||Sri Ram Jeyram Jay Jay Ram ||

Chapter – 27– Ayodhya Kandam

The demise of King Dhasharatha of Surya clan

Sumanthra spoke softly “Oh! Maharaja, you are highly intelligent and wise. You are the leader of warriors and Mahadheeras, Oh! Swami, you have sincerely served the saints and ascetics. Oh! Rajan, birth and death, sorrows and happiness, gain and loss, union and separation from the beloved people are like day and night, the time and Dharma is beyond control. The dull-minded cries during the hours of sorrows, and becomes happy during promising hours, but a wise one never reacts to any of these situations. Therefore, you should react with courage and intelligence, leave all your worries, you are most promising to all. Rama, Lakshman, and Sita halted on the riverbank of Thamasa, and later they took rest on the riverbank of Ganga, they took a dip and spend some time. The Nishadha King Guha served them sincerely, and they spend that night in the village Shrungabheripura. On the next day, Rama brought the milk from the Vatavruksha and transformed their hair as matted and tied up on the pinnacle of the head.  Guha brought one ferry to cross the river Ganga,  and Vaidhehi and Lakshmana settled with the help of Ramachandra on that ferry.”

Sumanthra continues “Oh! Rajan, Raghuveera took great courage and pacified me and spoke “Oh! Thatha, kindly conveys our humble salutations to our father, and kindly inform him not to worry about us, his prayers, blessings, and fortunes will keep us safe in the woods. Oh! Father, I would attain all the auspiciousness with your grace, I will follow your command sincerely and will come back to prostrate at your feet. Kindly keep my mother’s free from grief and distress, we repeatedly prostrate before their feet,  kindly do all that to keep Ayodhyapathi free from afflictions. Kindly convey our humble salutations at the lotus feet of our preceptor, and requests him to keep Ayodhyapathi free from the grief of separation from us. Kindly inform the people of Ayodhya and my respect and love for them, and advise them to work for the welfare of the Kingdom and the King, they will remain my beloved companions always. Kindly inform Bharatha, and advise him not to leave justice or truthfulness, and take care of the subjects of Ayodhya with righteous deeds, mind, and words, advise him to take care of three mothers without any differentiation, advise him to treat the relationships with the family members and perform all the duties and responsibilities sincerely. Ask Bharatha to keep Ayodhyapathi free from grief and distress of separation from us.” Oh! Maharaja, in between Lakshmana poured words out of extreme rage was put a halt by Rama, and requested me not to inform you. Devi Sita approached me to convey her humble salutations, but she could not complete her words due to the sudden rush of emotions.”

Sumanthra speaks “Oh! Maharaj, How could I describe my grief? While I was watching Raghukulathilaka called for the ferryman and left the place, I was watching them with heavy heartedly, how did I come back without Rama? Why my Prana did not leave me?” Sumanthra could not speak further, his voice cracked, tears overflown down the cheeks. King Dhasharatha could not control his grief fallen on the floor, quivered like a fish out of the water in extreme pain. The queens shrieked in pain, how did I explain their grief? The people of the city of Ayodhya got frightened listening to the loud shriek from the palace, which has created huge chaos, it was like powerful lightning hit on the nest of the birds. King Dhasharatha struggled hard to breathe, he withered in pain like the serpent lost its gem, and eventually, his sense organs stopped functioning, like the cluster of lotus flowers in the dried pond. Devi Kausalya understood that the sun of the Surya clan is going to set. Devi Kausalya regained her courage and spoke wisely “Oh! Natha, kindly regain your strength, consider the pain of separation from Rama is an ocean, the city of Ayodhya is a strong ferry, we and the people of Ayodhya are the travelers in it, you are the controller of this huge ferry, you should act wisely then only we all could reach the other side of the shore, otherwise we all will sink in the ocean of pain of separation from Rama. Oh! Natha, if you regain the lost courage, we all could make it and definitely receive our children after the Vanavasa. Once again we can reunite with Rama, Lakshman, and Sita.” King Dhasharatha looked at his dearest queen Devi Kausalya, he stared at her, like the fish that was out of the pond got sprinkle of water. He regained consciousness and spoke to Sumanthra “Oh! Sakha, kindly tell me where is Rama? Where is my Lakshmana? And where is my dearest daughter-in-law?” he wept like a child, that night has become a Yuga for all, he remembered the curse of a blind ascetic from the forest, he narrated all those incident to Devi Kausalya and grieved over it.

King Dhasharatha spoke “Oh! Devi, living without Rama is meaningless, what I do with this body which cannot fulfill its promises? Oh! Raghunandhana, you are dear as my life, I had lived a long hour in your absence, Oh! Rama, Oh! Lakshmana, Oh! Janaki. Oh! Raghuvara you have given immense pleasure like the dark rain clouds to the heart of Chathaka bird.” King Dhasharatha continued calling out for Rama several times, finally left his mortal coil, and attained the abode of deities.

Thus King Dhasharatha attained the fruitful results of his birth and death, his fame was widespread across the Universe. As long as he was alive, he has the opportunity to witness the lustrous moon-like face of Ramachandra, the pain of separation from Rama caused to death, in this way he achieved the fame. The queens wept bitterly, remembering the courage, valor, humility, virtues, of the King, they could not control their grief. The female and male attendants of the palace sunk in deep grief, all those houses in the city of Ayodhya grieved over the death of King Dhasharatha, “The King who is the essence of righteousness, flawlessness, virtue, and the most attractive King who is the Sun in the clan of Surya set.” Everyone blamed Kaikeyi as she was stolen the eyes of the Universe, in this way they spend the whole night remembering the eminent King.  The daylight has arrived, the illustrious Rishis and ascetics and twice-born rushed to the palace. Sage Vashishta described the most appropriate legends from the scriptures suits to the situation to the Queens and relatives, thus he imparted the knowledge of Athman and relieved them from the sorrow. Sage Vashishta kept the corpse of the King in a well-decorated ferry filled with various rich fragrances.  He instructed the messengers to inform Bharatha and Shathrughna and bring them immediately from their grandfather’s Kingdom and gave strict orders not to spread the news of the death of the King to anyone.

The messengers mounted on the fastest horse that excels the speed of the wind and proceeded to inform Bharatha who was already witnessing bad omens from the day the troubles have started in Ayodhya. The nights were sleepless with the nightmares, and the days were horrible with the bad omens, he worshiped the twice-born and offered sumptuous meals and contributions, he performed various austerities and worship of Lord Shiva and ablations for the Lord. He sincerely prayed to Lord Mahadeva for the welfare of his parents, family, and the Kingdom. Bharatha spends days of extreme anxiety, at that moment the emissaries from Ayodhya approached him. He prayed Lord Ganesha and began journey thinking about the instruction of the preceptor. The horses covered several miles of the dense forests, rivers, and mountains with the speed of the wind. He was extremely worried, could not bring a smile on his face, every second seemed Yuga for him, eagerly desired to fly home, thus Bharatha entered the city of Ayodhya.