Reading Notes: Ramayana Part A favorites

King Dasharatha:

Valmiki tells the story. There were two mighty kingdoms: Koshala (ruled by Dasharatha) and Mithila (Ruled By Janaka). Dasharhata is the father of Rama, and Janaka is the father of Sita. The capital of Koshala is Ayodhya: Described as having: "wide streets with large dwellings, richly decorated temples, towering like mountains, and grand and noble palaces. In the palace gardens there were numerous birds and flowers, shady groves of fruit trees, and lakes gemmed with bee-loved lotuses" The city was full of prosperous and happy people. King Dasharatha (was of the solar race) lived in a "stately palace", and was served by eight sage counsellors as well as two family priests. He did not have any sons with any of his three queens.

King Dasharatha

Dasharatha's Sons:

Dasharatha desired to fix his sorrows of not having an heir. He resolved to perform the Ashwamedha(Horse Sacrifice) This was done to persuade the gods to give him a son. A horse was released during the final month of the bengali calendar(Choitro) which falls from mid march to mid april. The horse was accompanied by a priest (Brahmin) for a whole year. Once the horse and priest returned the ceremony was attended by many monarchs.(Rama)  After the ceremony an oblation was offered to the gods, who came to the place of sacrifice with the music-loving Gandharvas, the celestial saints, the Siddhas, and seven Deva-rishis. The gods wound up promising Dasharatha four sons. 

Rama: Avatar of Vishnu:

Vishnu the Preserver divided himself into four parts to become the four sons of Maharajah Dasharatha. The wives that had eaten the sacrificial food became the mothers of the sons. The caused great rejoice in the kingdom of Koshala. Rama was the most beautiful of the children, and had all the markings of Vishnu. He revealed all of his knowledge to king Dasharatha, and was beloved by the king. 

Vishvamitra:

There was a great rishi named Vishvamitra. He dwelt in the hermitage called Siddhashrama and came thence to ask a boon from Dasharatha. Two rakshasas, Maricha and Subahu, supported by Ravana, continually disturbed his sacrifices and polluted his sacred fire. Only Rama could overcome these devils. Dasharatha welcomed Vishvamitra gladly and promised him any gift that he desired, However, once he learned what Rama would have to do, it seemed as though the light of his life went out. Vishvamitra assured the king of Ramas victory, and so he allowed his son to go.

Thataka:

The two princes were lead into a dark and fearsome jungle. In the jungle lived the terrible rakshasa woman named Thataka, mother of Maricha. She was misshapen and horrible, and continually ravaged all that country.The two came accros her and were reluctant to strike her down as she was a woman. Eventually rama was convinced to kill her using only sound, and shot an arrow striking the mishapen woman down. The two celebrated their triumph briefly until a band of rakshasas, led by Maricha, son of the hag Thataka, and Subahu, rushed towards the altar to defile the offering with bones and blood.

Bhagiratha and Ganga:

Vishvamitra told Rama this story. In ancient times lived Sagara, a virtuous king of Ayodhya. He had two wives but no children. He and his consorts desired children, so the three of them went to the Himalayas to practice austerities. After one hundred years, a brahmin informed the three that one of thewives would have a son, and the other would be mother to 60,000 manly high-spirited sons. The king was then determined to offer a horse sacrifice. The horse was set to wanderfor a year, but it was stolen by Indra. The 60,000 sons searchedfor the horse. 

Ahalya:

he god Indra fell in love with Ahalya and disguised himself as Gautama. Ahalya was fooled by the disguise, but in other versions, she realized she was sleeping with someone who was not her husband. Gautama found out what happened, he cursed both Indra and Ahalya.


Bibliography: Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition