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== Rshyashrnga in Ramayana ==

== Rshyashrnga in Ramayana ==

As Kausalya was childless, King Dasharatha of Ayodhya brought as his wife Kaikeyi the daughter of the King of Kekaya and sister of Yudhajit. Still no children were born to them. He was much disappointed. At last he married again and brought Sumitra the princess of Kali. Of these three, Kausalya was the chief wife. Though he had three wives, Dasharatha still remained childless. The King and his queens spent their days in sorrow for a long time. The King remembered the curse he had incurred when he was young. The curse was that as they had died with sorrow at the death of their son Sravana, the same thing would happen to me. So he believed that sons would be born to him. He performed several devotional acts to get children. Finally he gave up all kingly pleasures and began to lead an ascetic life. He built a temple for his own use and consecrated the idol of Mahavisnu in it. Then entrusting the administration of the Kingdom to his ministers he and his wives engaged themselves in daily devotion and meditation in the temple. (Kampa Ramayana, Bala Kanda).<ref name=":1" />  

As Kausalya was childless, King Dasharatha of Ayodhya brought as his wife Kaikeyi the daughter of the King of Kekaya and sister of Yudhajit. Still no children were born to them. He was much disappointed. At last he married again and brought Sumitra the princess of Kali. Of these three, Kausalya was the chief wife. Though he had three wives, Dasharatha still remained childless. The King and his queens spent their days in sorrow for a long time. The King remembered the curse he had incurred when he was young. The curse was that as they had died with sorrow at the death of their son Sravana, the same thing would happen to me. So he believed that sons would be born to him. He performed several devotional acts to get children. Finally he gave up all kingly pleasures and began to lead an ascetic life. He built a temple for his own use and consecrated the murti or vigraha of Mahavisnu in it. Then entrusting the administration of the Kingdom to his ministers he and his wives engaged themselves in daily devotion and meditation in the temple. (Kampa Ramayana, Bala Kanda).<ref name=":1" />  

His Minister Sumantra advised him to invite Rshyashrnga to perform a yajna for begetting a child. Lomapada and Shanta requested Rshyashrnga to comply with the desire of Dasharatha. Rshyashrnga could not refuse the King's request as the king was his father-in-law. He arrived at Ayodhya and performed a yajna called Putrakamesti(yajna for getting children) under the guidance of Vasistha. The air vibrated with the recitation of mantras (spells and incantations) and the Veda Suktas. The hermit uttered the divine spell of Putrakamesti and offered oblations in the yajnika agni. From the yajnika agni there arose a dark monstrous / wonderful and luminous figure, with a pot of pudding of ambrosia  before Rshyashrnga and then disappeared in the yajnika agni. Dasharatha received it from him and in accordance with the instruction of the hermit, gave one half of it to Kausalya and the other half to Kaikeyi. Both of them gave half of their shares to Sumitra. Thus the three wives ate the divine pudding and by and by all of them became pregnant. Sumitra got two shares while the other two wives of Dasharatha got only one share each. As a result Kausalya and Kaikeyi gave birth to a son each, while Sumitra had two sons. Kausalya's son was named Rama, Kaikeyi's son was Bharata and Sumitra's sons were Laksmana and Satrughna.<ref name=":1" /><ref>Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda, Chapters 14-16

His Minister Sumantra advised him to invite Rshyashrnga to perform a yajna for begetting a child. Lomapada and Shanta requested Rshyashrnga to comply with the desire of Dasharatha. Rshyashrnga could not refuse the King's request as the king was his father-in-law. He arrived at Ayodhya and performed a yajna called Putrakamesti(yajna for getting children) under the guidance of Vasistha. The air vibrated with the recitation of mantras (spells and incantations) and the Veda Suktas. The hermit uttered the divine spell of Putrakamesti and offered oblations in the yajnika agni. From the yajnika agni there arose a dark monstrous / wonderful and luminous figure, with a pot of pudding of ambrosia  before Rshyashrnga and then disappeared in the yajnika agni. Dasharatha received it from him and in accordance with the instruction of the hermit, gave one half of it to Kausalya and the other half to Kaikeyi. Both of them gave half of their shares to Sumitra. Thus the three wives ate the divine pudding and by and by all of them became pregnant. Sumitra got two shares while the other two wives of Dasharatha got only one share each. As a result Kausalya and Kaikeyi gave birth to a son each, while Sumitra had two sons. Kausalya's son was named Rama, Kaikeyi's son was Bharata and Sumitra's sons were Laksmana and Satrughna.<ref name=":1" /><ref>Valmiki Ramayana, Bala Kanda, Chapters 14-16