Bearing this in mind, my brother, heed my advice and do service to the feet of our father and mother. Bharata and Ripusudana (Shatrughna) are not at home, and the king is aged and sorrowing for me.

If I go to the woods taking you with me, Avadh would be left quite masterless, and the preceptor and parents, the subjects and the kinsfolk would all be subjected to a spell of intolerable suffering.

Stay, then, to comfort them all; otherwise, brother, it will be a great sin. A king whose reign brings suffering to his beloved subjects assuredly merits hell.

Regard this as your duty, dear brother, and stay at home.’ Lakshmana felt grievously distressed on hearing this; at the sound of these chilling words he became as shrivelled as a lotus that has been touched by the frost.

Overpowered by love, he could not answer, but clasped his brother’s feet in anguish. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘I am your slave and you may master; if you abandon me, what can I do?

My lord, you have given me good advice; but due to my faint-heartedness I cannot take it. Only those noble men who are self-possessed and champions of virtue are fit to be taught the gospel of the Vedas and moral philosophy.

I am a mere child nurtured in your affection; can a swan uplift Mount Mandara or Mount Meru? I know no guru, nor father, save yourself. Believe me, my lord, I speak in all sincerity!