The young Dasarath

The country of Kosala with its capital Ayodhya was ruled by the Ishavaku line of kings of whom Dasarath was a just and noble ruler. Ayodhya was situated on the banks of River Sarayu.

The Ishvaku line of kings considered themselves the descendants of Sun. They were Kshatriyas and were known to be noble and just by the people.

It was the time civilizations were reaching their zenith in the Ganges Valley. Rishis were working hard in the forests discovering the secrets of nature, which they put to use for advancing the civilization.

The system of scientific research and advancement had been institutionalized completely. This system enabled both Rishis and Grahasthas to participate in scientific advancement. While Rishis (knowledge seekers) dedicated their life to scientific pursuits completely, Ordinary people dedicated their life in scientific advancement after finishing their household responsibilities.

The time of Dasarath was the time when several stalwart Rishis lived. To name a few are Vasishta, Viswamitra, Parasurama, Rishyasringa etc. Apart from these Rishis, Kings like Janaka and Dasarath himself were knowledgeable and innovated new advancements in various fields.

Many new inventions, discoveries and developments were credited to these Rishis and the times of Dasarath was challenging, as scientific innovations were growing in leaps and bounds.

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Vasishtha was not only a brilliant Rishi, he was the Principal Scientific Advisor (RajGuru) to Ishvaku line of Kings. Many Rishis who were working on various research activities also served as advisors to kings, as the kinds held these Rishis in great respect for their societal contribution.

Vasishta had many innovations to his credit. He was deeply involved in breeding cows that offered the maximum milk with minimal grass uptake. He had a program in the forest, where he bred cows, that ate 'Khora' grass that grows even during the times of famine. This meant that even in times when water was in scarcity or vegetation could not grow properly, the cows he bred grew well and yielded lot of milk.

Kosala benefited due to Vasishta's work. The variety of cows that Vashishta bred were in plenty in Kosala and the entire kingdom was flooded with milk and milk products. This revolution in dairy farming lead to peace and prosperity in Kosala.

Vasishta also was working on metals; particularly alloys of metals. The Ishvaku line of kings had great respect for Vasishta for their contribution in ensuring Kosala never suffered from poverty. They consulted Vasishta in all their critical activities.

One thing that Vasishta was not working on was weapons, though he was working on alloys of metals. Vasishta did not have any specific weapons program, unlike many other Rishis of his time. Bows and arrows, the weapons which were getting powerful day by day, due to newer inventions and discoveries by various Rishis were not part of Vasishta's work.

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Viswamitra to a large extent and Parasurama to a smaller extent have been making great strides in inventing newer types of bows and arrows.

From a simple weapon to kill animals, bows and arrows have evolved into weapons of mass destruction due to the work of these Rishis.

Viswamitra perfected bows, which he named the bow of Siva and the bow of Vishnu. These were large, powerful bows, which could send arrows out at lightning speed. He had perfected techniques to create a high tension in the bow that could deliver arrows swiftly. These bows reverberated in the air and created a thunder like sound that instilled fear in the enemies. These bows could also deliver multiple arrows at a time. They were easy to load, faster to fire and enabled precision aiming of arrows.

Viswamitra also invented the 'Brahma-astra'. This arrow had a poisonous tip that could paralyze a living being for hours together, much like the Taser of the modern day.

Parasurama also had perfected a large bow, which he named the bow of Vishnu. Though Parasuram did not practice archery, he had great pride in the bow that he had developed. He thought none other than him could use it to strike at enemies.

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Dasarath, even while he was young was very much interested in archery. He could infer that as bows and arrows become powerful, they will be weapons of great importance that a King needed to handle. Dasarath realized that bows and arrows would dominate the wars of future.

Though he did not have access to latest weapons of the archery, as Vasishta's program did not include it, he rigorously trained to improve his archery skills.

He regularly had his training sessions in the forest, aiming his arrows at wild animals.

One of the critical element in archery during a fight is to fire arrows based on sight and sound. Depending on from where the arrows originate, an archer should have the ability to shoot down the source, though he may not see the source. Similarly, depending on the origination of sound, archer should have the ability to take down the source of sound without seeing the source.

Dasarath was an expert in it. He could identify the source of sound and the type of animal or human being making the sound from hearing it. He could also estimate the distance at which source is located and train his arrows perfectly on the source.

Once, when Dasarath was training in the forest, he heard the sound of an animal drinking water. Listening to the sound carefully, he could guess the distance and height from which the sound came.

It appeared like a little elephant drinking water from a nearby spring. The sounds were very clear. Dasarath trained his arrows at the direction of sound.

A new type of arrow called 'Sabdabedhi' arrow, which will not produce any sound as it traverses the space was the flavor of the time. This type of arrow was particularly useful in shooting down a wild animal, as otherwise wild animal may escape hearing the sound of the arrow. It may even attack the hunter.

Dasarath trained this arrow on the source. In few seconds, he could hear the sound of "Ma…", which appeared to be the cry of a human being. Confused, Dasarath ran towards the source.

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There he could see a son of a Rishi, lying on the banks of the spring with an arrow in his chest. What Dasarath thought as a little elephant had turned out to be the son of a Rishi, taking water in his pot.

Dasarath got afraid and ran near the 'Rishikumar'. He profusely apologized to him for mistakenly aiming his arrow at him. But that was too late. The arrow had pierced Rishikumar's chest and hit his heart. The Rishikumar was dying.

Dasarath introduced himself as the Prince of Kosala to the RishiKumar. Rishikumar was not interested to listen to Dasarath.

He said "My old parents, both blind, are dying of thirst in their home. I have come here to take water for them and been assassinated by you. Nobody can forgive other's sins, as you have to pay for your own deeds. But I won't curse you, as you have realized your mistake. Please take this water to them and tell them of these happenings".

Saying this RishiKumar breathed his last.

Dasarath filled up the pot with water and carried it to the Rishikumars father.

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Dasarath was a prince. None is going to charge him for the wrongs he committed in an unknown, distant forest.

There is no need for him to atone for the actions that he did in a forest that nobody witnessed. He could have left the scene quietly on seeing he has hit a human instead of an animal. He chose not to do it. He owned up his actions.

Dasarath traced the hermitage of the Rishi, based on the Rishikumar's words. There he found an old couple, both blind waiting for the arrival of their son to quench their thirst.

"Who is it..?" - asked the Rishi, as he heard the footsteps.

"It should be our son" - said his wife. "Come son, we are dying of thirst. Why it took you so much time today ?"

Dasarath quietly entered the hermitage and gave water to them without talking.

"I could smell it different" - said the Rishi "It is not our son. It is not his smell, it is not his actions or behavior. Who is this..? What is your motive..? We are old Rishis."

At this point Dasarath gave up. He fell at the feet of the Rishis and asked them for apology. "O Seers. I have committed a great sin, a sin that cannot be forgiven. I am Dasarath, the prince of Kosala. As I was hunting in the forest, I shot a 'sabdhabedhi' arrow at a distant elephant drinking water. It turned out to be a RishiKumar, your son"

Saying this Dasarath wept at their feet. As the Rishis heard that Dasarath shot a 'sabdhabedhi' arrow, they understood what it meant to their son. They started crying aloud and weeping.

"O Dasarath, due to your improper knowledge and training, you have caused great harm to my son and grief to us. Don't you realize that doing actions in haste, when we do not have full knowledge causes pains to others..? Such pain and grief always come back. Hence it would come back to you" - said the old Rishi.

On this Dasarath started crying further. He begged pardon from the Rishis. He said "O Rishis, it is true that improper knowledge has cursed me to this position. But it was not a wanted mistake. I beg your pardon. I promise you that I will serve you till the last breath of my life"

Rishis were not convinced. They asked Dasarath to take them to their son's body. When they reached the place, they embraced the lifeless body of their son and cried.

Soon they cremated the body of their son with the help of Dasarath. As the funeral pyre was burning, they jumped into the fire, with excessive grief and sorrow. Dasarath was shocked at their reaction. He became a killer of a young son and a mute witness to suicide of an old couple.

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Dasarath couldn't forget it for many years to come as the memories of the Rishikumar and Rishis haunted him for quite sometime.

As usual with anybody, slowly the memory of those events faded away from his life.

Dasarath always owned up this actions and sought to atone for them, if he thought he was guilty. But, he never learnt from the mistakes of this experience, as like many of us. Not being in haste, Not jumping to a conclusion and the fact that if we desire or not our actions chase us did not dawn on him, further into his life.

Later in his life, he continued owning up his actions, but also continued committing the same mistakes again. Dasarath could not change or improve himself much.

-TBT