Namaste, I Am Rāma, and This Is Rāmāyaṇa

2
BĀLA KĀṆḌA
N
amaste. I am KING DASHARATHA, the ruler of Kosala kosala
kingdom. My beautiful capital city Ayodhya is on the bank of the river
Sarayu sarayu. I belong to the dynasty of Ikshvaku ikṣvāku and Raghu raghu.
Meet my beautiful wives:
1. Queen
Kausalya
kausalyā
2. Queen
Sumitra
sumitrā
3. Queen
Kaikeyi
kaikeyī
My deepest sorrow is
that I have no children.
SAMPLE
ONLY
On the advice of my minister Sumantra
sumantra, I invite Rishi Rishyashringa ṛṣi
ṛṣyaśṛṅga to perform a year-long
Putrakameshti Yagnya putrakāmeṣṭi yajña
(a fire ritual to beget sons). This rishi
(sage) has a horn on his head.
Miracle! A celestial being has appeared
from the yagna kunda yajñakuṇḍa (sacred
fire-pit)! He hands me a vessel containing
divya payasa divya pāyasa (divine rice
pudding or kheer) and disappears in the
flames. I feel immensely blessed.
My three queens partake the divine food
in turns. In due course, we are blessed
with four lovely sons:
Rama, born r of
Queen Kausalya,
the eldest
of the four
Bharata bharata, born of
Queen Kaikeyi
on the day (first half)
following Rama’s birthday
Twins Lakshmana lakṣmaṇa and
Shatrughna śatrughna, born of Queen
Sumitra on the day (later half)
following Rama’s birthday
r
RAMA: Every year Hindus joyously celebrate my birth as ‘Rama Navami’, which falls on the ninth day of
Shukla Paksha (when the moon is waxing, that is, growing to be a full moon) in the month of Chaitra.