Canto 2 -
Ayodhyā-kāṇḍa
Chapter 34: Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa and Sītā Meet Daśaratha
Text 2.34.29
नव पञ्च च वर्षाणि वनवासे विहृत्य ते।
पुनः पादौ ग्रहीष्यामि प्रतिज्ञान्ते नराधिप॥
nava pañca ca varṣāṇi vana-vāse vihṛtya te
punaḥ pādau grahīṣyāmi pratijñānte narādhipa
nava = nine; pañca = a five; ca = and; varṣāṇi = years; vana-vāse = during My residence in the forest; vihṛtya = after sporting; te = your; punaḥ = again; pādau = feet; grahīṣyāmi = I will grasp; pratijñā-ante = after fulfilling your promises; nara-adhipa = O king.
O king, after sporting during My residence in the forest for nine and a five years, I will grasp your feet again after fulfilling your promises?
GLOSS. Rāma intended to tell His father that after fourteen years, He would offer His obeisances unto His father who would come from the heavens. And this is what happened:
mahādeva-vacaḥ śrutvā kākutsthaḥ saha-lakṣmaṇaḥ
vimāna-śikharasthasya praṇāmam akarot pituḥ
“Upon hearing the words of Mahādeva, the descendant of Kakutstha as well as Lakṣmaṇa offered obeisances unto Their father standing on top of a celestial airplane.” (Rāmāyaṇa 6.122.9)
In the current verse of the Rāmāyaṇa, Lord Rāma refers to “sporting in the forest.” This is an indication that killing the rākṣasas and so on is a [mere] sport for Rāma.