Chapter 74 — The Kings Depart

When Agastya and the other rishis had left the hall, Rama's court did not empty. Kings of allied realms were still there. Word of Sita's abduction had reached them while Rama was still in the forest, and they had come to Ayodhya ready to cross the sea with their forces, only to find that the war had been won before they could join it.

Rama considered first his friend Pratardana, king of Kashi. He drew him into an embrace and spoke with the warmth due to a man who had answered another king's need. Pratardana had shown affection and steadfast friendship; he had made ready beside Bharata when the news came that Janaka's daughter had been taken in the forest. Now Rama asked him to return to Varanasi, the well-kept city of Kashi, secure behind its walls and gateways.

Then Rama rose from his high seat and faced the other kings. He thanked them without treating their readiness as a formality. Their strength and goodwill, he said, had stood behind the cause. Ravana, lord of the rakshasas, had fallen with his sons, kinsmen, and forces; Rama called himself only the visible means in a victory supported by the power of those who had gathered for him.

The kings answered with joy. Sita had been restored. The enemy had been defeated. Rama's rule had been made firm. To see those things, they said, was the fulfillment they had wished for; it was honor enough to be praised by a king able to recognize another's worth. They asked leave to go, carrying Rama in their hearts, and asked that his good will remain with them.

So the human armies departed in every direction. The earth trembled under the movement of chariots, elephants, horses, and marching men, but the movement was not the approach of war. It was the sound of forces turning homeward, glad that the crossing they had prepared for had not been demanded of them. On the road the kings spoke of the campaign they had missed. Had Ravana stood before them, some said, they would have faced him beyond the sea without fear. Yet they knew whose strength had ended the war: Rama's, and Lakshmana's beside him.

Once they had returned to their own cities, the kings sent gifts to Ayodhya: fine horses, elephants in their force, garments, ornaments, sandalwood, and other precious things chosen to honor Rama. Bharata, Lakshmana, and Shatrughna received them and brought them before their eldest brother.

Rama accepted the offerings gladly, then did not keep them gathered around his own throne. He gave them to Sugriva and Vibhishana, and to the bear and vanara heroes led by Hanuman, as well as to the rakshasas who had stood with Vibhishana. The gifts passed from royal hands into the hands of those whose labor, counsel, endurance, and courage had made the rescue possible.

The allies received them with their heads bowed and their arms lifted in acknowledgment. In the places where they lodged, fragrant honey was opened, well-prepared meat and fruit were shared, and the hard habits of campaigning gave way to food, conversation, and rest. No one called the time idleness. It was the interval after danger, when those who had survived together could remain near one another without a command to march.

More than a month passed as quickly as a moment, held light by devotion to Rama. Then another gentle month of winter went by with the vanaras, bears, and rakshasas still in Ayodhya. The guests had not yet become strangers, but the season of leave-taking had begun to gather around them.