Adhyaya 47

Rāma’s Aśvamedha horse reaches Hemakūṭa and a splendid grove, but suddenly becomes rigid and utterly immovable—the Hayastambha. The horse-guards report to Śatrughna, who leads the escort; Puṣkala and even Hanūmān, marveling at the strange stoppage, cannot shift it, showing a hidden karmic restraint beyond mere strength. Śatrughna consults his minister Sumati, who urges him to seek a discerning sage. They find Śaunaka’s āśrama, sanctified by bathing in the Gaṅgā and sustained by intense tapas and Agnihotra. Śatrughna petitions Śaunaka for the cause, and the sage promises to explain it through an earlier account of austerity turning to pride, and a ṛṣi’s curse that led to rākṣasa-hood. The chapter’s teaching is that hearing and reciting Rāma’s sacred story and praises (kīrtana) dissolves the curse’s force. Thus the horse is released, and the dhārmic progress of the sacrifice is restored.