Meanwhile, Ravana had carried Sita across the ocean to his kingdom of Lanka, and had placed Sita under guard, surrounded by demonesses in a grove of trees. Due to a curse, Ravana did not dare to force himself upon a woman, fearing death, but he hoped to win her by his considerable masculine charm. In the event of the failure of his masculine charm, he told her that if she did not accept him, at the end of a year he would eat her for breakfast.

Sita, feeling hopeless, decided to fast unto death. Learning of this, the demigods became anxious that Sita’s death would cause Rama to lose heart and not kill Ravana. The demigods feared Ravana greatly, and were counting on Rama to rid the universe of this threat. Therefore the demigod Indra went to Sita with a bowl of sweet rice which was spiritual food, having been offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The sweet rice carried the benediction that one who ate it would never suffer from hunger. Sita, respecting the spiritual food, accepted it, thus surrendering her idea of fasting unto death. Accompanying Indra was the demigoddess Nidra, who put the demonesses asleep for the duration of the meeting.