Dasharatha was the son of King Aj and Queen Indumati of Ayodhya. Dasharath was only 8 months old when his parents died. He grew up under the care of great sage Marudanva,
When Dasaratha was young, he was married to Kaushalya. Kaushalya was the daughter of the King Sukaushal and Queen Amritaprabha of Kosala kingdom (Modern day Chhattisgarh). After some time, Kaushalya gave birth to a daughter, named Shanta. But King Dasaratha had no son. So he married Sumitra and Kaikeyi in want of a son.
Rani Sumitra was the daughter of the king of Kashi (present-day Varanasi). While Kaikeyi was the daughter of King Ashwapati of Kaikeya kingdom.
Many years later the three queens of King Dasharatha gave birth to sons as a result of the ritual performed by Rishi Rishyasringa for sons.
The queens gave birth to sons as follows –
- Rani Kaushalya – Ram
- Rani Sumitra – Lakshman and Shatrughan
- Rani Kaikeyi – Bharat
In this way, King Dasrath had 5 children. The order of which is as follows –
Shanta, Ram, Bharata, Lakshmana, and Shatrughan.
Pricess Shanta was married to the sage Rishyasrringa, and Rishyasrringa performed a yajna to get a son to King Dasharatha.
Ram was married to Sita, Bharata was married to Mandavi, Lakshmana was married to Urmila and Shatrughan was married to Shrutakirti. Sita and Mandavi were sisters, while Urmila and Shrutkirti were cousins of Sita. Sita and Urmila were the daughters of King Janak of Mithila, while Mandvi and Shrutkirti were nieces of King Janak.
After many years, Ram and Sita also had two sons, namely, Luv and Kush.
दशरथ किस भगवान् की पूजा करते थे? रामायण की घटना का असली कालखंड क्या है?
दशरथ की बेटी क्यों सन्यासिनी बन गई थी? उसकी शादी किसके साथ हुई थी? उसकी माता कौन थी?
जब पूरी सृष्टि ही भगवान की रचना है तो रावण की उत्पत्ति क्यों हो गई? जब रावण के वक्त ही परशुराम थे तो परशुराम ने ही रावण को क्यों नहीं मार दिया?