Sri Rama Navami
Lord Rama is the avatar of the Supreme Lord who descended to this earth in Treta Yuga as the resplendent son of King Dasharatha and Mother Kausalya. In His 11,000 years as the Lord of the entire world, He enacted many loving pastimes with His devotees, reestablished the principles of Dharma, and annihilated many miscreants, who were the demoniac descendants of Sage Pulastya. Rama Navami is the auspicious day when the Lord appeared on this Earth. It blog is to help the devotees understand the circumstances of the birth of the Lord, based on Chapters 8 - 18 of Bala Khanda of Valmiki Ramayana.
kūjantam̦ rāma rāmeti madhuram̦ madhurākṣaram | āruhya kavitāśakhām̦ vande vālmīki kokilam ||
Salutations to Sage Vālmīki, the nightingale. He sings the sweet name of Rāma in a sweet voice from the tree of poetry.
vaidehi sahitam suradrumatale haime mahāmaṇdape madhye puṣpakam āsane manimaye virāsane susthitam agre| vācayati prabhānjanasute tattvam munibhyah param vyākhyantam bharatādibhih parivritam rāmam bhaje syāmalam||
Salutations to the beautifully dark Rāma who is seated at the foot of the celestial tree, on a flowery seat in a golden palace with Sītā and his brothers while His glories are sung by the sages and Hanumān.
King Dasharatha craves for a son
The opulent kingdom Ayodhya was established by the mighty King Iksvaku, the grandson of Vivasvan, the demigod of Sun. His descendant was the saintly, righteous, and powerful King Dasharatha. Despite being surrounded by riches and comfort, the King was extremely sad because he had no children. Knowing that he had to purify himself of all sins, he took the permission of his guru Sage Vashistha and other saints to perform the Asvamedha yagna (horse sacrifice). His wise minister Sumantra recited the prediction of Sage Sanat-Kumara – that the great Sage Rishi Rishyashringa, the son-in-law of King Dasharatha’s friend King Romapada, will help King Dasharatha beget sons. Sage Sanat-Kumara even foretold that King Dasharatha will have four mighty and resplendent sons, who will be known for their valor, who will enrich the dynasty’s reputation, and who will be renowned among all living beings.
After listening to the pleasant words of his wise minister, King Dasharatha and his vast retinue went to the kingdom of Anga to visit King Romapada, his daughter Shanta, and his mighty son-in-law Sage Rishyashringa. At King Dasharatha’s request, Shanta and Sage Rishyashringa came to Ayodhya amidst great honor, pomp and ceremony. After a very long time, when an exceptionally pleasant spring arrived, the king requested the Sage to start the sacrifice.
Asvamedha Sacrifice
The sacrificial arena was set up at the northern shores of River Sarayu. The sacrificial horse was set free. Outstanding sages and priests such as Suyajña, Vamadeva, Jabali, Kashyapa, Purohita, and Vasishtha presided over the sacrifice. For an entire year, they conducted the initial propitiatory rites such as peace prayers were conducted according to the scriptural regulations.
In the spring of next year, Sage Vashistha addressed the senior practitioners of the sacrifice and their assistants such as skilled Brahmanas, architects masons, carpenters, and astrologers, asking them to arrange for the Asvamedha sacrifice by building palaces, all kinds of palatable drinks and food, and other chores. He asked them never to do anything disrespectful out of anger or lust. Vashistha then asked Sumatra to invite great kings of the world such as King Janaka of Mithila, King Romapada, and kings of Kashi, Kekeya, Kosala, Magadha, and other rulers of the East and West. Few days later, all the eminent invitees arrived, and were respectfully welcomed by King Dasharatha.
On an auspicious day, King Dasharatha and his wives went to the sacrificial arena, and underwent the initiation ceremony. By this time, the sacrificial horse returned. The brahmanas performed various rites according to scripture. With sweet songs of praise, the priests invoked the appropriate demigods who reside in the heavenly realm and offered them their due share of the oblations of clarified butter. Everybody was taken care of. They praised the munificence of King Dasharatha.
Soon the time arrived for erecting the sacrificial posts. They erected beautifully decorated wooden posts made of bilva, khadira, palasha, shleshmata, and cedar woods. The sacrificial altar was shaped like an eagle with wings out-stretched. Its wings were golden-colored. Being thrice the size of ordinary altars, it had eighteen fire pits, instead of the usual six. The excellent horse was brought to the post. Queen Kausalya consecrated the horse, touched it with a sword thrice, and with a calm mind spent some time with the horse. After that, the hota, adhvaryu and udgata priests took Kausalya and the other two wives of the king and made them touch the horse. Then the priest took the fleshy tuber of the ashvagandha plant (which smells like a horse) and boiled it according to scriptural directions. The king then smelled, at the proper time, the odor of the steam rising from that tuber, thus driving away his sins. Many other sacrifices were also performed according to scriptural recommendation. Eight sacrifices were performed on that occasion: jyotishtoma, ayushtoma, two atiratras, abhijit, vishvajit and two aptoryamas.
King Dasharatha donated to the hota priest the eastern region, to the adhvaryu priest the western region, to the brahma priest the southern region, and to the udgata priest the northern region. Thus he distributed the entire earth to the priests. The priests gave the kingdom back to the King. Later, the king presented the Brahmanas with 1,000,000 cows, 100,000,000 gold coins and four times that of silver coins. Thereafter the priests gave all the wealth to the sage Rishyashringa and to the wise Vasishtha. When the wealth had been equally divided, the topmost brahmanas were pleased in mind and declared, “We are very satisfied!” The king was thoroughly delighted to have completed the wonderful sacrifice, which destroys all sins, leads to heaven and is very difficult to be performed by even great kings. Then King Dasharatha said to Rishyashringa, “O powerful ascetic, you should now insure the prolongation of my dynasty.” “So be it,” said the best of brahmanas to the king. “In the future, O king, you will have four sons who will continue your dynasty.”
After that, the intelligent sage contemplated the king’s request for some time and said, “In order to obtain a son we must perform the putreshti sacrifice with prayers from the Atharva Veda.” Then the powerful sage performed the sacrifice for attaining offspring by offering oblations into the sacred fire in accordance with the directions of the scriptures. At the end, the demigods, gandharvas, siddhas and topmost sages assembled to receive their portions of the sacrifice.
Promise of Lord Vishnu
Later, all the demigods approached Lord Brahma, the creator, in one group according to rank, they spoke to him the following words: “O lord, the inimical and evil-minded Ravana is harassing the three worlds and hates the exalted. He wants to overpower Indra, the king of heaven. Infatuated by his boon and unassailable because of it, he is attempting to subdue the seers, yakshas, gandharvas, brahmanas and asuras. O lord, please make some arrangement to kill him.”
Then Lord Brahma said, “Dear demigods, I know how Ravana can be defeated. The rakshasa did not consider human beings in his request due to his contempt for them. Therefore he can only be killed by a human. No one else can be the cause of his death.”
Hearing the pleasant words of Lord Brahma, all the demigods and great sages became very joyful. Sage Valmiki very beautifully describes the arrival of Lord Vishnu.
etasmin anantare viṣṇuḥ upayāto mahādyutiḥ | śṅkha cakra gadā pāṇiḥ pīta vāsā jagatpatiḥ || vainateyam samārūhya bhāskara toyadam yathā | tapta hāṭaka keyūro vandyamānaḥ surottamaiḥ ||
At that time arrived the Lord of the universe, Vishnu, who was highly effulgent, bearing in His four hands a conchshell, discus, mace and bow and wearing bright yellow silken garments. He was mounted on His eagle carrier Garuda, like the sun on a cloud. He wore armlets of refined gold and was being praised by the foremost of the demigods. Seeing Lord Brahma, He stood there tranquilly.
Having praised Him and bowing down, all the demigods addressed Him: “O Lord Vishnu, with the intent of doing good to the world we are going to request you with a task. In Ayodhya there is a powerful king of the name Dasharatha. He is a knower of righteousness, is magnanimous and equal in splendor to a great sage. From the womb of his three wives, who are equal to Your own consorts Hri, Shri and Kirti, O Lord, manifest Yourself as four sons. Assuming a human-like form, O Vishnu, kill in battle Ravana, who has become powerful, is the scourge of the world, and cannot be killed by the demigods. You are the supreme destination for all of us, O destroyer of foes! Please decide to descend to the world of men to kill the enemy of the demigods.”
The kind Lord Vishnu says, “bhayam tyajata bhadram vo. Discard your fear, let safety be upon you. For your benefit I shall fight Ravana. After killing his sons, grandsons, counselors, ministers, kinsmen and relatives, I shall slay the cruel, unassailable and fearsome demon. For eleven thousand years I shall remain in the mortal world to protect the earth.”
Having thus granted that boon to the demigods, the Supreme Lord Vishnu began to contemplate His future birthplace. Then the lotus-eyed Lord divided Himself into four and chose King Dasharatha as His would-be father. Then the Lord asks the demigods, “By resorting to what means, O demigods, can I slay the king of rakshasas, who is harassing the sages?” Being thus questioned, all the demigods replied to the eternal Lord Vishnu, “Assuming a human-like form, please slay Ravana in combat. Having received a boon from Brahma, he has grown extremely conceited. He is afflicting the three worlds and is abducting women. Therefore, O subduer of foes, he must be killed by a human.”
Hearing these words of the demigods, the Supreme Lord Vishnu desired King Dasharatha to be His father. At that time, the issueless king who was very effulgent, being desirous of a son, was performing a sacrifice for that purpose. Having made up His mind, Lord Vishnu, taking leave of Brahma, disappeared as He was being worshiped by the demigods and sages.
Right after that, from the sacrificial fire of King Dasharatha appeared a huge being of unequaled splendor possessing great prowess and strength. His complexion was swarthy, he wore reddish garments, his countenance was ruddy and his voice resounded like a drum. The hair on his body, beard and head was soft like a lion’s. He was endowed with auspicious marks and decorated with celestial gems. He was as tall as a mountain peak and strode like a proud tiger. His form was as brilliant as the sun. He shone like a flame of fire. In his arms he held, as one would hold one’s own dear wife, a large gold jar full of celestial, milky rice pudding covered with a silver lid, as if it were some magical thing.
Looking at King Dasharatha, he spoke the following words, “Know me, O king, to be a messenger of the Lord of creatures, Vishnu, who has come here.” Thereupon the king replied to him with folded hands, “I welcome you. What may I do for you?” The messenger of Lord Vishnu then spoke these words: “O king, by worship of the demigods has this reward been achieved by you today. O tiger among kings, accept this rice pudding made by the demigods which can not only procure a son, but can also increase wealth and good health. Give it to your appropriate wives and tell them to eat it. From them you will obtain sons for which purpose you have been performing sacrifice, O king.”
The king joyfully accepted it with his head lowered and said, “So be it.” He accepted that gold pot filled with spiritual foodstuff given by the Lord. He saluted that wonderful being of pleasing appearance and with great delight circumambulated him. After receiving the rice pudding prepared by the demigods from Vishnu’s messenger, King Dasharatha became as joyful as a pauper on obtaining wealth. Then the wonderful Yajna purusha disappeared. The king went to the queens’ chambers, and divided the pudding:
kausalyāyai narapatiḥ pāyasa ardham dadau tadā | ardhāt ardham dadau ca api sumitrāyai narādhipaḥ || kaikeyyai ca avaśiṣṭa ardham dadau putrārtha kāraṇāt | pradadau ca avaśiṣṭa ardham pāyasasya amṛta upamam || anucintya sumitrāyai punaḥ eva mahīpatiḥ | evam tāsām dadau rājā bhāryāṇām pāyasam pṛthak ||
Then the king gave to Kausalya one half of the rice pudding, and to Sumitra he gave one half of what was left. For obtaining a son, he gave one half of what was left to Kaikeyi. After thinking for a while, the highly intelligent king gave to Sumitra the remaining portion of rice pudding, which was equal to immortal nectar. In this way, the king distributed the rice pudding to his different queens.
When the king’s noble wives received the rice pudding, they became overwhelmed with joy. After the king’s consorts separately ate the rice pudding, they could feel before long the presence of babies within their wombs whose splendor equaled fire or the sun. Seeing that his wives were pregnant and that his desire was to be fulfilled, he felt very happy. At that time, he was worshiped by Indra, siddhas and sages.
Demigods as Vanaras
When Lord Vishnu manifested Himself as the sons of Dasharatha, the self-born Lord Brahma said to the demigods, “Lord Vishnu is true to His promise, valiant and our well-wisher. Procreate soldiers and assistants for Him with forms which they can change at will. They should be conversant with magical spells, brave, swift as the wind in speed, conversant in politics, endowed with intelligence, indestructible, conversant with devices, endowed with supernatural bodies, knowledgeable about all types of weapons and like the demigods who partake of the nectar of immortality. I have already begotten Jambavan, the chief of the bears, from my mouth.”
Having been thus instructed by Brahma, they accepted his command and begot sons in the form of monkeys. The great souls, seers, siddhas, vidyadharas, nagas and caranas begot heroic sons as forest creatures. Lord Indra begot Vali, the lord of the monkeys, who was like Indra himself. The sun, which is the best of heat generators, begot Sugriva. Brihaspati begot the great monkey named Tara, the most intelligent of all the monkeys chiefs. The glorious monkey Gandhamadana was born as the son of Kuvera, the giver of wealth. Vishvakarma begot a great monkey named Nala. Agni’s son was the glorious Nila, whose splendor was like fire and who surpassed everyone in splendor, fame and prowess. The two Ashvins, endowed with the wealth of physical beauty, personally begot Mainda and Dvivida. Varuna begot the monkey named Sushena. The mighty Parjanya begot Sharabha. Then Valmiki introduced the great Bhakt Hanuman.
mārutasya aurasaḥ śrīmān hanumān nāma vānaraḥ | vajra saṃhananopeto vainateya samaḥ jave || sarva vānara mukhyeṣu buddhimān balavān api |
From the wind demigod, Vayu, was born the glorious monkey named Hanuman, whose body was as strong as a thunderbolt and equal to Garuda in speed. He is the most intelligent and strong of all the various monkeys.
In this way, they gave birth to many thousands of monkeys prepared to kill the ten-headed demon Ravana. They had immeasurable strength, were heroic, outstanding, and able to assume any form at will. They all had claws and teeth as weapons and were skilled in the use of various arms. They could shake great mountains and split standing trees. By their swift movement they could agitate the ocean, who is the lord of rivers. They could rend the earth with their feet and jump across great oceans. They could enter into the sky and even catch a cloud. The earth was covered by these mighty leaders of the monkey chiefs who resembled masses of clouds or mountain peaks. They had fearsome bodily appearances and had taken birth to help Lord Rama.
Glorious Birth of Lord Rama, Bharata, Lakshman, and Shatrughna
When the horse sacrifice and the sacrifice for procuring a son were concluded, the demigods took their share of the offerings and departed as they had come. Having completed the period of consecration, accompanied by his wives, King Dasharatha entered the city with his servants and soldiers. Having been appropriately honored by the king, the monarchs of the world were satisfied and, offering respects to the great sage Rishyashringa, returned to their own lands. Being properly honored and followed by the wise king and his entourage, Rishyashringa departed with his wife Shanta. Sending them all away in this manner and completely achieving his desired goal, the king happily resided in Ayodhya while thinking about the birth of his sons.
After the sacrifice had been completed, one year elapsed. Then in the twelfth month called Caitra (April), on the ninth day, when the asterism Punarvasu was in the ascendant, the five planets—Sun, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and Venus—were exalted, and Jupiter and the Moon were in the sign of Cancer. Kausalya shone with the immeasurable splendor of her son, like Aditi with her son Indra, the lord of the demigods who carries a thunderbolt in his hand.
tato yajñe samāpte tu ṛtūnām ṣaṭ samatyayuḥ |
tataḥ ca dvādaśe māse caitre nāvamike tithau || 1-18-8
nakkṣatre aditi daivatye sva uccha saṃstheṣu paṃcasu |
graheṣu karkaṭe lagne vākpatā iṃdunā saha || 1-18-9
prodyamāne jagannātham sarva loka namaskṛtam |
kausalyā ajanayat rāmam sarva lakṣaṇa saṃyutam || 1-18-10
viṣṇoḥ ardham mahābhāgam putram aikṣvāku naṃdanam |
lohitākṣam mahābāhum rakta oṣṭam duṃdubhi svanam || 1-18-11
The Lord of the universe who is worshiped in all the worlds appeared from the womb of Kausalya as Rama, possessing divine marks. Her son was manifested from the half portion of the rice pudding given by Lord Vishnu. He was the most fortunate son of the Ikshvaku Dynasty. His eyes were reddish, His arms strong, His lips red and His voice like the sound of a drum.
To Kaikeyi was born a son of true prowess named Bharata. He was born when the constellation Pushya was in the ascendant and the Sun was in Pisces. Being produced from the quarter portion of the rice pudding, he was endowed with all the transcendental qualities of Lord Vishnu Himself. Then, Sumitra gave birth to two sons—Lakshmana and Shatrughna. They were valorous, expert in all weaponry and endowed with one fourth and one eighth of the qualities of Lord Vishnu. The two sons of Sumitra were born when the constellation Ashleshya was in the ascendant and the sun was in Cancer.
The four great-souled-sons of the king were born separately. They were endowed with all good qualities, and resembled one another. In splendor they were equal to the four stars of the constellation Bhadrapada.
The gandharvas sang sweetly and the groups of apsaras danced. Celestial drums resounded and showers of flowers fell from the sky. There was a great celebration in the city of Ayodhya by the people. In the streets crowded with people were troupes of actors and dancers. The broad streets echoed with the sounds of singers, musicians and other people and were strewn with all kinds of precious gems. The king presented worthy gifts to the bards and ballad singers, and gave riches and thousands of cows to the Brahmanas. He then performed the name-giving ceremonies for his sons on the eleventh day after Their births. Sage Vashistha named the four resplendent sons as follows.
jyeṣṭham rāmam mahātmānam bharatam kaikayī sutam | saumitrim lakṣmaṇam iti śatrughnam aparam tathā ||
The sage Vasishtha was pleased to name the eldest Rama, Kaikeyi’s son he named Bharata, and Sumitra’s two sons he named Lakshmana and Shatrughna.
The king fed the Brahmanas, the townspeople and also the residents of the nation and gave many mounds of brilliant jewels to the Brahmanas. He had all his children’s sacraments performed, beginning with the birth ceremony. The eldest of them was outstanding like a flag and was most dear to His father. Everyone considered Him to be just like Svayambhuva Manu. All four sons were conversant with the scriptures, heroic and engaged in the welfare of the world. They were all endowed with knowledge and adorned with all good qualities. Among them, however, Rama was the greatest and of unfailing prowess. He was loved by everyone, even like the spotless moon. He greatly enjoyed riding on the backs of elephants and horses and was skilled at driving chariots. He delighted in the study of archery and was devoted to serving His father.
From his childhood, Lakshmana, the increaser of wealth, was always very affectionate to His elder brother Rama, the joy of the world and served Him bodily. Lakshmana, who was endowed with good fortune, was like another life force of Rama outside of Himself. Without him that excellent Rama would not sleep, without him He would not eat even tasty dishes when brought. Whenever Rama, the descendant of the Raghu Dynasty, went out on horseback, Lakshmana would follow behind Him with bow and arrows to protect Him. Lakshmana’s younger brother, Shatrughna, was to Bharata always dearer than life itself, and Bharata was equally dear to Shatrughna.
King Dasharatha was extremely pleased with his four highly fortunate sons, as Brahma is with the demigods who guard the four directions: Indra, Varuna, Yama and Kuvera. All four sons were adorned with all good qualities. They were glorious, omniscient and far-sighted. King Dasharatha, the father of all of Them, who were potent and as bright as lamps, was as happy as Brahma, the ruler of the universe. Those tigers among men were also devoted to Vedic studies. They were devoted to the service of their father and expert in the science of archery.
This concludes the end of the recital of the birth of the Lord and His brothers. The next part of this chapter introduces Sage Visvamitra, and then consequently the glorious recital of the marriage of Mother Sita and Lord Rama.
maṅgalam kośalendrāya mahanīya gunābhdhaye
cakravarthi dhanujāya sarva bhoumaya maṅgalam
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