In the meantime, at Chirtrakuta, as Rama prepared for his departure to Dandakaranya he noticed that the sages too were preparing to leave their hermitage. They kept looking at Rama, their faces full of animation as they talked in low tones among themselves. Beholding their restlessness, Rama reverentially asked their leader "Have I transgressed in anyway? Why do these holy men want to leave? Has Lakshmana harmed them at any time? Has Sita, engrossed in my service, ever overlooked anything to cause you displeasure?"

The chief of the ascetics said, "How can Sita, the most virtuous among the women of this world, ever steeped in dharma, commit a sacrilege especially against the sages? Your presence here endangers these men and they are discussing their peril. In this forest lives Khara, the Rakshasa brother of Ravana who destroys all that comes his way. His brutal strength renders him victorious in all his ventures and he feasts on the flesh of men whom he ruthlessly massacres. Many are the marauders who descend on the hermitages repeatedly with their abominable forms, which are unseen and unheard of on this earth. When these wretches with twisted limbs and blood-shot eyes go on rampage they leave behind the dead, the mutilated, and the tortured. They disrupt sacrifices and create fear in this region infested by them; their carnage is beyond human endurance. We are moving back to our lush and peaceful hermitage, which we had inhabited earlier. Though you are mighty and invincible, life here will always be imperiled. Come travel with us."

Rama tried to persuade the sages to stay back but in vain. The hermits embarked on their journey and Rama walked with them for a while, before bidding them farewell. He remained for some more time at Chutrakuta before moving away.