Epics

As he entered his residence, he saw Queen Kausalyā, who was clad in white silk and had spent the night observing a vow. She had performed pūjā to Bhagavān Viṣṇu early in the morning and was performing a homa in Agni. Seeing her beloved son, Kausalyā rushed to him out of joy, just as a mare runs to her foal. Rāma, out of his modest nature and respect, told her with his hands joined, “Terrible sorrow awaits you, Sītā, and Lakṣmaṇa. I shall live in the uninhabited forest for fourteen years subsisting on honey, roots, and fruits like a muni.

Daśaratha, having ordered the anointing of Rāma, entered his home to convey the happy news to his queen. To his utter dismay, he saw Kaikeyī, dearer to him than his own life, lying on the bare floor. Just like a tusker fondling his female who has been struck down by an arrow in the forest, the old man caressed her with his hands. The lovelorn king said, “I do not understand why you are angry with me – has anyone displeased you? Don’t weep, my dear! Would you like someone to be punished, although he is not guilty of crime? Do you wish to let a criminal free?

Upon the behest of the king of Kekaya, his maternal grandfather, Bharata went with his uncle Yudhājit to his kingdom. Śatrughna went along with Bharata and King Aśvapati took care of them like his own sons. Back in Ayodhyā, Daśaratha constantly thought about his sons who were away.

The next morning, Janaka invited Viśvāmitra and the boys to his court. Viśvāmitra requested the king to show the Mighty Bow that he possessed. Janaka then narrated the following – “During the destruction of Dakṣa’s yajña, Rudra bent this bow, declaring that he would chop off the heads of the devas, for they did not offer him a share in the yajña. The distressed devas begged for pardon. Pleased, Śiva gifted them the bow and the devas placed it as a trust with our ancestor, Devarāta.

After listening to the story of the city of Viśālā, the brothers along with Sage Viśvāmitra received Sumati’s hospitality and spent the night there. The next morning, they arrived at the outskirts of the magnificent city of Mithilā. Looking at a desolated but resplendent āśrama, Rāma sought to know who it belonged to. Viśvāmitra started narrating –

The next morning, the brothers woke up, bowed down to the confluence of the rivers Sarayū and Jāhnavī and arrived at the region of Maladā and Karūṣā – the regions that were formed when Brahma-hatyā-doṣa which Indra had acquired upon killing Vṛtrāsura, was washed away. In the region lived a yakṣi named Tāṭakā, the wife of Sunda and the mother of Mārīca. Blessed with the strength of a thousand elephants at birth, she was cursed along with her son by Sage Agastya to become rākṣasas. Viśvāmitra instructed Rāma – “Have no compassion for this woman, Rāma!

When Viṣṇu was about to take birth as the sons of Daśaratha, Brahmā addressed the devas – “You should create powerful beings to assist Viṣṇu. Beget vānaras who are as capable as you, through the wombs of apsarās, gandharvīs, kinnarīs, vānarīs, and the women of yakṣas and pannagas.”[1] The devas did as instructed. Upon their birth, vānaras were ruled by the brothers Vālī and Sugrīva, the sons of Indra and Sūrya respectively.

Daśaratha did not beget children for a long time and craved to have a successor for his lineage. He decided to perform the Aśvamedha upon the consultation of his ministers and asked them to invite his gurus. Sumantra, the charioteer and personal assistant of the king, who heard this, told him in private, “The ṛtviks had once discussed the manner in which you can beget children. Sanatkumāra had then said, ‘In the future, Daśaratha, whose daughter is Śāntā, will invite his son-in-law Ṛṣyaśṛṅga officiate his yāga as the purohita.

Pleased upon hearing the story of Rāma, the sage Vālmikī eulogised Nārada, bid him farewell, and proceeded to the banks of the river Tamasā. Pointing at the clear waters of the river, the sage told his student Bharadvāja – “Look at the divine river!  The water is pure and delightful just like a noble man’s heart!” Before taking a dip in the river, the sage walked around the woods and spotted a krauñca couple that sweetly sang in a duet. Even as the Vālmikī watched the couple, a hunter with an evil mind, shot an arrow at the male, which fell to the ground drenched in blood.