“Markandeya continued, ’Thus addressed, his father, O bull of the Bharata race, gladly answered Rama, the corners of whose eyes were of a reddish hue, saying, “Return to Ayodhya and rule thou that kingdom!  O thou of great glory, thy fourteen years (of exile) have been completed.”  Thus addressed by Dasaratha, Rama bowed to the gods, and saluted by his friends he was united with his wife, like the Lord of the celestials with the daughter of Puloman.  And that chastiser of foes then gave a boon to Avindhya.  And he also bestowed both riches and honours on the Rakshasa woman named Trijata.  And when Brahma with all the celestials having Indra at their head, said unto Rama, “O thou that ownest Kausalya for thy mother, what boons after thy heart shall we grant thee?” Rama, thereupon, prayed them to grant him firm adherence to virtues and invincibility in respect of all foes.  And he also asked for the restoration to life of all those monkeys that had been slain by the Rakshasas, and after Brahma had said—­So be it, those monkeys, O king, restored to life, rose up from the field of battle, and Sita too, of great good fortune, granted unto Hanuman a boon, saying, “Let thy life, O son, last as long as (the fame of) Rama’s achievements!  And, O Hanuman of yellow eyes, let celestial viands and drinks be ever available to thee through my grace!"’

“’Then the celestials with Indra at their head all disappeared in the very sight of those warriors of spotless achievements.  And beholding Rama united with the daughter of Janaka, the charioteer of Sakra, highly pleased, addressed him in the midst of friends, and said these words, “O thou of prowess that can never be baffled thou hast dispelled the sorrow of the celestials, the Gandharvas, the Yakshas, the Asuras, the Nagas, and human beings!  As long, therefore, as the Earth will hold together, so long will all creatures with the celestials, the Asuras, the Gandharvas, the Yakshas, the Rakshasas, and the Pannagas, speak of thee.”  And having said these words unto Rama, Matali worshipped that son of Raghu, and having obtained the leave of that foremost of wielders of weapons, he went away, on that same chariot of solar effulgence.  And Rama also, with Sumatra’s son and Vibhishana, and accompanied by all the monkeys with Sugriva at their head, placing Sita in the van and having made arrangements for the protection of Lanka, recrossed the ocean by the same bridge.  And he rode on that beautiful and sky-ranging chariot called the Pushpaka that was capable of going everywhere at the will of the rider.  And that subduer of passions was surrounded by his principal counsellors in order of precedence.  And arriving at that part of the sea-shore where he had formerly laid himself down, the virtuous king, with all the monkeys, pitched his temporary abode.  And the son of Raghu then, bringing the monkeys before him in due time, worshipped them all, and gratifying them