Listening to the words of king Dasharatha, whose eyes were filled with tears of attachment for Sri Rama, unable to bear the thought of separation from him, the sage Vishwamitra got angry.
“You first make a promise to do as I say, and now you want to retract and kill the promise. So since you choose not to do it, I make a move in the direction I came. Having broken your promise, may you live happily,” taunted the sage.
Seeing the anger in Vishwamitra, the earth shook and the gods were afraid. Seeing his anger, the sage Vashishtha took the lead to speak.
“O king Dasharatha of the Ikshwaku race, it is not befitting of you to destroy righteousness. Having promised, if you step back on your words, you will lose all the merits you earned from doing great deeds of public interest. Therefore, send Rama with Vishwamitra. If you do not protect your words, then who indeed would?”
The sage spoke of the glories of Rama calling him an embodiment of dharma, wise and the most powerful than all others in the world. “He knows how to handle weapons of all the three worlds.” To the shattered king, the family priest spelt out all the glories and greatness of Rama. “Do not yield to low behaviour born of ignorance, O king. Even when you die, you will reach the kingdom of the gods. So don’t hold back Rama,” advised Vashishtha.
On hearing the words of assurance from the chief priest, the king was happy and sent for Rama and Lakshmana.
The sage described the great qualities of a master of realisation and pointed out that Rama has them all.
In the Vairagya Prakarana of Vashishtha, there also follows a deep description of the dispassion of Rama towards all objects, people and circumstances of the world following his discovery of their ephemeral nature.
He, however, clarified that this delusion is not out of his own selfish interests and desires, but it arose out of right discrimination between the real and the unreal, and out of the knowledge of the truth. The brothers entered the palace and paid their respects to Vashishtha and Vishwamithra and their father too. The king said, o son, having attained the right discrimination it is not right to yield to sorrow and delusion.
The sage Vashishtha said it was inappropriate to dissolve oneself into a languorous stupor of thought. The sage Vishwamitra too urged him to spell out the cause for his sorrow, what thought he was holding on to. Replying to the request of the sages, Rama started explaining his state of mind.
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