Chapter 112 — Time at the Gate

Time came to the royal gate in the form of an ascetic.

He addressed Lakshmana, who guarded the entrance. “Announce me to Rama,” he said. “I have come on a matter of grave importance. I am the messenger of a great rishi, and I must see the king.”

Lakshmana went quickly to Rama. The visitor shone with an intensity that made him seem less like an ordinary traveler than a fire held within a human form. Rama ordered that he be admitted.

The ascetic entered, greeted Rama, accepted the water and honors due to a guest, and sat upon a golden seat. Rama welcomed him and asked the purpose of his message.

The visitor gave one condition before he would speak. Their conversation must be heard and seen by no one else. Whoever entered, watched, or listened would be killed. Rama accepted the condition and told Lakshmana to dismiss the gatekeeper and stand at the door himself. If anyone saw or heard the conversation between Rama and the ascetic, Rama said, that person would be subject to death.

Lakshmana took his place outside. Inside, the ascetic told Rama who he was.

“I am Kāla,” he said: Time, the gatherer of all things. He had come as Brahma's messenger. Rama, he said, had once brought forth the world and Time himself; later, to protect beings endangered by Ravana, Rama had entered a human birth as Vishnu's power. The term set for that human life had now been completed.

Brahma's message did not give only one command. Rama could remain among his people if he wished; or, if he desired, he could return to the divine realm, where the gods waited for Vishnu's presence. Rama heard the message with pleasure, not resistance. He said he would go back by the path from which he had come. His work for the gods, he said, had been carried out as Brahma required.

While the two still spoke, Durvasa arrived at the gate. He was an ascetic sage, or rishi, and a rishi's curse was speech with real force: a curse can bring ruin rather than merely express anger. Durvasa is feared because his anger rises suddenly and he threatens to use that power. He was not a monster. He came wanting an audience with Rama and told Lakshmana that his purpose could not wait.

Lakshmana bowed and asked him to wait a moment, because Rama was occupied. Durvasa's eyes darkened. He demanded immediate admission. If Lakshmana delayed him, he said, he would pronounce a curse on not only Lakshmana but Rama, Bharata, the city, the kingdom, and their descendants. He could no longer hold his anger within.

Lakshmana stood between two commands. If he kept Rama's privacy, Durvasa's curse would fall upon many. If he opened the door, Rama's vow would claim him.

He made the decision without asking anyone to make it for him. Better that one person should perish, he thought, than that all should be destroyed. He went in and announced Durvasa's arrival.

Rama immediately released Time and hurried out to receive the sage. Durvasa said that a thousand-year fast had ended that day and he wanted food prepared at once. Rama's response was relief. He offered the meal, and Durvasa ate what was set before him, declaring it excellent before returning to his hermitage.

Only after the sage had gone did the other condition return in full. Rama remembered Time's message and the deadly promise at the door. He was overwhelmed by grief. Downcast, he could not speak.

Lakshmana saw his brother's face and understood that the choice he had made was now waiting to be answered.