Dasharatha

Vibhandaka, a sage of immense austerity, sees the apsara Urvashi while bathing and spills his semen. A thirsty doe drinks it and conceives, giving birth to Rishyashringa — a boy with a horn on his head who knows nothing of the world beyond his father. Meanwhile, King Lomapada of Anga, abandoned by brahmanas for his falsehoods, suffers a drought. The brahmanas tell him that only Rishyashringa can bring rain — and the king turns to courtesans to lure the innocent sage from the forest.

Markandeya begins to answer Yudhishthira's request by tracing the lineage of Rama from the Ikshvaku king Aja through Dasharatha and his four sons. Then he turns to Ravana's birth, describing how the god Prajapati's line passed through Pulastya, and how a father's anger created the sage Vishrava — the father of the rakshasa king.

Markandeya tells Yudhishthira the full story of Rama's exile: Dasharatha's plan to instate his eldest son, Kaikeyi's demand for Bharata's throne and Rama's banishment, Rama's departure, Dasharatha's death from grief, Bharata's refusal of the crown, and the events that led Ravana to set his sights on Sita.

As Ravana carries Sita through the sky, the vulture king Jatayu — an old friend of Dasharatha — sees his daughter-in-law in the rakshasa's arms. He attacks with talons, wings, and beak, drawing blood from the lord of rakshasas. But Ravana draws his sword and slices off the vulture's wings, killing him. As she is carried away, Sita drops ornaments and a garment to leave a trail for Rama.

Rama returns after killing the magical deer, rebukes Lakshmana for leaving Sita, and rushes to the hermitage. There he finds the fallen vulture and mistakes him for a rakshasa — until Jatayu speaks, identifying himself as Dasharatha's friend and telling how Ravana killed him for Sita's sake. With his last strength, the vulture nods toward the south and dies. Rama performs his last rites, then heads south with Lakshmana into Dandakaranya.

Sita has collapsed after Rama's public rejection. As she lies on the ground, the sky fills with gods — Brahma, Indra, Agni, Vayu, Yama, Varuna — and the radiant form of King Dasharatha descends in a swan-drawn chariot. Sita rises and calls upon the elements themselves to witness her truth.

Yudhishthira is weighed down by the calamity that has befallen him. Dhoumya, his priest, speaks to him — not with empty consolation, but with a catalogue of gods who once hid in the most unlikely places: Indra in a hermitage, Vishnu in a womb, Agni in water. If the great-souled ones concealed themselves to conquer their enemies, Dhoumya asks, why should a king not do the same?