Dasaratha's Death Fulfills Old Curse
Ayodhyakanda - Sarga 64
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Ayodhyakanda - Sarga 64
Dasharatha confesses to Kausalya about accidentally killing a sage's son, leading to a heart-wrenching curse that foreshadows his own demise due to separation from Rama.
Dasharatha, a righteous king from the Raghu dynasty (an ancient royal lineage), continued his confession to his wife Kausalya about a tragic incident from his past. His voice trembled with grief as he recounted the unfair killing of a great sage.
"I committed a great sin unknowingly, and it deeply disturbed me," Dasharatha said. "My senses were in turmoil, and I agonized over how to atone for this terrible act."
Burdened by his guilt, Dasharatha sought to make amends. He filled a pot with clean water and set out for the hermitage, following the path as directed.
At the hermitage, Dasharatha encountered a heart-wrenching scene that would haunt him for years to come:
Two elderly, blind parents
Frail and without any support
Resembling birds with clipped wings
Sitting helplessly, talking about their son
These were the parents of the sage Dasharatha had accidentally killed. They spoke wistfully about their son - their only hope that Dasharatha had unknowingly taken away.
Overwhelmed with remorse and fear, Dasharatha felt his sorrow intensify as he entered the hermitage.
Hearing Dasharatha's footsteps, the sage spoke, mistaking him for his son:
"Why have you delayed, my son? Bring me water quickly. Your mother is anxious. Whatever the reason for your delay, enter the hermitage at once. If we've displeased you, don't take it to heart. You're an ascetic."
The sage continued, expressing their dependence on their son:
"You are our support, our eyes. Our very life depends on you. Why aren't you speaking to us?"
With a frightened mind, Dasharatha stammered as he spoke, trying to control his thoughts and speech. He finally revealed the tragic truth:
"I am Dasharatha, a Kshatriya (warrior class), not your son. A sorrowful incident has occurred due to my own action, condemnable by the virtuous."
Dasharatha explained that he had come to the riverbank with his bow, intending to hunt. He heard a sound of water being filled and mistook it for an elephant. Without verifying, he shot an arrow, tragically killing the sage's son.
The king, filled with remorse, said:
"O venerable one, I released an arrow towards the water, aiming at the sound, intending to kill an elephant. But it hit your son instead. Your son has been killed due to my ignorance. Please command me on what I should do next."
Upon hearing Dasharatha's cruel words about the tragic accident, the venerable sage was stunned into silence. He couldn't immediately react to the intense anguish that overwhelmed him.
The sage's face filled with tears, and he heaved deep sighs. Broken with grief, he addressed Dasharatha, who stood nearby with folded palms.
The radiant sage spoke to Dasharatha:
"O king, had you not confessed this inauspicious act yourself, your head would have split into a hundred thousand pieces right now. A Kshatriya (warrior) who knowingly kills someone, especially a forest-dweller, commits a sin that could overthrow even Indra (king of the gods) from his position."
The sage continued, explaining the gravity of such an act:
"If anyone deliberately harms an ascetic observing austerities or one who expounds the Vedas (ancient sacred texts), their head will split into seven pieces. Since you did this out of ignorance, you still live. Otherwise, your Ikshvaku race itself would have been exterminated."
The grieving sage then made a heart-wrenching request:
"O king, take us to that place. We wish to see our son for the last time - his body spattered with blood, his antelope skin in disarray, lying unconscious on the ground, under the sway of the Lord of Death."
Dasharatha, filled with remorse, led the elderly couple to the spot where their son lay. He helped the grieving ascetics touch their son's body. Upon reaching their son, both parents collapsed upon his lifeless form.
The father, overcome with sorrow, spoke to his deceased son:
"Why aren't you greeting us today? Why aren't you speaking? Why are you lying on the ground? Are you angry with us? Look at your mother, my son. Why aren't you embracing me? Speak, my tender child."
He continued, recalling their daily routines:
"Who will recite the sweet scriptures for me in the early morning? Who will serve me after my morning prayers? Who will bring me fruits and roots, treating me like an honored guest?"
The father then expressed his helplessness:
"How can I support your blind, old, and wretched mother, who yearns for you? Stay with us, my son. Don't go to the abode of Yama (god of death) yet. Tomorrow, you may go, accompanied by both of us."
The grieving father continued to address his deceased son:
"My sinless child, you were killed by a person of sinful deeds. By this truth, go quickly to the worlds attained by those who fight with weapons. Attain the supreme state achieved by warriors who don't retreat in battle, facing the enemy."
He then invoked the names of great kings:
"My son, attain the same state reached by Sagara, Saibya, Dilipa, Janamejaya, Nahusha, and Dundumara. Go to the state attained by all virtuous people, those who study the Vedas and practice asceticism."
The father concluded:
"One born in our family will never go to an undesirable state. Only he who killed you will attain that fate."
After lamenting, the sage and his wife performed the funeral rites for their son. Then, the radiant ascetic addressed Dasharatha, who stood nearby with folded palms:
"O king, kill me now with the same arrow. Death holds no pain for me. Though you killed my pure-hearted son unintentionally, I will pronounce a disastrous and dreadful curse on you."
The sage then uttered his curse:
"Just as I now suffer from grief caused by my son's death, you, O king, shall die from sorrow on account of separation from your son. Since you killed an ascetic unknowingly, the sin of slaying a Brahmin (priest) will not apply to you immediately. However, a dreadful situation causing the end of your life will soon reach you, just as the merits of alms come to the giver."
Having cursed Dasharatha, the couple lamented piteously for a long time. They then laid themselves on the funeral pyre and ascended to heaven. Before departing, the sage's son appeared in a celestial form and said:
"I have attained this supreme state by virtue of serving you. You will also attain my state soon."
Dasharatha, recounting this story to Kausalya, reflected on the curse:
"O Kausalya, I now recollect this sin committed unintentionally in my youth. Just as a man eating forbidden food falls sick, so have I fallen prey to grief because of my sin."
He continued, lamenting his current state:
"O Kausalya, I cannot see you with my eyes. Touch me gently. My memory is failing, and the messengers of Yama (god of death) are hastening me."
Dasharatha's final words were filled with sorrow for not being able to see Rama:
"Can there be a greater sorrow than being unable to see my righteous and truthful son, Rama, at the last moment of my life? My grief in Rama's absence is drying up my life as heat dries up small pools of water."
With these words, King Dasharatha, crying in distress in the presence of Rama's mother and Sumitra, reached the end of his life.
This concludes the Sixty fourth chapter (sarga) of Ayodhyakanda, the second book of the Ramayana, the great epic composed by the sage Valmiki.