Rama and Lakshmana Return to Ayodhya

At sunrise the Baladeva and the Narayana board the Pushpaka aerial car and set out for Ayodhya, followed by the Vidyadhara lords and their households on many vehicles, their parasols, chowries and banners veiling the sun. Crossing the Lavana ocean, they gaze down with delight on mountains, forests, gardens and cities.

Sita asks what golden marvel rises in the middle of Jambudvipa, and Rama tells her it is Mount Sumeru, the uncreated jewelled mountain where Indra and the gods bathed the newborn Munisuvrata. He points out the Dandaka forest from which the lord of Lanka carried her off and where they had fed the charana munis (sky-walking sages), Mount Vamshasthala where they ended the ordeal of Deshabhushana and Kulabhushana and the sages attained omniscience, Balikhilya's city where Lakshmana married Kalyanamala, and Dashanga, ruled by Rupavati's father, the devout layman Vajrakarna.

Seeing a city whose palaces look like heavenly mansions, Sita asks which it is, for she has never seen it before; Rama tells her it is Ayodhya, rebuilt by the Vidyadhara craftsmen to outshine even Lanka. Bharata rides out on an elephant with the splendour of Indra; Rama sets the Pushpaka down, Bharata bows to both brothers, lays gifts at their feet and waves the arati lamp, and they embrace him, ask after his welfare and take him into the aerial car.

The brothers enter the decorated city with so many aerial cars, chariots, elephants and horses that the roads overflow, amid conches, cymbals, drums, vinas and flutes, bards' praises and dancing. Citizens offer arghya (worship offerings) and wave lamps at every step, bless them to live long and prosper, and shower flowers and pearl grains from the rooftops, while in the crush pearl necklaces break and scatter like a rain of pearls.

Women at windows and on rooftops point out the moon-like Rama and the sapphire-dark Lakshmana and name the heroes: Sita, daughter of Janaka and Videha; Rama, who slew Sahasagati when he came disguised as Sugriva; Lakshmana, who struck down the lord of Lanka with the discus; Sugriva, Rama's friend; Bhamandala, carried off by a god at birth, raised by Chandragati and named for the halo cast by the earrings the gods put on him; Viradhita, son of Chandrodara; and Hanuman with the monkey banner.

When Rama and Lakshmana reach the palace, milk flows from the breasts of their waiting mothers out of sheer love. Kaushalya, Sumitra, Kaikeyi and Suprabha come to them; the brothers step down from the Pushpaka and with their queens bow with joined hands, and the four mothers bless them, hold them to their hearts again and again, stroke their heads and ask, through tears of joy, of all their joys and sorrows.

The mothers, devoted to the sages and to the Jain dharma, rejoice to see their sons' thousands of queens and find their wishes fulfilled beyond hope, honoured throughout the world. Rama and Lakshmana now hold sole sovereignty over three continents of the earth up to the sea, free of enemies, with everyone obedient to them. The chapter promises that whoever reads or hears of this homecoming gains the prosperity they desire, and urges that even one small vow, kept firmly and with a pure mind, brings great reward.