When King Goshtasp received word of the victorious return of his valiant son, Esfandiyar, who had subdued distant realms and spread the sacred faith, a dark shadow cast by the slanderous whispers of Gorzam settled upon the monarch's heart. He summoned all the nobles, mobads, and warlords of the realm, placing the holy books of the Zand and Avesta before him. The priests took their exalted seats upon the thrones, and Prince Esfandiyar—the swift-bladed champion—entered the imperial presence, his arms folded reverently across his chest like a dutiful servant.
Goshtasp addressed the mobads and assembled elders with words steeped in malice and veiled bitter accusation. He spoke of how a father endures endless toil to raise a son, entrusting him to nurses, crowning him with gold, and training him in battle and horsemanship until he becomes a formidable warrior. Yet, when the son reaches the height of his power and the father grows frail with age, the ungrateful son deems the old king unfit for the throne, leaving the father with nothing but a empty title while claiming the army, the banner, and the realm for himself—even wishing the father dead to seize the crown. Goshtasp turned to the wise elders and demanded to know how a father ought to deal with such a treacherous heir.
The shocked elders replied that for a son to covet the throne while his father still lived was an unheard-of folly and an unpardonable sin. Goshtasp declared: 'Here stands the son who plots to take his father's place! Yet I shall punish him so severely that all the world shall take warning. I shall bind him in heavy fetters, such as no mortal has ever endured!'
Hearing these terrible words, the pure-hearted Esfandiyar stepped forward, crying: 'O noble King! Never has the desire for your death crossed my mind! I know of no transgression committed in all my days. By your life, if evil dwelt within my heart, strike off my head! Yet you are king, and the command is yours; I am your subject, and the chains and prison belong to you. Order me bound or slain as you will; my heart remains pure and my soul serene.'
Yet Goshtasp's heart remained hardened by jealousy and suspicion. He summoned the blacksmiths, who brought forth heavy iron fetters, collars, and massive chains. In that silent assembly, no noble dared open his mouth to intercede for the prince. They bound Esfandiyar's hands, feet, and neck before the monarch; so tightly were his feet fettered that all who witnessed the sight wept bitterly. Once the heavy iron chain was clamped around his neck, Goshtasp commanded that a swift, powerful bull elephant be brought forth. Esfandiyar was bound securely to the elephant's back and carried away from his father's presence, his eyes welling with tears and his face pale with grief.
Escorted by warlords, they bore the prince toward the treacherous crags of the mountain fortress of Gombadan. Upon the heights, four colossal iron pillars were raised, rooted deep within the earth and reaching toward the heavens. There, they chained the invincible prince tightly to the iron pillars, casting him down from his royal glory into heartbreak and captivity, leaving him guarded by stern sentinels to weep bitterly in pain and solitude.