Chapter 114 — The Great Departure

After Lakshmana had gone, Rama spoke to his priest, his ministers, and the people of the city. Grief and sorrow were still upon him.

“Today I will consecrate Bharata as king of Ayodhya,” he said. “Then I will go by the path Lakshmana has taken.”

The people bowed to the earth as if life had left them. Bharata, hearing Rama's intention, lost consciousness. When he recovered, he rejected the throne.

“I do not desire a kingdom without you,” he told Rama. “Install these two young singers instead.” He named Kusha for Kosala and Lava for the northern country. “Send quickly for Shatrughna,” he added. “Tell him that we are going to heaven.”

Vashishta saw the people lowered in grief and asked Rama to hear their wish. Rama raised them and asked what he should do. They answered together: wherever Rama was going, they would go. With children and spouses, through forest or difficult ground, river or sea, they asked not to be left behind.

Rama accepted their resolve. That same day he installed Kusha and Lava as rulers, gave each of them chariots, elephants, horses, wealth, and a populous realm, and sent them toward their cities. The sons who had sung their parents' story before the world received kingdoms, but no long reunion softened the separation that had made their lives possible.

Messengers reached Shatrughna in Madhura after three days and nights. They told him of Lakshmana's abandonment, Rama's vow, the consecration of Lava and Kusha, and the people's decision to follow Rama.

Shatrughna gathered his people and his priest Kanchana. He told them what had happened and installed his sons: Subahu in Madhura and Shatrughati in the eastern country of Vidisha. He divided his army and stores between them, then traveled alone by chariot to Ayodhya.

There he found Rama wearing fine linen, radiant like fire, among sages who did not age. Shatrughna bowed and said he had installed his sons with wealth and was resolved to follow his brother. Rama accepted him.

Then vanaras, bears, and rakshasas arrived in great numbers. Sons of gods, rishis, and Gandharvas came as well, knowing that Rama's ending was at hand. They asked to follow him; without him, they said, they were already struck down.

Rama spoke separately to Vibhishana. As long as people endured, he said, Vibhishana was to remain in Lanka and protect its people by dharma. Then Rama turned to Hanuman, lord among the vanaras. Hanuman was to remain alive while Rama's stories continued in the world. Rama did not ask him to follow.

To the others—vanaras, bears, and rakshasas—Rama gave leave to go with him.

At dawn Rama gave his priest the order for the Great Departure. The sacrificial fire went before the procession with brahmins; the shining umbrella of the Vajapeya rite, a royal ritual emblem, was carried along the great road. Vashishta performed every required rite.

Rama came out in linen, holding kusa grass—the grass used in sacred rites—and silently repeating a sacred formula. He did not speak as he walked.

The procession then becomes visionary. Qualities and sacred powers ordinarily unseen took human form around him: Lakshmi, the power of royal fortune, walked at his left; Hri, modest restraint, at his right; and Resolve before him. His bow, arrows, and other weapons also followed as persons. The Vedas, the sacred body of ritual and religious knowledge, appeared as brahmins. Savitri, a sacred chant; Om, its primary sacred sound; and vashat, a ritual cry used when offerings are made, came behind. These were not citizens forming a second procession. The powers bound to Rama's life were going with him beyond the city.

Bharata and Shatrughna walked with him. Women of the inner household followed, with old people, children, servants, and attendants. Priests carried their sacred fires; ministers and servants came with families and companions. The people of the city and country followed, bright with devotion. They were joyful, even at this departure, and the joy did not mean there was no grief in them.

Vanaras, bears, rakshasas, and the people of Ayodhya came behind Rama. After a journey of a yojana and a half, he reached the Sarayu, whose sacred waters flowed westward.

Then Brahma arrived, encircled by gods and great rishis, amid countless celestial vehicles. Flowers fell in a great rain; music filled the air. Rama stepped into the Sarayu on foot.

From the sky Brahma called to him as Vishnu and welcomed him back. With Bharata and Shatrughna, Rama entered the eternal Vishnu form in his own body. Gods, rishis, Gandharvas, apsaras, nagas, yakshas, daityas, danavas, and rakshasas honored him.

Rama then asked Brahma to grant a destination to the people who had followed him in love and had given up their lives for his sake. Brahma assigned them a celestial realm called the Santanika worlds. The vanaras, bears, and rakshasas returned to the divine or other origins from which they had come. Those who entered the Sarayu left their human bodies and rose into celestial vehicles; creatures of other kinds, living and still, touched by the river, also went to the gods' world.

When all had been carried across, Brahma returned to heaven with the rejoicing gods.

And the poem closes with a plain final statement: this is the Ramayana, revered by Brahma, with its concluding portion.