The First Night of Exile

That night, the chariot halted on the Tamsa riverbank. Sumantra unhitched the horses from the chariot and bathed them. Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana performed their evening prayers.

"Lakshmana, on this first night of our exile, we must fast," said Rama. "Because you are with me, all my worries have gone away." 

Lakshmana made a mattress for Rama and Sita out of grass. The couple slept soundly on it while he and Sumantra stood guard. The people of Ayodhya who had followed them also slept.

Rama awoke before dawn. "The citizens are in deep slumber," he said to Sumantra. "If they wake up, they will not allow us to proceed. So let us cross the river at once." 

Sumantra obeyed Rama. 

When the citizens of Ayodhya awoke, they found no sign of Rama, Lakshmana or Sita. They returned home, disappointed. 

Meanwhile, Sumantra drove the chariot with Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita to the southern bank of the Ganga, which marked the border of the kingdom of Kosala. The three of them alighted from the chariot, and Rama respectfully saluted his motherland.

"I would like to stay with you," Sumantra pleaded with Rama. "I don't want to return home.

"Dear Sumantra," said Rama, "kindly return to Ayodhya and spend time with my father. You now have to look after him. My family does not have a greater friend than you. You alone can console my father, whose heart has been battered by grief. Tell him that we are blissful, and don't worry about us."

Sumantra kept sobbing, but Rama consoled him and asked him to fulfill his duty. Finally, Sumantra drove the empty chariot back to Ayodhya.