Sri Rama

Sri Rama is often called Raghupati or Raghava. It is because he was a descendant of King Raghu who ruled this country. The Ikshvaku kings ruled the country before Raghu. Dilipa was a famous Ikshvaku king; Sudhakshina was his queen and rishi Vasishtha was their Guru.

For a long time Dilipa had no children and so he and his queen felt very sad at heart. One day the king asked Vasishtha : "Sire! With your blessings my country and my people prosper, but I am unhappy. My queen is always in tears The rishi asked: "What ails you so much, my son?"

Dilipa replied: "Our life is barren without a child. Holy Sage, shall we get one at all ‘?" The rishi said : "I can understand your feelings. Once while you went to Devaloka, you failed to respect the divine cow, Kamadhenu. In her anger, she cursed you to go without children. If you please her now, she may revoke her curse."
Dilipa asked: "How should I do it?"

The rishi said: "I have her daughter Nandini in my ashram. Serve her sincerely, and her mother Kamadhenu may bless you !" From that day King Dilipa and his queen served Nandini faithfully.

They bathed her, fed her and worshipped her day after day, often sleeping in the cow-shed, itself. Twenty one days went by in this manner.
On the twenty second day Nandini went out of the ashram and the king too followed her.The cow entered the deep forest and suddenly disappeared.
The king frantically searched for her everywhere in the forest, and after a long time saw her beneath a tree.
But he was shocked to find her beneath the paws of a lion!
Dilipa shuddered.

Quick as lightning he took out his bow, and, fixing an arrow on it, aimed at the lion; but when he tried to release it, his hands and fingers became stiff like a log of wood and they would not move!

Then the king said: "O lion! You are not a common lion. You seem to be a Deva. Please release the cow, and I will become your meal."
Said the lion : "This tree is the beloved of Goddess Parvati. God Sankara sent me to protect it. I never leave its vicinity. Whatever comes near it becomes my food. I cannot therefore give up the cow."

The king pleaded: "O lion ! This cow belongs to my Guru. He has commanded me to protect her. If I lose her, he will curse me. I entreat you, please eat me instead."
The lion tried to change the king’s mind in many ways, but the king stuck to his request. At last, the lion agreed to his request and released the cow.
The king went near the lion and lay on the ground ready to be eaten.

Five, ten, fifteen minutes passed and yet nothing happened. The king turned on his back to see what the matter was and a great surprise awaited him. There was neither lion nor tree; only Nandini stood there.

Said the divine cow: "I created this illusion to test your sincerity. I am now satisfied and pleased with your devotion to me. Now, draw my milk and drink it and you will be blessed with a son."

Dilipa said: "Mother, I am grateful for your blessings. I shall obey your command. But I can drink your milk only after getting the permission of my Guru."
In the evening Nandini and the king returned to the ashram. There Dilipa related to Vasishtha all that had happened in the forest.

Vasishtha said: "Son! Your longing will now be fulfilled by the blessings of Kamadhenu. You can drink Nandini’s milk. You will get a great son who will become famous in history. God himself will be born as his descendant."

The boy thus born to Dilipa was Raghu. Long after him, Rama was born in his line. Poet Kalidasa describes the line of Raghu in his famous book of poems "Raghuvamsa" in Sanskrit. You will read it when you grow up.