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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. |
