The princes return to the palace after completing their training. The queens choose the clothes and jewelry with which to adorn them. Manthara again tries instigating Kaikeyi against Rama, but Kaikeyi scolds her. When the princes arrive at the palace, Dasharatha and the queens are at loss of words in seeing their sons after many years. Vashishta praises the princes as great leaders and able rulers. During lunch, Manthara tries to serve Bharata a special sweet she made for him, but he refuses unless she feeds Rama first. The king and queens are delighted to see the unity amongst the brothers, but Manthara is annoyed. The next morning, Sage Vishvamitra arrives at the palace. He tells Dasharatha that while he and the other sages were trying to complete their yajna, demons interrupted them repeatedly; at that time, Vishvamitra heard a divine voice telling him to go to Ayodhya and seek Rama's help, as he is the incarnation of God. Dasharatha is reluctant to send the young and inexperienced