Vishwamitra Asks for Ram: Tataka and the Yajna

King Dasharatha went to the gate himself and led Vishwamitra in with honour. He washed the sage's feet, offered him a seat and said, "Your coming has made my house holy. Command me, and I will do whatever you ask."

Vishwamitra said, "King, I am performing a sacrifice. Each time it nears completion, two rakshasas named Maricha and Subahu rain blood and flesh on the altar. While I sit at the rite I may not grow angry or utter a curse. So give me your eldest son, Ram, for ten nights."

Dasharatha trembled. "Sage, my Ram is not yet sixteen. How can he fight rakshasas? I will come myself with my whole army. But do not ask for Ram. I was given him in my old age, and I cannot live a moment without him."

Vishwamitra's brows drew together. "You gave your word and now you go back on it? That is not the way of the house of Raghu." Then Guru Vasishtha reasoned with the king: "Vishwamitra could destroy those rakshasas himself. He asks for your son only for your son's good. No harm can come to one whom Vishwamitra protects." With a heavy heart Dasharatha sent for Ram, and Lakshmana came along without being asked.

Bala and Atibala

The three set out on foot. On the bank of the Saryu, Vishwamitra gave Ram two arts called Bala and Atibala, which keep away tiredness, hunger and thirst. That night the princes slept on a bed of grass, and at dawn the sage woke them with the words: "Ram, worthy son of Kaushalya, day is breaking in the east. Arise."

Tataka

Further on they came to a dense and fearful forest where no bird sang and no man went. Vishwamitra explained, "Two prosperous districts once stood here. A yakshini named Tataka laid them waste. She has the strength of a thousand elephants. Ram, kill her."

Ram hesitated. It did not seem right to him to shoot a woman. Vishwamitra said, "To protect the people is the dharma of a king. Pity for one who devours the innocent is not virtue." Ram answered, "My father told me to obey you. I will do so." He twanged his bow. Tataka came rushing in a storm of dust and stones. Dusk was near, and rakshasas grow stronger in the dark, so Ram did not delay and ended her with a single arrow.

Pleased, Vishwamitra gave Ram many divine weapons that same night, and taught him the mantras to release and recall them.

Guarding the sacrifice

At Siddhashrama, Vishwamitra took a vow of silence and sat down to the rite. The two brothers kept watch for six days and six nights without sleep. On the sixth day there was a roar in the sky. Maricha and Subahu had come with their host. Ram loosed the Manava weapon at Maricha; it did not kill him but flung him a hundred yojanas away into the sea. With the weapon of fire he ended Subahu, and the rest fled.

The sacrifice was completed, and the sages blessed Ram. The next morning Ram folded his hands and asked, "Sage, what is your command now?" Vishwamitra said, "King Janaka of Mithila is holding a sacrifice. A wonderful bow is kept there. Come, I will show it to you."