Vishwamitra and the Fall of Tadaka

One day the great sage Vishwamitra came to Ayodhya. Dashrath welcomed him with honour and said, ‘Great sage, whatever you ask, I will give.’ Vishwamitra replied, ‘I am performing a yagya, but demons like Maarich and Subahu keep defiling it. Send your eldest son Ram with me for a few days.’

Dashrath's heart trembled. Ram was still only a youth. The king said he would go himself with an army, but he would not send Ram. Vishwamitra grew angry. Then Guru Vasishtha calmed the king, explaining that no harm could come to Ram with Vishwamitra, and that Ram would gain divine knowledge. Dashrath agreed, and Lakshman went along too.

On the banks of the Sarayu, Vishwamitra taught the brothers two sacred sciences called Bala and Atibala, which keep away hunger, thirst and tiredness. Further on they reached a dark and frightening forest. Vishwamitra told them that a demoness named Tadaka lived there, and that she had laid waste to the whole region.

At first Ram hesitated to shoot a woman. Vishwamitra explained, ‘Protecting people from one who harms the innocent is a prince's dharma.’ Tadaka came roaring and threw down a rain of stones. Obeying his guru, Ram ended her with a single arrow. The forest became safe again. Pleased, Vishwamitra gave Ram many divine weapons.

Then the yagya began at Siddhashram. Ram and Lakshman stood guard for six days and nights without sleep. On the last day Maarich and Subahu came with an army of demons. Ram killed Subahu with one arrow, and with the Manavastra he hurled Maarich a hundred yojanas away into the sea. Maarich survived, but he never forgot that arrow. He will return later in the story.