रामस्य उत्तरजीवनं मातॄणां परलोकगमनं च

When the night gave way to dawn, Rāma gathered the great sages and said to his sons, Kuśa and Lava, "Sing without hesitation." Then, with the great-souled seers seated around them, Kuśa and Lava sang the Uttara, the poem of what was yet to come. So the story begun in the previous sarga is completed: as Brahmā had counselled, Rāma hears his own future. When Sītā, by the power of her truth, had entered the earth, Rāma was deeply downcast at the close of the sacrifice. No longer seeing Vaidehī, he thought the world empty, and, worn out with grief, he found no peace of mind. He sent away the kings and all the bears, monkeys and rākṣasas, and the throng of chief brahmins with gifts of wealth; and when he had completed the sacrifice in due form and dismissed them all, lotus-eyed Rāghava, keeping Sītā in his heart, entered Ayodhyā, the king who had finished his sacrifice, with his two sons beside him. "By the power of her truth" means that Sītā entered the earth through the strength of truth itself. "He thought the world empty": without his beloved, the whole universe seemed void. "Keeping Sītā in his heart" is beautifully said: outwardly Sītā is gone, but in his heart she enters Ayodhyā with Rāma. Now Kuśa and Lava go to Ayodhyā with their father like princes. The singing of the poem ends here, and the story moves back to Ayodhyā. Rāma does not abandon the sacrifice even in his grief; he completes it duly and gives the gifts before sending everyone away, and the firmness of a king's dharma shows in it. The monkeys and rākṣasas go back to their own lands, and with that the last gathering of his wartime allies comes to an end. The boys' singing, too, is understood to have been completed before the assembly without hindrance.

The delight of the Raghus chose no other wife than Sītā; at every sacrifice a golden Jānakī took the wife's place. For ten thousand years he performed horse-sacrifices, and Vājapeya sacrifices rich in gold ten times over. The illustrious king worshipped with the Agniṣṭoma and the Atirātra, with costly Gosavas and other rites, all with full sacrificial fees. So a very long time passed for the great-souled Rāghava as he ruled and strove in dharma. The bears, monkeys and rākṣasas stayed under Rāma's rule, and the kings sought to please Rāghava day after day. The rain fell in its season, food was plentiful and the skies were clear, and the city and countryside were full of happy, well-fed people. No one died before his time, no creature suffered disease, and no misfortune befell anyone while Rāma ruled the kingdom. This is the famous ideal of Rāma's reign: dharma, prosperity, health and a kindly nature. "He chose no other wife than Sītā" proclaims Rāma's vow of one wife: king though he was, he did not marry again, and at the sacrifices a golden image took the place of his lawful wife. "The kings sought to please him": the other rulers wanted Rāma's favour and served him not out of fear. "Full sacrificial fees" means the rites were complete in every due gift, and ten thousand years speaks of the long endurance of his reign. The many soma sacrifices, the Atirātra, the Gosava, the Vājapeya and the rest, show the king's devotion to dharma. Even alone, Rāma does not give up his sacrifices; the golden Sītā is his partner in dharma. So grief was turned into duty and parting offered up to dharma. The people were happy and the king was sad, and that contrast is the heart of this sarga.

Then, after a long time, Rāma's glorious mother Kausalyā, surrounded by sons and grandsons, met her death. Sumitrā followed her, and glorious Kaikeyī too; having done much good in many ways, they came to rest in heaven. There all those noble ladies, joyful and reunited with King Daśaratha, received the reward of all their dharma. For them Rāma gave great gifts from time to time to brahmins and ascetics, making no distinction between his mothers. The righteous Rāma performed the ancestral rites, gave precious gifts to brahmins and carried out the most difficult sacrifices, nourishing the ancestors and the gods. So many thousands of years passed happily for him as he increased dharma in many ways through his sacrifices. "Making no distinction between his mothers" is deeply moving: for Kaikeyī, because of whom he had gone to the forest, Rāma performs the rites just as for Kausalyā, and that is his generosity. "Surrounded by sons and grandsons" means Kausalyā went to heaven having seen her grandsons Kuśa and Lava. The mothers' reunion with Daśaratha in heaven gives the story a peaceful close. So after parting from Sītā Rāma set his mind on dharma and sacrifice and ruled for a long age. The passing of the three mothers one after another ends the story of Daśaratha's queens, and the poet reassures us that all of them went to heaven having done their duty. Rāma fully discharges a son's obligations, the rites and gifts for his parents, as he had once done for Daśaratha.