Vasiṣṭha continued: Relieving from her misery his mother who was overwhelmed with her sorrow for her dead husband, Rāma said thus:—“Since you beat your chest twenty-one times, I shall exterminate the entire Kṣatriya caste as many times, wherever they may be on this earth. I am speaking the truth unto you. Hence, get rid of your sorrow and assume courage now. Certainly what has gone is gone for ever, never to return”.