Lord Ramachandra was born in ikshvaku dynasty. Dasaratha , father of Lord Ramachandra, was a great warrior as he could fight in ten directions simultaneously. Indra would summon for him to fight against the demons who had the ability to change to various forms. The name “Dasaratha” comes from “Dasa” means ten and “Ratha” means chariot. When he used to fight in war, it would look as though there are ten kings and ten chariot fighting simultaneously.
King Dasaratha married Kausalya. From Kausalya, they bored one daughter whose name was Shanti. But King Dasaratha wanted son to extend his dynasty. So he married Sumitra, but Sumitra has no child. Dasaratha was getting old and worried. There was no one to take care of his kingdom Kosala which extended from north of Tibet to Godavari in Andhra Pradesh. Sage Vasistha advised him to marry Kaikeyi, daughter of King Kaikeya.
when Dasaratha came for marriage negotiation, Kaikeya told him, “You have two queens, and they both have no children. Now you will marry my daughter, but what will happen to her if the other wives have children?” Dasaratha replied, “I don’t think they will have children because they have had none up to now. I am also getting old. They’re not going to get any child. Only Kaikeyi will get a child.” So Kaikeya said, “That’s all right, but you must give this in writing.” There is a system in the kshatriya marriage known as kanya-sulka This is kanya-sulka, the “will of dowry.” So Dasaratha wrote kanya-sulka. He said, “Whoever is born to Kaikeyi will enjoy my kingdom, even if my other wives produce children later.” This kanya-shulka was known only to Vasistha, King Dasaratha and Kaikeya.
Sumantra, minister of King Dasaratha, remembered one incident in which Sanatkumara predicted that King Dasaratha will perform putra kamesthi yagna. The incident took place when King Dasaratha was quite young. Sage Vasistha advised King Dasaratha to perform Putra Kamesthi yagna. But there was a condition for the yagna. The priest who performs the yagna should have not seen the woman until the time of his marriage. The search begun for such a priest. Story continues in part 2…
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