Story of Dasaratha

Birth Name - Nemi

Father - King Aja of Ayodhya

Mother - Princes Indumathi of Vidarbha

Dynasty - Ishvaku (Raghuvanshi - Suryavanshi)

Wives - Kausalya, Kaikeyi, Sumithra

Children - Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata, Shatrughna

Dasaratha, originally known as Nemi, was born of King Aja and Princes  Indumathi. He was born in the Raghuvansha - Ishvaku - Suryavansha dynasty.

King Aja was born to King Raghu of Ishvaku dynasty. He ruled the kingdom of Kosala on the southern banks of river Sarayu, with Ayodhya as its capital. He was married to princes Indumathi of Vidarbha. Indumathi was a celestial apsara (Harini), who was reborn on earth due to a curse. They had a son and named him 'Nemi'. 

Once Sage Narada was traversing the sky and garland from his Veena fell on Princes Indumathi, redeeming her from the curse. Regaining the form of Apsara, she vanished from the Earth. King Aja was grief-stricken as Indumathi left him and he died when Dasaratha was a very small child. He was brought up by Sage Vasishta and his wife. He learnt his lessons from Vasishta and weapons and the art of battling from Sage Bhrigu.

Dasaratha's birth name was Nemi. He was named Dasaratha as his chariot could move in all ten directions, fly as well as come down on Earth and he could fight with ease in all the ten directions. He was a great warrior who alone conquered the whole Earth with his prowess and killed many asuras in war.

When Dasaratha was a young prince, he was a master archer and had learnt 'Shabdavedi', a difficult technique in archery, where he could aim an arrow from a distance just by listening to the sound made by an animal.

One day, Dasaratha had gone hunting on the banks of river Sarayu. He heard a sound resembling to the gurgle of an animal drinking water. Mistaking it to be a deer, he shot an arrow. Much to his dismay, he heard a human voice crying in pain. Dasaratha hurried there to find a boy lying sprawled on the banks of the river with an arrow in his chest. The boy scolds Dasaratha for his wrongdoing. The boy's name was Shravankumar. He demanded that Dasaratha pulls the arrow out of his chest. He informed Dasaratha that he had come to the river to take water for his blind parents who were waiting for him. He asks Dasaratha to give them water and tell them about his death. Dasaratha approached the blind parents and told them about their son's unfortunate death. Grief-stricken, the blind parents cursed Dasaratha that even he would die due to separation from his beloved child. Saying this, the blind couple entered the fire that was created for the last rites of their son. The place where Shravankumar died is now known as Shravan Kshetra.

Dasaratha had three wives - Kausalya, Kaikeyi, Sumithra. Kausalya, the eldest wife of King Dasaratha was the daughter of King Sukaushal and Queen Amritaprabha of the Magadha kingdom. Sumithra was the youngest queen of King Dasaratha. She was the daughter of King Naresh of Kashi. Kaikeyi was the daughter of King Aswapathi, of Kekeya Kingdom. Dasaratha had promised King Ashwapathi, that child born to Kaikeyi will be the heir to his kingdom. He was in so much love with Kaikeyi.

Once, there was a battle between celestials and demon Sambasura. King Dasaratha, along with Queen Kaikeyi went to a famous city called Vaijayanta to help Lord Indra in the battle against Sambasura. During the fierce battle between the two, the wheel of Dasaratha's chariot broke and Sambasura's arrow pierced the King's armor and lodged in his chest. Kaikeyi was King Dasaratha's charioteer. She quickly repaired the broken wheel and then drove the chariot away from the battle-field. She nursed the wounded King back to health. King Dasaratha was very impressed with Kaikeyi's courage and intelligence. He offered her two boons, which she initially refused. At his persistence, she asked him to save them for later.

The three queens could not bear any sons to Dasaratha. He was very unhappy about it. Dasaratha thought he would be blessed with sons if he perform Ashwamedha ritual and please the gods. Sage Vasishta advised him to perform Putrakameshti Yagna. Thus Dasaratha performed two Yagnas Ashwamedha and Putrakameshti with the help of sage Rishyasringa on the advice of Sage Vasishta. As the conclusion of the Yagna drew near, Lord Agni sprang out from the Yajnakunda and gave Dasaratha a pot of Kheer. He advised the king to distribute it among the queens. He first handed it over to Kausalya, who ate half the Kheer. Then Sumithra ate one-fourth of the Kheer. Then Kaikeyi had some and gave the remaining to Sumithra, who consumed the Kheer for the second time.

Queen Kausalya gave birth to Rama, Kaikeyi to Bharata and Sumithra to Lakshmana and Shatrughna. All the four sons grew up to be very capable under the guidance of guru Sage Vasishta.

One day, Sage Viswamitra arrived at King Dasaratha's court and asked the king to send Rama to protect the vedic ritual that was being conducted by him, from the demons. Though he refused initially, Dasaratha sent Rama and Lakshmana along with Viswamitra. Under the guidance of Sage Viswamitra, Rama gets married to Sita, Lakshmana to Urmila, Bharata to Mandovi and Shatrughna to Shrutakeerthi.

Dasaratha was very happy seeing all his children getting settled in life. He decided to coronate Rama as the crown prince with the approval of all of his people. Bharata and Shatrughna went to Bharata's maternal uncle's house to stay there for a long time. After getting the approval of all his ministers, gurus and his people, Dasaratha decided to coronate Rama at the earliest. 

Dasaratha's favorite wife was Kaikeyi. He hurried to tell her to inform about this great news as Kaikeyi always loved Rama more than Bharata. Meanwhile, Kaikeyi's maid poisoned her mind and convinced her that Bharata is the right successor to the kingdom. She also reminded Kaikeyi about the two boons that Dasaratha gave her. When Dasaratha came to Kaikeyi's apartment, he could not find her. On questioning, maids informed her that she was in Krodhagraha (The room of wrath). Kaikeyi had never been to Krodhagraha since the time she got married to Dasaratha. Seeing Kaikeyi in a pathetic condition, Dasaratha inquired about her problems. Queen Kaikeyi reminded him about the two boons he had given her. She asked Dasaratha to send Rama to the forest for 14 years and then to crown Bharata as the prince. Dasaratha, hearing this, falls into a swoon and passes the night in a pitiable condition in Kaikeyi's palace. Dasaratha disowns her as wife.

The next day morning, Sumantra, Dasaratha's charioteer comes to Kaikeyi's Palace to get orders from Dasaratha for the coronation of Rama. Seeing King's pitiable condition, he rushes to bring Rama as ordered by Kaikeyi. After having learnt about the boons, Rama happily leaves for the forest along with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana.

Seeing Rama leave for the forest along with Sita and Lakshmana, Dasaratha was highly distraught. A few nights after their departure, Dasaratha is unable to sleep and recounts the curse by Shravankumar's father. Like the curse, Dasaratha dies a horrible death being apart from his favorite Rama and other children. He dies due to the pain and misery of his separation from Rama. His funeral rites were performed by Bharata and Shatrughna who were called back from Kekeya, beside the bank of Sarayu river where he was cremated.

This is the story of the Great King Dasaratha, father of Shri Rama.