As is the context, due to no mentioning of him in the 'SlOka', one has to
assume that the presence of 'lakshmaNa' was totally ignored or neglected.
That is the legitimate point my friend picked in there. As many people
tend to perceive this 'SlOka' out of context, it is always impeccable by
itself.
Of course, I answered my friend saying that originally 'viswAmitra' asked
for 'rAma' only. Whereas, 'daSaratha', due to his own anxiety sends
'lakshmNa' also with them. So, the saint would not have felt the
responsibility for 'lakshmaNa' at all.
However, thinking over it, later on I realized, this tendency continues
further in 'rAmayaNa'. In some of the original translations (in Telugu), I
still remember reading that 'viswAmitra' teaches the various 'astrAs' only
to 'rAma' . In turn, with the saint's permission, 'rAma' teaches his
brother. Certainly, it appears that the saint's attitude towards
'lakshmaNa' looks a bit unusual/unfair by present day standards. Or,
probably we may have to take it 'that was the way in those days'.
With regards,
Prabhakar Vissavajjhala, Ph.D.
Fishberg Research Center for Neurobiology
Mt. Sinai School of Medicine
New York, NY 10029