When the virtuous sage Śarabhaṅga, foremost among Brahmins, beheld the Lord of Creators surrounded by his attendants, the Lord himself was filled with joy at the sage’s presence and greeted him warmly and with honor. After Śarabhaṅga ascended to heaven, gatherings of revered sages approached Rāma of the noble Kakutstha line, who shone with blazing energy. Among them were ascetics of many kinds—Vaikhānasa and Vālakhilya sages, Samprakṣālas, Marīcipas, Ashmakuṭṭas, and those who lived only on leaves. There were those who ground their food with their teeth, those who remained ever immersed, some who slept on the bare ground or never slept at all, and others who dwelled out in the open. Some lived solely on water, others subsisted on air alone, some resided in the sky, while others lay on the bare earth. There were those who stood upright without rest, those who had conquered their senses, those clad in wet garments, those devoted to recitation, steadfast in austerity, and some practicing the fivefold penance. These many sages, well-versed in dharma, gathered before Rāma, the foremost upholder of righteousness, and addressed him, the supreme knower of right conduct. They spoke: “O mighty chariot-warrior of the Ikṣvāku line, you are the foremost and protector of this earth, like Maghavan among the gods. Your fame and valor are renowned in all the three worlds; in you are found devotion to your father, truthfulness, and abundant righteousness. We have come to you, great-souled one, knower and lover of righteousness, to seek your aid—please forgive us for this request. “A king who claims a sixth part of the produce but does not protect his people as his own children, O protector, commits great unrighteousness. He who, ever devoted, protects all his subjects as his own life or as beloved sons, with all his strength, attains true kingship. Such a king, O Rāma, gains lasting fame, reaches the abode of Brahmā, and is honored there. Whatever supreme righteousness an ascetic living on roots and fruits performs, a fourth part of that accrues to the king who protects his people with righteousness. “This great community of forest-dwelling ascetics, mostly Brahmins, though under your protection, O Rāma, is being grievously slain by Rākṣasas, as if unprotected. Come and see the bodies of many noble-minded sages, slain in various ways by fierce Rākṣasas in the forest. A great slaughter is being committed among those dwelling by the Pampā river, the Anumandākinī, and those residing at Citrakūṭa. We cannot endure the terrible harm being done to ascetics by Rākṣasas engaged in dreadful deeds. Therefore, seeking refuge, we have come to you, our worthy protector; protect us, O Rāma, who are being slain by these night-roaming beings. O hero, there is no other refuge for us on earth apart from you; protect us all, O prince, from the Rākṣasas.” Hearing their plea, the righteous son of the Kakutstha line addressed all the ascetics devoted to austerity: “You ought not to command me thus; I am not to be ordered by ascetics. I have entered this forest solely to fulfill my own duty. I have come here, carrying out my father’s command, to remove the harm done to you by the Rākṣasas. By chance, my purpose aligns with yours; for me, dwelling in the forest will bear great fruit. I wish to slay the Rākṣasa enemies of the ascetics in battle. Let the sages, rich in austerity, witness my valor together with my brother.” Having granted a boon to the ascetics, the self-controlled Rāma, steadfast in righteousness, set out with Lakṣmaṇa and the ascetics toward the hermitage of Sutīkṣṇa. Rāma, the scorcher of foes, accompanied by his brother and Sītā, journeyed with the twice-born sages to Sutīkṣṇa’s hermitage. After traveling a long distance and crossing many rivers swollen with water, he beheld a pure and lofty mountain, shining like the great Meru. The two descendants of Raghu, always together, entered the forest with Sītā, a forest filled with a variety of trees. Within that dreadful forest, blooming with flowers and laden with fruits, they saw a hermitage in a secluded spot, adorned with garlands of bark-cloth. There, Rāma approached Sutīkṣṇa, the ascetic rich in austerity, who sat bearing the marks of penance and the dust of ascetic life, as was customary. Rāma spoke: “I am Rāma, O venerable one, come to see you; therefore, speak to me, O knower of righteousness, great sage of true valor.” Sutīkṣṇa replied, “Welcome to you, best of the Raghus, Rāma, foremost among the upholders of truth. This hermitage, now entered by you, is as if protected by a lord. Awaiting only you, O greatly renowned one, I have not ascended to the world of the gods, having left my body on earth. I have heard that, deprived of your kingdom and having taken up residence at Citrakūṭa, you, O Kakutstha, have come here, and even Indra, the lord of gods, has come. “The god, the great lord, ruler of the gods, approached me and said that by my merit I have conquered all the worlds. In this place, honored by gods and sages, which I have won through austerity, by my favor, you may dwell here with your wife and with Lakṣmaṇa.” To that great sage, blazing with severe austerity and truthful in speech, Rāma, self-possessed, replied as Indra would to Brahmā.