Devoted to my perfections and my name, free from attachment to the world and arrogance and infatuation – such a man’s bliss is known to him alone who has become one with God, the sum of transcendental felicity.’

On hearing Rama’s ambrosial words, they all (who had assembled there) clasped the feet of the All-merciful and said, ‘You, O fountain of grace, are our father and our mother, our preceptor and our kinsman, dearer to us than life itself.

You, O Rama, are our selves, our property, our homes, our greatest benefactor, relieving as you do the sorrows of your suppliant! None other than you could give us such instruction; for even a father and a mother are devoted to their own interests.

O foe of demons, the only two disinterested benefactors in the world are yourself and your servants; everyone else in this world has his own interests to serve; no one, Lord, thinks of others’ highest (spiritual) interests even in a dream.’

When Raghunatha heard them all speak in terms full of the nectar of love, he was overjoyed. On receiving the Lord’s permission they returned each to his own home, making the Lord’s gracious converse the theme of all their talk.

O Uma, the people of Ayodhya, both men and women, were the very pictures of blessedness: for Raghunatha, who was none other than the Absolute (Brahma), the very embodiment of truth, intelligence and bliss, ruled there as king.

One day the sage Vasishtha came to visit Rama, the glorious home of blessedness. Raghunatha received him with great reverence, washed his feet and drank of the sacred water.