like us." And then Lakshmana said something a little bitter about Kaikeyi.

Rama stopped him at once. "Never speak ill of our mother Kaikeyi," he said. "Talk to me only about Bharata. His love is what I think of."

Even after all those years, Rama would not let anger into his home.

**

**One thing to take with you.** Sita spoke up to Rama because she loved him, and Rama listened because he loved her. This week, if you have something honest to say to someone close to you, say it gently. And if someone says something honest to you, listen to the end before answering.

In the next episode, the peace of Panchavati is broken. A golden deer appears near the hut, and nothing will be the same again.

**

**Credits (read out):** Written by the DharmikStudio team from the Valmiki Ramayana, Ayodhya and Aranya Kandas. Narrated with an AI voice. If you hear a mistake, please use "Report a mistake" on this episode.

Keep going

• Listen: Into the forest of sages
• Previous: Bharata's refusal
• Next: The golden deer
• हिन्दी में पढ़ें
• All episodes of Ramayana: Valmiki's story, told gently