अश्वमेधेन इन्द्रस्य ब्रह्महत्यामोक्षः

Then Lakṣmaṇa, best of men, having told the whole story of the slaying of Vṛtra, went on with the rest of the tale. "When Vṛtra of mighty valour, the terror of the gods, had been slain, Śakra, Vṛtra's slayer, enveloped by the sin of brahmin-slaying, could not come to his senses. He took refuge at the end of the worlds, and there he lay for a time, senseless and unconscious, writhing like a serpent. With the thousand-eyed one lost, the world was thrown into turmoil: the earth looked ruined, its moisture gone and its forests withered; all the lakes and rivers stopped flowing, and the drought threw every living thing into distress. As this world wasted away, the gods, bewildered, remembered the sacrifice Viṣṇu had spoken of before." Indra is the god of rain, so in his absence there is drought: without water the earth dries up, the rivers stop, and creatures are in anguish. So the whole world bears the fruit of one sin, the same principle already seen in the story of Daṇḍa. Indra is likened to a writhing serpent: as a stricken snake coils about itself, so he rolled about without his senses. By describing the drought the poet shows Indra's importance indirectly, for his worth is known only when he is gone. And only when the gods see the calamity for themselves do they remember Viṣṇu's words; the remedy comes to mind in the time of need.

"Then all the hosts of gods, with their preceptor and the seers, came to the place where Indra lay stupefied with fear. Seeing the thousand-eyed one enveloped by the sin of brahmin-slaying, they set that lord of the gods at their head and began the horse-sacrifice. And so, lord of men, the great horse-sacrifice of the great-souled Mahendra went forward to purify him of that sin. When the sacrifice was complete, the Sin of brahmin-slaying came up to the great-souled gods and said, 'Where will you give me a place?'" The gods go with their preceptors, Bṛhaspati first among them, and perform the sacrifice Viṣṇu prescribed; Indra is the sacrificer and the gods are his priests, so all join together to atone for one sin. The Sin speaks like a woman in bodily form. She is ready to leave Indra but asks for a place to live, for in the view of the old tales a sin is not destroyed but only moved elsewhere. "Stupefied with fear" recalls Indra's state: he still cannot perform the sacrifice himself, so the gods perform it with him set at their head. The question of the sin arises only when the sacrifice is complete, since the sacrifice is the means of removing it. After this scene the reader can guess that Rāma's horse-sacrifice too will be for the good of all.

"The gods, pleased and well disposed, said to her, 'Divide yourself into four by your own power, unassailable one.' Hearing the great-souled gods, the Sin, hard to live with, settled on her abodes and chose to dwell elsewhere than in Indra. 'With one portion,' she said, 'I shall live for the four months of the rains in the rivers when they are full, humbling their pride and roaming as I please. With another portion I shall live on the earth at all times, always; there is no doubt of it, I tell you truly. With my third portion I shall live for three nights in women proud in the bloom of youth, humbling their pride. And with my fourth portion, bulls among the gods, I shall take hold of those who kill blameless brahmins on false charges.' The gods answered her, 'Let it all be as you say, you who are hard to live with; achieve what you desire.' Then the gods, full of joy, paid homage to the thousand-eyed one, and Vāsava was freed of his fever and cleansed of his sin. When the thousand-eyed one was restored, the whole world was at peace, and Śakra praised that sacrifice of wondrous power." The Sin has four dwellings: the rivers muddied in the rains, the earth, women in their monthly season, and those who kill innocent brahmins. "Proud in the bloom of youth" hints indirectly at women's impurity during their season, and "humbling their pride" at the turbid state of rivers in the rainy months. With Indra purified, peace returns to the world: the king's purity is the people's happiness. Divided up, the sin weighs less, for no single place bears all of it, and the gods grant her request because she too has a place in the order of the world. The last portion deserves special notice: she lives in those who kill blameless brahmins on false accusations, which is also a lesson in royal dharma, for even a king must never punish unjustly.

"Such is the power of the horse-sacrifice, joy of the Raghus; so sacrifice with the horse, most fortunate king." Hearing Lakṣmaṇa's excellent and most charming words, the great-souled king, equal to Indra in valour and might, was delighted at heart and deeply content. Lakṣmaṇa's conclusion is short and clear, the whole point of the story put in one sentence: as Indra was purified by the horse-sacrifice, so Rāma too should perform it. Rāma is described as Indra's equal in valour and might, drawing a likeness between him and the hero of the tale. The sarga closes on Rāma's contentment. In the next sarga Rāma accepts Lakṣmaṇa's proposal and tells the story of Ila, which shows another power of the horse-sacrifice. His delight here is the same he felt at Bharata's words earlier; he is always pleased by his brothers' good counsel. With this the counsel of the three brothers is complete.