Dashrath

Dashrath was a king of Ayodhya. He was one of the most important kings of the Solar Dynasty. The Ramayana describes him as a descendant of Ikshvaku. He had three wives and four sons. The names of his wives were Kaushalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra. His four sons were - Ram, Lakshman, Bharat and Shatrughna. They were born as a result of Vashishtha's benediction when, as the mythological story tells us, he was 60,000 years of age. He died of grief when Lord Ram went to the jungle to serve the fourteen years of exile.

The Ramayana says that he had to die in this way due to a curse upon him. When Dashrath was quite young, he had killed a young hermit named Shravan by mistake. Shravan had been filling water at the river which was producing sound as if an animal drinking water. Mistaking him to be an animal he shot an arrow that killed him. He realized his mistake when he rushed to the spot and found the hermit dying. Shravan was the only son of his blind parents who were waiting for him with water to drink. On the suggestion of the dying hermit, Dashrath went to his parents with water, told him what happened, and begged forgiveness. The parents cursed him to die heart-broken at separation from his son, and then set themselves on fire along with their son, since they could no longer live without the son.

In the battle between the gods and the demons, Dashrath was fighting from the side of the gods on their request. While fighting with the Asur named Shambar, he fell down unconscious, but was carried away from the battle field by his wife Kaikeyi. She nursed his wounds and revived him. Out of happiness he granted her two boons, but she did not ask for them, and saved them instead for a time in future when she would need them most.

Though Dashrath had three wives, he had no son. He, therefore, performed a yagya called Ashvamedh (horse-sacrifice). At the time of performance of the yagya, a celestial figure appeared and handed him a divine beverage to be consumed by his wives. In due course of time, Kaushlya bore Ram, Kaikeyi bore Bharat, and Sumitra bore Lakshman and Shatrughna.

When the time came for coronation of Ram, being the eldest son, one old female servant Manthara poisoned Kaikeyi's ears which led her to demand the two boons Dashrath had granted. She demanded coronation for Bharat and fourteen years exile for Ram. When Ram, along with his brother Lakshman and wife Sita left for Dandakaranya (Dandak Forest) to serve the king's order and Kaikeyi's desire for the exile, Dashrath could not bear the agony and died broken-hearted at the separation from Ram.

The most authentic epic Ramayan by Valmiki does not mention about any daughter of Desharath, however, it is mentioned somewhere else that Dashrath had also a daughter named Shanta. She was adopted by King Rompad of Ang who gave her in marriage to a sage Rishyashring. Shanta was the first born child of Dashrath and Kaushalya, and thus the elder sister of Lord Ram. There is also some variation in the story of Shanta regarding her adoption. One of the story tells that Shanta left her father's house and went to the sage Rishyashring to marry him to make her father's Putreshti Yagya (a religious performance to have a son) successful. Therfore, this story seems to have a later origin, and the truthfulness of the story is doubtful. How can Valmiki forget to mention even her name? It is worth mentioning that Valmiki was also a part of the Ramayana and a contemporary of Ram.