When Devarshi Narad visited Saga Valmiki once, the saga asked him which hero in the world stands the highest in virtue and wisdom. Narad said Ram of the Suryavanshi dynasty, ruler of Ayodhya, was the hero. He told Valmiki the story of Ram. Valmiki kept thinking of it as he went to the Tamasa river, where he saw two krauncha birds lovingly playing together on a tree. Suddenly, the male bird dropped dead, shot by a hunter’s arrow, and the female wept for her mate. Valmiki, pitying the birds, cursed the hunter. Then he pulled himself up for cursing thinking, ‘What right had I to curse the hunter? Why was I deceived by emotion?’ He had recited a beautiful shloka to express his pity. Brahma advised him to write the Ramayan in the metre of that shloka, and gave him the divine vision to see the events as they had happened. Thus Valmiki began to want the Ramayan.
The Suryavanshi Dynasty worshipped the Sun, tracing their ancestry to the son of Surya, Shraaddhadev. Many great kings belonged to this dynasty like Harishchandra, Sagar, Bhagirath, Dileep, Raghu, Aja, Dasharatha and his illustrious son, Ram. The dynasty was also called Raghuvansha, as King Raghu gave away all his possessions in a sacrifice. Dasharatha was Raghu’s grandson. Ayodhya was a very prosperous kingdom. King Dasharatha was an excellent ruler. He had three wives: Kaushalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi. But he had no children. At the behest of his Rajaguru, saga Vasishtha, Dasharatha requested Saga Rishyashringa to perform the sacrifice for the boon of children in his family. The sage performed the Putrakameshthi yajna for the king. When the sacrifice was successfully completed, Agni, the god of fire, appeared from the flames and gave Dasharatha a golden bowl of kheer, divine milk, “Give this to your wives,” said Agni, “Your prayer is granted!”
While Dasharatha was holding his yajna, the devas spoke to Lord Brahma about Ravan, the rakshasa king. Brahma’s boon to Ravan had made him so powerful that he was now treating the devas and the sages and all creatures very badly and causing them great misery. Brahma’s boon had made Ravan unconquerable by the devas, asuras, gandharvas and all the divine creatures. He had been so confident that he forgot to ask that he should not be killed by a human being. Brahma told the devas about this and asked for lord Vishnu’s help. Vishnu agreed to help the devas and told them that King Dasharatha of Ayodhya was performing a yajna to obtain children. He, Vishnu, would be born as four sons to Dasharatha, who would destroy Ravan. The devas were delighted.
He gave half the prasada to Kaushalya and half the remaining part to Sumitra. As he give one half of that to Kaikeyi, an eagle came and took it away for Anjani, who was to be the mother of Hanuman, Ram’s devotee. Kaikeyi was upset. But Kaushalya gave some more to her and to Sumitra. In due course, the four princes were born. Kaushalya’s son was Ram, Kaikeyi’s was Bharat and Sumitra had twins, Lakshman and Shatrughn. There was great jubilation in the palace and in the kingdom. The boys were named after Dasharatha had consulted Sage Vasishtha. Ram was so named because he brought peace and joy everywhere ; Bharat for Sustaining and giving care to all; Shatrughn for slaying opponents and Lakshman for having many great qualities. The palace resounded with their voices and games. Dasharatha arranged for their training in archery and was delighted with their progress.
The princes were not pampered. When they were a little older, Dasharatha sent them to the ashram of Sage Vasishtha, where he lived with his wife, Arundhati, and his disciples. Even princes had to serve the teacher as ordinary students. The four princes were intelligent and soon mastered the scriptures and state-craft. Vasishtha was an ideal teacher and a great human being. He was very pure-hearted and held no anger even against anyone who harmed him. Sage Vishwamitra had once killed all his sons in a fit of anger, but Vasishtha had only good things to say about him. When Vishwamitra heard what he said, he became a devoted friend of Sage Vasishtha. It was Vasishtha who taught right conduct to the princes and made them understand what was expected of a king in dealing with his subjects. He taught them the value of being disciplined and righteous.
Sage Vasishtha sent a message to Ayodhya when the princes completed their education. Dasharatha sent his minister, Sumantra, to fetch the youngsters. Taking the blessings of their venerable teacher, the princes left for Ayodhya. The city had turned out into the streets to welcome them home. A great cheer went up as the people saw the chariots coming in with the princes. All the princes greeted their mothers before they all bowed to their worthy father. Dasharatha was delighted to have his sons back and watched with pride and joy the way Ram guided his younger brothers on the matters of conduct and state-craft. One day, Sage Vishwamitra came to the palace. Welcoming him, Dasharatha assured him of any help he needed. Vishwamitra said that two demons, Mareecha and Subahu, were disturbing his worship and sacrifices. He asked that Ram might be sent with him to protect the sages during their rituals.
The two sages had a long history. Vishwamitra had been the king of Chedi and had once visited Vasishtha’s ashram in the forest with a large entourage. He had been surprised at the lavish hospitality provided for such a huge army of people at short notice. He asked the sage for the secret. Finally, Vasishtha showed him Sabala, the sacred cow who was the daughter of Kamadhenu, the divine cow of the gods. She could provide anything. The king wanted the cow for himself. But no amount of persuasion, exchanges or threats could make Vasishtha give his beloved cow to Vishwamitra. Finally, he ordered his soldiers to grab Sabala and take her. Sabala pleaded with Vasishtha to save her. Vasishtha said she must produce more soldiers than Vishwamitra. Sabala understood. No matter how many soldiers dragged her, she had an ever-increasing army defending her. Vishwamitra’s army failed.
