In order to perform the ceremony properly, a horse had to be turned out to wander at will for a year, constantly watched by a band of priests, who prevented any one laying a hand upon him, for, once touched, the animal was unfit to be offered up to the gods.  This horse sacrifice having been duly performed, the happy rajah was informed by the gods that four sons would uphold his line, provided he and three of his wives quaffed the magic drink they gave him.

Having thus granted the rajah’s prayer, the lesser gods implored their chief Indra to rid them of the demons sent by Ravana, the Satan of the Hindus.  This evil spirit, by standing on his head in the midst of five fires ten thousand years in succession, had secured from Brahma a promise that no god, demon, or genius should slay him.  By this extraordinary feat he had also obtained nine extra heads with a full complement of eyes, ears, and noses, hands and arms.  Mindful of his promise, Brahma was at a loss to grant this request until he remembered he had never guaranteed Ravana should not be attacked by man or monkey.  He, therefore, decided to beg Vishnu to enter the body of a man and conquer this terrible foe, while the lesser gods helped him in the guise of monkeys.

  “One only way I find
  To slay this fiend of evil mind. 
  He prayed me once his life to guard
  From demon, god, and heavenly bard,
  And spirits of the earth and air,
  And I, consenting, heard his prayer. 
  But the proud giant in his scorn
  Recked not of man of woman born;
  None else may take his life away
  And only man the fiend can slay.”

At Brahma’s request, Vishnu not only consented to become man, but elected to enter the body of the rajah’s oldest son—­one of the four children obtained in answer to prayer.  Meantime he charged his fellow gods diligently to beget helpers for him, so they proceeded to produce innumerable monkeys.  The poem next informs us that Rama, son of the Rajah’s favorite wife, being a god,—­an incarnation of Vishnu,—­came into the world with jewelled crown and brandishing four arms, but that, at his parents’ request, he concealed these divine attributes, assumed a purely human form, and cried lustily like a babe.  Two other wives of the rajah, having received lesser portions of the divine beverage, gave birth to three sons (Bharata, Lakshmana, and Satrughna), and the news that four heirs had arrived in the palace caused great rejoicings in the realm.

These four princes grew up in the most promising fashion, Rama in particular developing every virtue, and showing even in childhood marked ability as an archer.  Such was his proficiency in athletic sports that a hermit besought him, at sixteen, to rid his forest of the demons which were making life miserable for him and his kin.  To enable Rama to triumph over these foes, the hermit bestowed upon him divine weapons, assuring him they would never fail him.