‘May the Lord, whose body is dark as a dark rain-burdened cloud, incarnate in form as the divine Rama, dwell ever in my heart with Sita and his brother!’

With these words he consumed his body in the fire of yoga and by Rama’s grace rose to Vaikuntha. The sage was not absorbed into the person of Hari because he had received the boon of separate devotion before his death.

The multitude of seers who witnessed the great sage’s liberation were greatly delighted at heart and all the hosts of sages broke forth into hymns of praise, crying, ‘Glory to the friend of the suppliant, the fountain of all mercy!’

Then Raghunatha went on further into the forest, accompanied by a great company of holy men. Seeing a heap of bones, he was moved with great compassion and asked the sages whose they were.

‘Though knowing everything,’ they replied, ‘how is it that you ask us, master? You are omniscient and can read the inmost feelings of all. These are the bones of all the sages whom the demon hosts have devoured, On hearing this, Raghubira’s eyes filled with tears.

With arms uplifted he took a vow: ‘I shall rid the earth of demons.’ Then he gladdened all the sages by visiting them all in turn at their hermitages.

The sage Agastya had a learned disciple named Sutikshna, who was a great lover of the Lord. He was devoted to Rama’s feet in thought and word and deed and never even dreamt of putting trust in any other divinity.