Rāmāyaṇa- Bāla-kāṇḍa - Part 3 - Daśaratha performs the Aśvamedha

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. He will then beget four children of unparalleled brilliance.’

[The Story of Ṛṣyaśṛṅga as foretold by Sanatkumāra]

Kāśyapa’s son Vibhāṇḍaka had a son named Ṛṣyaśṛṅga, who knew nobody else, having been brought up wholly in the forest by his father. In the meantime, King Romapāda of Aṅga-deśa transgressed dharma multiple times, and, therefore, his kingdom was affected by a devastating drought. The brāhmaṇas in his kingdom advised Romapāda to bring the celebrated brahmacārī Ṛṣyaśṛṅga to the kingdom, upon whose arrival it would rain. They also asked him to give his daughter Śāntā[1] in marriage to Ṛṣyaśṛṅga.

Romapāda’s purohita and ministers suggested a harmless idea through which he could fetch Ṛṣyaśṛṅga to the kingdom. Accordingly, beautifully decked courtesans went to the forest and waited near Ṛṣyaśṛṅga’s āśrama to beguile him. Ṛṣyaśṛṅga had never seen any other man, woman, or creature belonging to a different place. He once chanced upon the place where the attractive women sweetly sang. Those women were unlike anything he had seen before (and he did not even recognise them to be of a different gender). Attracted to them, he introduced himself as they sought to know about him, and invited them to his āśrama. He offered them fruits and water. The courtesans in turn, embraced him and offered delicious modakas, saying, “Here, consume these special fruits.” Fearing that the father Vibhāṇḍaka would return any moment, they hurried away from their saying that they were busy observing a vrata.”

Ṛṣyaśṛṅga who had never eaten something so delicious and had never seen anyone so attractive was troubled at heart and restless. The following day, he went to the place where he had first spotted the attractive women. The courtesans were thrilled looking at him and requested him to visit their ‘āśrama’ as well, to receive their hospitality. Hearing their heart-warming words, Ṛṣyaśṛṅga made up his mind to go and the women led the way. Upon his coming, it rained heavily in the kingdom of Aṅga. The king Romapāda, supremely delighted, got him married to his daughter Śāntā.

~

Gladdened to hear the prophecy, Daśaratha went with his womenfolk to the place where Ṛṣyaśṛṅga resided and invited him with immense respect. Ṛṣyaśṛṅga came to Ayodhyā with his wife Śānta and happily lived there. A considerable time later, with the coming of the delightful Spring, the king decided to perform the yāga and had all the preparations made. He got the yajña-bhūmi prepared on the northern banks of the river Sarayū. He instructed his men to carry out the rituals with care and in strict accordance with the śāstras, as scholars who are like brahma-rākṣasas always look for faults. With the dawn of Spring, the following year, Daśaratha requested Sage Vasiṣṭha to conduct the yajña. Vasiṣṭha appointed expert brick-layers, carpenters, well-diggers, accountants, artisans, actors, dancers as well as noblemen well-versed in śāstras in preparation for the yāga. He instructed them to build comfortable royal quarters for accommodating citizens and visitors. He made them ensure that plenty of eatables were made available for the guests and the hosts displayed no casual indifference. He told them to offer hospitality to people of all varṇas as per their stature. He asked Sumantra to invite King Janaka of Mithilā and Kekaya-rāja. He also asked him to invite Romapāda and the king of Kāśī as well as the kings of the South.

With all the preparations made, the king began the Aśvamedha as per the prescribed rituals. During the yāga, brāhmaṇas ate to their full and so did women, children, and the aged. The words of the hosts, Give them, give them food and varieties of clothes, were heard all over. As a part of the Aśvamedha, Kausalyā sanctified the horse by sprinkling it with water and marked with three needles the manner in which the horse had to be chopped. She slept by the horse for a night. The adhvaryu first offered the vapā in the homa and then the other brāhmaṇas and ṛtviks cast in the fire the different parts of the horse. Many other yāgas including Agniṣṭoma, Ukthya, Atirātra, Jyotiṣṭoma, Āyuṣṭoma, Abhijit, Viśvajit, and Āptoryāma were performed. The king offered parts of the kingdom to the ṛtviks, who gave it back to him considering him to be the best ruler of the lands. He then offered crores of cows and heaps of golds to brāhmaṇas and other guests. After receiving their blessings, Daśaratha was satisfied for having completed the greatest of yāgas. He then requested Ṛṣyaśṛṅga to perform the ritual that would help him beget children. Ṛṣyaśṛṅga decided to perform the putrakāmeṣṭi as per the mantras of the Atharva-veda and began the ritual.

Devas, gandharvas, siddhas, and ṛṣis arrived there to received their portion of havis. Invisible to the others present there, devas put forth an important matter to Brahmā – “Bhagavan! We are immensely troubled by the rākṣasa named Rāvaṇa who owes his unassailable power to your boon. He causes fear to the three worlds and to all beings. The Sun does not blaze in his presence nor the winds blow; the ocean is goes still when he sees Rāvaṇa. Please think of a way of eliminating the dreadful rākṣasa!”

Brahmā thought for a while and said, “Upon his request, I had granted that he will be immune to gandharvas, yakṣas, devas, and dānavas. Out of his contempt for humans, he had excluded them from his request. He can thus be vanquished by a human alone.” The deities and sages were thrilled!

In the meantime, Bhagavān Viṣṇu appeared there. The devas and ṛṣis along with Brahmā exalted him and humbly requested him: “For the welfare of the worlds, we plead, O Viṣṇu! Please manifest in four parts as the sons of Daśaratha born to his three wives. Born as a human, vanquish Rāvaṇa in a battle, who is a great impediment to the universe and is unassailable by the devas!” To grant the wish of the devas, Viṣṇu sought to have Daśaratha as his father.

A divine being, of immeasurable splendour and power, dark hued and wearing red clothes emerged from the fire. He rose, hugging in his arms—as if it were his beloved wife—a golden vessel with a silver lid that contained divine pāyasa. He introduced himself as a person sent by Prajāpati. He also said, “This pāyasa, created by the devas, will give you children as well as health and wealth. You may offer it to your wives!” With these words, the divine being handover the pāyasa to Daśaratha and vanished. The king was as happy as a pauper suddenly blessed with wealth. The next moment, he rushed to Kausalyā’s antaḥpura and offered her half of the pāyasa. From the remaining half, he gave half to Sumitrā and half of the left-over to Kaikeyī. The residual portion, he again offered to Sumitrā.[2]