Even as all earth shook in the presence of the Rishi Vishwamitra, especially when he made a request to King Dasharatha to send his son with him to the forest to fight a battle with the demons, the king gathered courage after he fell unconsciousness for over an hour.
My dear son Sri Rama, whose eyes are soft and compassionate like the lotus flowers, is not yet 16 years of age. I do not see any capability in him to stand in battle against the rakshasas. I am the master of akshauhini (a battle formation with 21,870 chariots, 21,870 elephants, 65,610 cavalry and 109,350 infantry). Take this and myself too. I will wage a war with the ogres. I will fight with them like an elephant fights with a lion. This dear child Rama does not know about the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy.
He has not so far seen anything other than the inner quarters of this fortified palace—not surely a battlefield! He does not know the use of weapons that can be sent towards the target or recalled after use. His movement has been in the midst of flower boughs and gardens of the city, and not the battlefield. He plays with the other inmates of the palace throwing flowers and not arrows.
How can I give you this delicate son of mine to fight the deadly monsters who gain strength as they roam by night? O mighty willed sage, the love for one’s own son gives more joy than a kingdom can. People can give up the breath, give up wealth or wife, but not a son, O rishi! The rakshasas are capable of doing gory actions and fight in deceitful battles. It is difficult for Rama to fight against them.
I cannot stay away from Rama even for an hour. I will not even have the desire to live if he goes, and hence it does not befit you O sage to take away Rama. It has been over 90,000 years since I was born and Rama has been born to me only towards the end of this time after a lot of effort. Out of the four sons, the lotus-eyed Rama is very dear to me. Without him, the other three brothers will also not live. If you indeed insist that you will take Rama to the forest, know me surely to be dead on seeing that.
The king asked Vishwamitra about the strength of the rakshasas. He learns that at the head of this team was Ravana, the half brother of Kubera and the son of Vishravas. With all our strength having depleted with the passage of time, it is not even possible for me to give a battle with the rakshasas and what to say of Rama.
Even the gods and celestial beings cannot fight with Ravana. Saying these words, the king is engrossed in his own delusory fears as the sage rises up to leave in anger.
Brahmacharini Sharanya Chaitanya
(www.sharanyachaitanya.blogspot.in)