Lakshmana’s final act of service occurs when Kala (time personified), disguised as an ascetic messenger, requests a private audience with Rama. Rama agrees to the meeting and to Kala’s condition that anyone who witnesses or interrupts their conversation will be put to death. Lakshmana stands guard at the door to ensure that their meeting remains undisturbed. However, the sage Durvasa arrives and demands an immediate audience with Rama. He threatens to curse Rama, his family, and the kingdom if he is refused. Lakshmana decides to interrupt the meeting, accepting his own destruction rather than endangering Ayodhya and Rama’s household. Following the advice of the sage Vasishtha, Rama formally renounces Lakshmana, an act regarded as equivalent to death for a righteous person. Lakshmana then proceeds to the Sarayu River, where he performs ritual purification, enters a state of yogic concentration, and relinquishes his earthly life, ascending toward heaven.
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