Ram, Sita and Lakshmana Leave Ayodhya

Ram went first to his mother, Kaushalya, who was at prayer for her son's coronation. He said gently, "Mother, my father is giving the kingdom to Bharata, and I am to live in the forest for fourteen years." Kaushalya fell like a branch cut by an axe.

Lakshmana was standing there, and his eyes turned red. "Brother, our father has lost his judgment in old age. Give the word, and I alone will hold all Ayodhya at bay with this bow. Let me see who stops your coronation."

Ram took his hand. "Lakshmana, I know your love. But I do not want a kingdom won by breaking my father's word. Mother Kaikeyi is not to blame either. What is fated to happen makes us act in this way. Let go of your anger and set your mind on dharma."

Sita

At home Ram told Sita everything and said, "You should stay here. Serve my parents, and never praise me in front of Bharata."

Sita, who always spoke gently, drew herself up. "My lord, what are you saying? Father, mother, brother and son each reap their own fate. Only a wife shares the fate of her husband. If exile is ordered for you, it is ordered for me. I will walk ahead of you and crush the thorns under my feet. With you the forest is heaven to me, and without you a palace is hell."

Ram listed the hardships of the forest: lions, snakes, thorns, sleeping on the ground, living on roots. Sita would not listen. At last she said through her tears, "Did my father take as son-in-law a man who is afraid to take his wife with him?" Then Ram held her close. "I only wished to know your heart. Come."

Lakshmana clasped Ram's feet. "Do not go without me. When you sleep, I will keep watch." Ram took him too.

Sumitra's blessing

Lakshmana went to take leave of his mother, Sumitra. That mother, whose son was leaving for fourteen years for no fault of his own, did not shed a tear. She said:

Ramam Dasharatham viddhi, mam viddhi Janakatmajam,
Ayodhyam atavim viddhi, gachchha tata yathasukham.

"Think of Ram as Dasharatha, think of Sita as me, and think of the forest as Ayodhya. Go, my son, and go in peace."

The farewell

The three gave away their wealth to brahmins and servants and went to the king. Dasharatha said, "Ram, imprison me and make yourself king." Ram bowed his head and refused. Kaikeyi herself brought the garments of bark. Ram and Lakshmana put them on. Sita, who had never worn anything but silk, stood holding hers; she did not know how to tie it. Ram fastened it for her over her silk. The whole household wept.

Sumantra brought the chariot. As it moved off, all Ayodhya ran behind it, the old, the children, the women. People cried, "Sumantra, drive slowly, let us see Ram's face!" The old king and Kaushalya ran after it barefoot. Ram looked back and could not bear it. "Sumantra, drive faster." Dasharatha fell in the dust. He watched for as long as the dust of the chariot could be seen.

At dusk the chariot stopped on the bank of the Tamasa. The citizens reached the place too and fell asleep exhausted. Ram took only water. Before dawn he said to Lakshmana, "These people will not leave us. Let us go while they sleep." The chariot crossed the river quietly. When the people of Ayodhya awoke, even the wheel tracks faded out a little way ahead.