When Sumantra returned to Ayodhya alone, he found Dasharatha and Kaushalya grieving deeply. Kaushalya requested him to take her to the forest where she too would live with Rama and Seeta. Dasharatha kept asking for Rama. “Where is he? He is an ideal son. Only I have failed as a father. Otherwise, he would not have left me like this. Take me too into the forest, Sumantra. I have no wish to live without Rama,” pleaded Dasharatha. Sumantra watched and listened helplessly as he watched Dasharatha, Kaushalya and Sumitra grieving. Urmila was also silently doing what she could to take care of them all. One day, Dasharatha remembered an incident from his youth, when the blind parents of a young man had cursed him for his thoughtless action. “It is my own fault that I am suffering today. No person can escape the result of his action,” he said.
Heart-broken Dasharatha
