The Weapons and the Sacrifice

In the morning Viśvāmitra smiled and said to Rāma, I am pleased with you, prince. With great joy I give you all the divine weapons, with which you will conquer gods and demons, gandharvas and serpents. He named them one by one: the discs of Daṇḍa, of Dharma, of Time and of Viṣṇu, Indra's weapon and the thunderbolt, Śiva's trident, the weapon of Brahmā's head and the weapon of Brahmā, two maces, the nooses of Dharma, of Time and of Varuṇa, the weapons of Nārāyaṇa and of Agni and of Vāyu, and many more, weapons that put to sleep and that calm, that dry and that burn, that bewilder and that delude. Facing east, purified, he gave Rāma the whole of the mantras, and the weapons appeared before Rāma in bodily form, folded their hands, and said, We are your servants. Tell us what to do.

They came to Viśvāmitra's hermitage, the Siddhāśrama, where Viṣṇu himself had once done austerities, and the sage began his sacrifice, under a vow of silence. The two princes guarded it for six days and nights without sleeping. On the sixth day, as the altar blazed, a roar filled the sky and Mārīca and Subāhu came with their followers and rained blood on the altar. Rāma struck Mārīca with the weapon of Manu, which does not kill, and threw him a hundred yojanas into the sea; he killed Subāhu with the fire weapon and the rest with the weapon of the wind. When the sacrifice was finished, Viśvāmitra looked around at the quarters, all clear, and said, My purpose is fulfilled. You have done what your teacher asked. This Siddhāśrama has earned its name, the hermitage of fulfilment.