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The old king now decides to hand over the reins of the kingdom to the eldest son and preparations are made for the coronation. Just then his second wife, to whom to king was especially attacked, asked for two deferred boons which she had earned through a special service to the king, and which he had promised to grant whenever she asked for them (The Vow and the Vision). She now wants to get her own son declared the heir to the throne, and the eldest prince to be sent into exile for fourteen years. The king is shocked and recalls the curse of a blind sage, which he incurred by accidently killing the sage's only son.

But the eldest son, Rama, accepts the conditions and sets out for the forest accompanied by his wife Sita and a younger brother, Lakshmana. Years of travel in the forest finally bring them to the southern seashore, on the other side of which lives Ravana, a demon king of great power, dreaded even by gods. The sister of this king, in the course of her ramblings, protestations of love, he spurns her, chopping off her ears and nose. She reports this to her brother. To avenge her, he kidnaps Sita, artfully conniving to send Rama and Lakshmana off in chase of a decoy in the form of a golden deer, which Sita fancied. The brothers, on their return, see through the treachery and prepare for battle to reclaim the honour of the kidnapped wife (Pride's Pilgrimage).