Dasaratha asks Sumantra to recount all that happened after he drove the chariot taking Rama, Lakshmana and Sita from Ayodhya to the forest. Sumantra conveys Rama’s message to the royal family, said Navalpakkam Vasudevachariar in a discourse.
“Rama wanted me to convey His respects to His father. He wanted His mother Kausalya to know that He was safe. She is the wife of Dasaratha, an Agnihotri. Thus, she must see Agni as her son, and not cry over Rama’s absence. She must not harbour negative feelings against the other wives of Dasaratha,” says Sumantra.
Rama’s message to Bharata is that, as the future king, he must act in accordance with stipulated rules. He must obey his father and treat all the royal mothers alike.
As for Lakshmana, Sumantra says that the prince was very angry. He had asked what wrong Rama had done to deserve exile. Was it right to exile Rama, to please Kaikeyi? It was a decision taken without due thought. Lakshmana had declared that he could no longer consider Dasaratha as his father. Rama was everything to him — brother, king, relative and father. What would be the reaction of people to Dasaratha’s decision to banish Rama from the kingdom, Lakshmana had wondered. The whole world would be against the king’s decision, and having earned the displeasure of the whole world, could he continue to be king? Sita had had no words to utter. She had just shed tears, Sumantra says.