विभीषणस्य अभिषेकः समुद्रोपवेशनं च

When Rāghava had granted him safety, the very wise Vibhīṣaṇa, Rāvaṇa's younger brother, bowed low and looked down to the ground. Rejoicing, he came down from the sky to the earth with his devoted followers, and the righteous Vibhīṣaṇa and his four rākṣasas fell at Rāma's feet. Then Vibhīṣaṇa spoke to Rāma words that were righteous, fitting, timely and gladdening: "I am Rāvaṇa's younger brother, and he has humiliated me. I have come for refuge to you, the refuge of all beings. I have left behind Laṅkā, my friends and my wealth; my kingdom, my life and my happiness now rest with you." Hearing his words, Rāma answered. Only once he has been granted safety does Vibhīṣaṇa come down to earth; before, he had stayed in the sky waiting for leave, and now he descends gladly and without fear, first looking down at the ground where he will land. "My kingdom rests with you" is his complete surrender: he places his whole future in Rāma's hands. The four qualities of his words show how fitting they were. He "fell" twice over, from the sky to the earth and then at Rāma's feet, a double humility. His followers are called devoted, for they too left Laṅkā to follow his righteousness. And leaving Laṅkā, his birthplace, was a great sacrifice.

Rāma comforted him with words, drinking him in with his eyes as it were, and said: "Tell me truly the strength and weakness of the rākṣasas." At this request from Rāma, tireless in his deeds, the rākṣasa began to describe Rāvaṇa's whole strength. "Prince, by the boon of the Self-born, ten-necked Rāvaṇa cannot be killed by any being, gandharva, serpent or bird. Next to Rāvaṇa comes my elder brother, the mighty and splendid Kumbhakarṇa, a match for Śakra in battle. His commander, Rāma, is Prahasta, of whom you may have heard; he defeated Maṇibhadra in battle on Kailāsa. When Indrajit, wearing finger-guards of iguana skin and armour no weapon can pierce, takes up his bow and stands in battle, he becomes invisible. Having first satisfied the fire with offerings, glorious Indrajit, hidden from sight in the thick of a great battle array, strikes down his enemies, Rāghava. Mahodara, Mahāpārśva and the rākṣasa Akampana are his generals, equal in battle to the guardians of the worlds. And there are ten thousand crores of rākṣasas living in the city of Laṅkā, able to take any form they please, eaters of flesh and blood. With them the king fought the guardians of the worlds, and wicked Rāvaṇa routed them together with the gods." This account of Rāvaṇa's strength foreshadows the war to come: every hero named here will later be killed by Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa and the monkeys. Vibhīṣaṇa's report is well ordered: first King Rāvaṇa, then his brother Kumbhakarṇa, then the commander Prahasta, then his son Indrajit, then the generals Mahodara, Mahāpārśva and Akampana, and last the common soldiery. So he sets a full picture of the enemy before Rāma, the first service of one who has taken refuge. Rāvaṇa's boon makes him unkillable by all beings, yet men are not among them, and that is Rāma's opening. Indrajit's peculiarity is that he fights invisible after satisfying the fire in a sacrifice, and it is by breaking up his sacrifice at Nikumbhilā that Lakṣmaṇa will later kill him. The defeat of Maṇibhadra, Kubera's commander, is told at length in the Uttara Kāṇḍa. That the guardians of the worlds were routed together with the gods means Rāvaṇa's strength must not be underrated; Vibhīṣaṇa does not seek to frighten, but simply tells the truth.

Hearing Vibhīṣaṇa's words, the best of the Raghus weighed everything in his mind and said: "Vibhīṣaṇa, I understand well the exploits of Rāvaṇa that you have truly described. I shall kill ten-necked Rāvaṇa with Prahasta and his sons, and make you king: hear this truth from me. Let Rāvaṇa go into Rasātala or the underworld, or to the Grandsire himself; he will not escape me alive. I will not enter Ayodhyā until I have killed Rāvaṇa in battle with his sons, his people and his kin; I swear it by my three brothers." Rāma's vow is firm and solemn: he promises to kill not only Rāvaṇa but his sons and commanders too. He swears by his three brothers, Bharata, Lakṣmaṇa and Śatrughna, those dearest to him, which is the most binding oath of all. "I will make you king" fulfils Vibhīṣaṇa's hope of a kingdom, which Hanumān had pointed to in the previous sarga. Rāvaṇa's three possible refuges, Rasātala, the underworld and Brahmā's world, are all declared useless, just as Vibhīṣaṇa himself had once told Rāvaṇa. And by vowing not to enter Ayodhyā until Rāvaṇa is dead, Rāma makes even the end of his exile depend on this promise.

Hearing these words of Rāma, tireless in his deeds, the righteous Vibhīṣaṇa bowed his head and said: "I will help in killing the rākṣasas and storming Laṅkā with all my life's strength, and I will go into their ranks." As he said this, Rāma embraced him and, well pleased, said to Lakṣmaṇa: "Bring water from the sea, giver of honour, and with it consecrate this very wise Vibhīṣaṇa at once as king of the rākṣasas, for I am pleased with him." At the king's command Saumitri consecrated Vibhīṣaṇa as king in the midst of the monkey chiefs, and when the monkeys saw Rāma's grace so swiftly bestowed they roared their approval and cried to the great-souled one, "Well done, well done!" The consecration comes before the war, a sign of how firm Rāma's promise is: Laṅkā is still in Rāvaṇa's hands, yet Rāma proclaims Vibhīṣaṇa its king. He is consecrated with sea water, the water of the very sea that must now be crossed. "Since I am pleased" means that Rāma's favour is the foundation of his kingdom. Vibhīṣaṇa promises help "with all his life's strength", even at the cost of his life. The monkeys' roar of joy praises Rāma's generosity. The rite is brief, only sea water, the monkey chiefs as witnesses and the king's command, for there is no time for a long celebration in war.

Then Hanumān and Sugrīva said to Vibhīṣaṇa: "How shall we, with all the armies of these mighty monkeys around us, cross the unshakeable sea, the home of Varuṇa? Tell us the means by which all of us, with our armies, may reach the lord of rivers and streams and swiftly cross Varuṇa's realm." The righteous Vibhīṣaṇa replied: "King Rāghava should go to the Ocean for refuge. This immeasurable great ocean was dug by Sagara; the great ocean ought to do the work of its kinsman Rāma." Vibhīṣaṇa's plan is peaceful and righteous: not force, but winning the Ocean over with humility. The ancient story tells that Sagara's sons dug up the earth searching for the horse of his horse sacrifice, and that is how the sea was made; so the Ocean is in debt to Sagara's line, and Rāma is of that line. By "its kinsman" he hopes that for kinship's sake the Ocean will help Rāma. It is striking that Vibhīṣaṇa, on the side of Rāvaṇa's enemy, stresses the worth of kinship, when in the previous sarga Rāvaṇa had reviled all kinsmen.

At these words of the wise rākṣasa Vibhīṣaṇa, Sugrīva went to where Rāma was with Lakṣmaṇa, and broad-necked Sugrīva began to report Vibhīṣaṇa's good advice about sitting in supplication before the Ocean. It pleased Rāma, who was righteous by nature, and the mighty one, skilled in action, smiled and, to do them honour, spoke to Lakṣmaṇa and to Sugrīva, lord of the monkeys: "Lakṣmaṇa, this counsel of Vibhīṣaṇa's pleases me. Sugrīva is always wise and you are skilled in counsel; talk it over together, both of you, and tell me what you think best." So addressed, the two heroes, Sugrīva and Lakṣmaṇa, answered with due courtesy: "Tiger among men, Rāghava, why should we not approve what Vibhīṣaṇa has said, when it will bring us success at this time? Without a bridge across this terrible sea, Varuṇa's home, not even the gods and asuras with Indra could reach Laṅkā. Let the true counsel of the brave Vibhīṣaṇa be acted on. Enough of delay; let the Ocean be called on to help, so that we may go with the army to the city Rāvaṇa rules." At these words Rāma sat down on the shore of the lord of rivers, on ground strewn with kuśa grass, like a fire on the altar. Here again we see Rāma's way of leading: though he likes the plan himself, he asks Sugrīva and Lakṣmaṇa for their view, to honour them rather than because he needs their decision; he addresses Lakṣmaṇa and then asks them both, giving the two equal honour. Sugrīva reports Vibhīṣaṇa's plan instead of offering his own, giving the credit to his new friend, proof of his change of heart; his very name means "broad-necked". Seeking the Ocean's refuge is a righteous means, so it naturally pleases Rāma, who is righteous by nature. "Without a bridge" is the first mention of the bridge-building, and the gods and asuras with Indra being unable to reach Laṅkā shows how the sea serves as its moat. "Enough of delay" is urgent, for Sītā is waiting. The sarga ends with the image of Rāma seated on his mat of kuśa grass, radiant and pure like fire on the sacrificial altar.