6. Sages Meet Rāma [Many great sages of the forest meet Rāma and tell him, how they are troubled and killed by Rākṣasas. They request him to protect them. Rāma promises to do that and goes in search of hermitage of Sutīkṣṇa.] When Sārabhaṅga reached heaven, many groups of sages came together and approached Rāma who was having great lustre

7. Rāma Meets Sage Sutīkṣṇa [Rāma goes to the hermitage of Sutīkṣṇa. The sage advised them to stay there itself as he was preparing to go to heaven.] Rāma the destroyer of enemies, along with Lakṣmaṇa and Sītā as well as those sages went to the hermitage of Sutīkṣṇa. 7.1 After going with difficulty for a long distance, after crossing

8. Rāma Talks to Sage Sutīkṣṇa [Rāma wants to go to the hermitages of all other saints in Daṇḍakāraṇya. Sutīkṣṇa approves the idea and wants them to stay in his hermitage whenever they like. Rāma takes leave of sage Sutīkṣṇa.] Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa who were honourably treated by sage Sutīkṣṇa, spent the night there and woke up in the morning.

9. Sītā Advises Rāma [Sītā feels that Rāma should not get in to killing spree of Rākṣasas without any enmity with them. She illustrates this with an instance of a great sage getting a sword from Indra and using it to kill others and then he goes to hell.] Addressing the son of the Raghu clan who was going forth

10. Rāma Replies to Sītā [Rāma tells Sītā that the sages of Daṇḍakāraṇya have been constantly troubled by those Rākṣasas, who prevent them from doing their penances and fire sacrifices. As per their request, he had promised them that he would kill or drive away those Rākṣasas. Since truth is dearer to him than anything else, he cannot desist from

11. Rāma's Life in Daṇḍakāraṇya [Rāma stayed in various places in Daṇḍakāraṇya for the first ten years. He happened to see the lake of Five Apsarā maidens. Later he goes back to hermitage of sage Sutīkṣṇa. Sutīkṣṇa directs him to go to sage Agastya’s ashram. On the way to the hermitage of brother of Agastya, Rāma tells about how Agastya

12. Agastya Gives Vishnu's Bow to Rāma [Rāma is hospitably received by sage Agastya. He gives him Vishnu's Bow, Brahma's arrows and Indra's inexhaustible quivers.] Then Lakṣmaṇa the younger brother of Rāma entered the hermitage, met a disciple of sage Agastya and told him. 12.1 "There was a king called Dasaratha and he had a very strong [dynamic] son and

13. Agastya Directs Rāma to Pañchavaṭī [When Rāma asks for a suitable place to stay, Agastya indicates that he should stay in Pañchavaṭī. Rāma immediately agrees to that advice and proceeds to Pañchavaṭī.] "Rāma, I am happy, safety to you. Lakṣmaṇa, I am happy, for your coming along with Sītā to pay your respect." 13.1 "The pathway that you have

14. Rāma Meets Jatāyu [On the way to Pañchavaṭī Rāma meets Jatāyu who is the friend of Dasaratha and son of Aruṇā, Jatāyu tells Rāma about the origin of different type of animals and beings in this world. Since he lived near Pañchavaṭī, he undertakes to protect Sītā when both of them are absent.] While the son of the Raghu