Earlier, when Viśvāmitra had become intolerant of Mārīca’s torments in the form of his disruption of fire sacrifices and so on, the great sage had brought Rāma to his āśrama to protect his sacrifices. Śrī Rāma had then used a single arrow to throw Mārīca very far away into the ocean. After informing Rāvaṇa of these incidents, Mārīca instructed him that since stealing Sītā would bring about great disasters to Rāvaṇa in his current life and in the next, he should refrain from doing so.