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This is the story of Lord Rama, the seventh incarnation
of Lord Vishnu. There was once a king named Dasaratha who had three wives,
Kausalya, Sumitra, and Kaikeyi. Regrettably, he had no sons from any of
his wives. Thus he performed a sacrifice by which to obtain a son, and
from the sacrifice came a nectar for his wives to drink. Kausalya, the
senior wife, was given half the nectar, and the other two were given the
other half to share. Sumitra divided her share into two portions. After
they drank the nectar, Kausalya gave birth to a son named Rama, Sumitra
had the twins Laksman and Shatrughna, and Kaikeyi gave birth to Bharata.
Rama later married Sita, the daughter of King Janaka. King Janaka organized
a svayamvara, a competition to see who was qualified to marry his daughter.
The winner had to string Lord Siva's bow and hit a target. Only Rama was
able to string the bow, what to speak of hit the target. As Rama was Lord
Vishnu and Sita was Lakshmi, this marriage was predestined.
King Dasaratha decided to retire as King of Ayodhya and to crown Rama,
his eldest son, king. On the eve of the coronation, Kaikeyi, Dasarath's
youngest wife, was convinced by her maid Mandara that Dasarath was trying
to cheat Bharata out of the kingdom. Accordingly, she asked her husband
to crown Bharata and exile to Rama to the forest for fourteen years. Dasaratha
was unwillingly obliged to comply, as he had previously promised Kaikeyi
that he would fulfill any desire as a gift for her having saved his life
in the past.
In this way, Rama, along with his devoted wife, Sita, and his brother
Laksman, went to the forest. Not long after Dasarath expired. When Bharata,
who was away at the time, returned to Ayodhya, he did not wish to rule
due to his affection for Rama. He followed Rama to the forest and begged
him to return. Rama refused, however, in order to maintain his father's
promise. Bharata agreed to rule on Rama's behalf, set Rama's sandals on
the throne, and lived a life of asceticism outside the city gates until
Rama's return.
While in the forest, Ravana, king of Lanka, kidnapped Sita and brought
her to his kingdom. Rama and Laksman then went out to search for Sita.
During this time they met Sugriva, the monkey king, and Hanuman, his minister.
The devoted Hanuman eventually found Sita in Lanka. Rama and Laksman,
along with the monkey army, attacked Lanka. After much fighting, the ten-headed
Ravana was killed and Sita was recovered. Rama then returned to Ayodhya
and assumed the throne.
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