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| DASHARATHA - THE KING
OF AYODHYA WITH HIS WIVES AND SONS |
Another legend gives the version that Dasharatha divided
the divine nectar between his two senior wives, Kaushalya and Kaikeyi only and
that when the younger, Sumitra, asked for some, each of the senior ones gave
one half from their respective shares.So Sumitra received two quarters and gave birth to two sons-one part received
from Kaushalya gave birth to Lakshmana who was ever attached to Rama and the
other part received from Kaikeyi gave birth to Shatrughana who was more attracted
towards Bharata.
All the four brothers grew up together at Ayodhya and learnt fast various subjects
covering arts of peace and methods of wars. While they were
still young and Rama had turned only sixteen, one highly revered saint, named
Vishwamitra, came to king Dasharatha. He requested for Rama's help to protect
him and his disciples from demons, who had been interfering with his usual religious
sacrifices to gods. Very reluctantly Dasharatha sent Rama and his younger son Lakshmana to
the hermitage of sage Vishwamitra. Rama cleared the hermitage
of all demons and killed a powerful female-demon named Taraka. Sage Vishwamitra was very pleased
and taught Rama precious pieces of rare wisdom. He also gave Rama some celestial
weapons with extraordinary powers.
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| BABY RAMA WITH QUEEN KAUSALYA |
Vishwamitra took the two brothers to the court of king Janaka,
the ruler of Mithila a territory near Ayodhya. Janaka had a very beautiful daughter
by the name of Sita. At that time Sita had grown and her father wanted to marry her to a talented
and strong prince. Janaka had in his possession a divine bow of great weight,
which god Shiva had given to him as a gift. The King arranged
for a competition as a prelude to Sita' s marriage. He announced before the assembly of competing
princes that anyone who could lift and stretch the string of this bow would win
the hand of his daughter. None could succeed except Rama, who stretched this
old bow with such force that it broke into two pieces. This way Sita was married
to Rama amidst joy and gaiety.
The breaking of Shiva' s divine bow by Rama into two pieces led to an interesting
episode. Parashurama, the sixth incarnation of Vishnu was alive at that time.
This sage in incarnation, to take revenge against Kshatriyas for the murder of
his father, had exterminated the members of this caste a number of times. He
just at that moment reached the court of King Janaka. Seeing the bow broken into
parts he became furious and started rebuking the prince of Ayodhya. He challenged
Rama to combat with him and settle the score. However the dispute was ultimately
peacefully settled and Parashurama too was convinced of the greatness of Rama.
At Ayodhya King Dasharatha felt that he had been growing
old. He decided to formally announce the name of his eldest son Rama as the next
successor to his throne.What happened then was that Kaikeyi, the second and the most favorite wife of
Dasharatha, had a hunch-backed maid- servant, named Manthra. She was crooked
not only in body but also in mind too. Though Kaikeyi, like
a good stepmother, loved Rama without malice, Manthra, playing the role of a
wicked court lady, worked upon the maternal instincts of Kaikeyi. She instigated
her mistress against her stepson and pleaded that this action of the king showed no regards for the
sentiments of the woman, whom he pretended to love so much. Why should Bharata,
the son of Kaikeyi, not be declared the heir-apparent of the kingdom of Ayodhya?
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