Ativirya Marches against Bharata, Is Humbled by Rama and Lakshmana, and Takes Diksha

As Rama sat with King Prithvidhara, a messenger brought a letter which the scribe read aloud: Ativirya, lord of Nandyavarta, king of kings, steady as Sumeru, whose commands the kings of Aryakhanda and Mlecchakhanda obey, ordered Prithvidhara of Vijayapura to join him at once, for all his vassals had come with their treasuries and armies. Among them were Vijayashardula with 800 elephants like the Anjanagiri mountains and 3,000 wind-swift horses, Mrigadhvaja king of Anga and Kalamakeshari with 5,000 horses and 600 elephants each, Praudha king of Panchala, learned in statecraft, with 1,000 elephants and 7,000 horses, the king of Magadha with 8,000 elephants, the mleccha lord Samudra with Munibhadra, Sadhubhadra, Nandana and others, the valiant Simhavirya, Ativirya's maternal uncles Vanga and Simharatha, and Marudatta of Vatsa, Suvira and Proshthala with ten akshauhinis (great army divisions), all marching with him against Bharata of Ayodhya.

Before Prithvidhara could reply, Lakshmana asked the envoy, Vayugata, the cause of the feud, and learned that Ativirya had sent his envoy Shrutabuddhi to demand that Bharata either serve him or leave Ayodhya for the far side of the sea. Shatrughna blazed up like a forest fire, saying that this donkey braying like a rutting elephant spoke so only because Dasharatha had gone to the forest as a monk, and that though their father's fire of anger was stilled by his longing for liberation, his sons were its sparks and could burn the log called Ativirya to ash; then he had the envoy thrown out like a dog, and the man returned to his master covered in dust.

Bharata, deep as the ocean, was angered too and marched out with Shatrughna, joined by King Janaka of Mithila and his brother Kanaka with a large army and by Simhodara and many other kings, while Ativirya prepared to march against him with all his vassals. When Rama, his brow curved like the crescent moon, discussed this with Prithvidhara, the king admitted that Ativirya was wicked and that he served him only because he was strong, wrote back that he was coming and dismissed the envoy; but Rama bade him stay, saying he himself would go to Ativirya with Prithvidhara's son and his son-in-law Lakshmana.

Rama set out by chariot with a large army, Sita, Lakshmana and Prithvidhara's son, and camped near Nandyavarta, where Sita, saying her counsel might be like a pearl taken from a bamboo thicket, asked how Bharata could ever defeat so cruel and mighty a lord and urged them to find a way. Lakshmana vowed that Ativirya would die by his hand before sunset, and Prithvidhara's son began to boast, but Rama silenced him with a look and told Lakshmana that Sita was right: Bharata had not a tenth of Ativirya's strength, a needless war would slaughter both sides and bring the Raghu line to grief, and peace was impossible, since the proud boy Shatrughna, with Raudrabhuta, had raided Ativirya's camp on a dark night, killed many warriors and carried off thousands of wind-swift horses and 700 elephants like the Anjanagiri mountains.

So Rama resolved that Lakshmana should subdue Ativirya without even Bharata, camped nearby, learning of their presence, since one who helps a friend unbeknown to him is most praiseworthy, like a cloud that rains by night. Next morning the brothers worshipped in a Jina temple, bowed to the community of aryikas led by the learned Aryika Varadharma and left Sita with her, then dressed as dancing women and went playfully to the palace, followed by amazed citizens; before the king they sang the virtues of the twenty-four Tirthankaras from Rishabha onward and the lore of the ancient great men, danced with every graceful turn, glance and smile and played the vina, captivating the whole court, and Gautama remarks to Shrenika that where Rama and Lakshmana dance and sing, even gods are enchanted.

Seeing the king entranced, the dancers turned from the mood of love to the heroic and rebuked Ativirya: if he wished to live he must humbly become Bharata's servant, or his queen, daughter of a great house, would soon be a widow stripped of her ornaments, for how could he covet Ayodhya while the grandsons of Anaranya and sons of Dasharatha lived, he a snake before the Garuda that was Bharata? As the enraged king drew his sword, one dancer leapt, wrenched it from his hand, seized him by the hair and bound him, the dancers called on his allied kings to abandon him and serve Bharata, the crowd hailed Bharata as the moon in the sky of Dasharatha's line, and the allies, marvelling that mere dancers had captured such a king, resolved to go and seek Bharata's mercy.

Rama took the captive on an elephant to the Jina temple, worshipped, bowed to Aryika Varadharma and handed Ativirya to Lakshmana, who bound his hair painfully tight until Sita said: loosen his hair and do not hurt him, for misfortune strikes men through karma, he is the crest-jewel of a thousand kings, and it is the age-old way of kings to capture an enemy and set him free. Lakshmana bowed and promised to treat him so that even gods would serve him, and his anger cooled; awakened, Ativirya thanked Rama for giving him a clarity of mind he had never known.

Seeing him stripped of necklace and crown, Rama consoled him as a friend and offered him Nandyavarta to rule as Bharata's vassal, but Ativirya refused: he who had subdued the earth to the oceans would not rule as another's servant, those who ruled all six continents were never satisfied, so how could a king of five villages be, and he had wasted a human birth that even gods find hard to win. Begging forgiveness of Rama and Lakshmana, he went to Muni Shrutadhara, received Digambara diksha, cast off his clothes and ornaments, plucked out his hair and took the great vows, and wandered fearlessly through lonely forests and mountain caves, clothed only by the ten directions and adorned with right faith, knowledge and conduct; whoever reads or hears of Muni Ativirya, the text says, grows in virtue and is freed from disease and suffering.