Dasharatha

In the Ramayana, the earlier of the two
great Indian epics, Dasharatha is a king
of the Ikshvaku dynasty and the father
of Rama, the epic’s protagonist.
Dasharatha is generally portrayed as a
good king, but like many characters in
Indian mythology, his ultimate destiny
is governed by the result of a curse,
whose effects he is unable to avoid. As a
young man, Dasharatha is very fond of
hunting. On one occasion, he blindly
sends an arrow to the spot where he
hears the sound of an animal drinking
at a stream. When he investigates, he is
horrified to discover a young man struck
by his arrow, with the water pot he had
been filling by his side. With his dying
breaths the young man informs
Dasharatha that he is the sole source of
support for his blind parents and commands Dasharatha to inform them of
his death. Dasharatha is a man of honor
and fulfills the boy’s last request. When
the boy’s father hears the story, he angrily curses Dasharatha to die in similar
grief, bereft of his sons.
For many years it seemed as if this
curse would not come true, since
Dasharatha had no sons, even though
he had three wives: Kausalya, Kaikeyi,
and Sumitra. Dasharatha sponsors various religious rites for the birth of sons,
and finally commissions the sage
Rishyashringa to perform a great sacrifice. At the rite’s conclusion, a shining
figure emerges from the sacrificial fire,
places a pot of milk-rice before
Dasharatha, and directs him to feed it to
his wives. Dasharatha divides the contents of the pot between Kausalya and
Kaikeyi, each of whom give some to
Sumitra. In due time Kausalya bears
Rama, Kaikeyi gives birth to Bharata,
and Sumitra (by virtue of receiving a
share from each of her co-wives) bears
the twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna.
As his sons grow into manhood
Dasharatha is blissfully happy, and the
memory of the curse fades from his
mind. As a young man, Rama shows his
prowess and goodness, and Dasharatha
decides to anoint him as the heirapparent. Yet the night before this ceremony, the curse finally comes to
fruition. During the preparations preceding Rama’s investiture, the mind of
his stepmother Kaikeyi has been slowly
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Dasharatha
poisoned by the whisperings of her
maid Manthara. Manthara convinces
Kaikeyi that she and her son Bharata will
be mere slaves after Rama is crowned
the heir-apparent. This prompts Kaikeyi
to take drastic action. Many years
before, Dasharatha promised Kaikeyi
two blessings as reward for her help in
winning a great battle. She has never
asked for these, but she now requests
that Rama spend fourteen years in forest
exile, and that her own son, Bharata,
shall rule in his place. Dasharatha
pleads with Kaikeyi to change her mind,
but she is adamant that her wishes have
to be granted if Dasharatha will retain
the unbroken family honor. Dasharatha
later pleads with Rama to disobey him
and take over the kingdom by force, but
Rama refuses this as it is an unrighteous
action. Rama leaves for the forest, thus
upholding the family honor, but in his
sorrow at being separated from Rama,
Dasharatha dies of a broken heart.