Chapter 3

Dasarath's Blank Check

Soon Dasarath got married to Kausalya. Dasarath became the King of Kosala and continued in the line of just and noble rule of his predecessors. Kosala was always prosperous due to scientific advancements made by Rishis combined with the fact that Dasarath was a just ruler.

As Dasarath and Kausalya did not have any child for some time, Dasarath married Sumitra. Polygamy was an accepted practice, as an exception rather than as a rule to ordinary men, while for the Rulers it was a necessity.

Dasarath's marriage did not stop with Sumitra. Sumitra also could not bear any child. Dasarath married for the third time, the princess of Kekeya. Kekeya was ruled by Asvapati, whose daughter Kaikeyi was both bold and beautiful. She was also adamant.

Kaikeyi was the perfect daughter of her mother. Kaikeyi's mother had left her daughter and her husband Asvapati, when Kaikeyi was young. Once, when Asvapati and Kaikeyi's mother were alone, Asvapati laughed unto himself. Kaikeyi's mother thought Asvapati was mocking at her for some reason and demanded the explanation for his laughter. Asvapati refused to explain his laughter and Kaikeyi's mother left him and her kid for her parent's place, never to return.

Kaikeyi was brought up by a maid servant called Mandhira. Kaikeyi treated Mandhira as her mother.

During the marriage of Kaikeyi to Dasarath, Mandira had her reservations on the marriage, as Kaikeyi's son will not be the future ruler of Kosala. And she did not want Kaikeyi, who is beautiful and brave to be married in such a place.

Since Dasarath was marrying Kaikeyi primarily for progeny and neither Kausalya nor Sumithra had children, Mandira consoled herself that Kaikeyi's son will be the future king of Kosala.

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Kaikeyi became the favorite queen of Dasrath. She being the youngest of the queens, Dasarath showered lot of love and special affection on her.

Soon Kaikeyi started accompanying Dasarath even during his hunting sessions. She became an expert in driving chariots, of which Dasarath himself was an expert.

Once Dasarath had to go on war against Sambara who was also known as Timi-dwhaja (emblem of Shark in the flag). Sambara's kingdom extended upto the city of Vaijayanta as its northern most point. This city was located south of the Dandaka forests. The Dandaka forests were located in far south of Kosala.

Sambara and his men were a great source of trouble for the Rishis who carried out their work in the Dandaka forests. They killed the Rishis and impeded the work being carried out by them. Sambara and his men were afraid of the work carried out by the Rishis, as they did not understand them. They viewed these Rishis as invading forces of the northern rulers and wanted to halt their expansion towards south.

Over a period the local kinsmen of Dasarath had no choice but to challenge Sambara and his men in a battle in the city of Vaijayanta itself. Otherwise, the attacks of his men on Rishis were becoming unstoppable.

In the ensuing battle, Sambara performed several hundreds of conjuring tricks through which he nearly defeated the invading army. His men carried out their attacks at lightning speed and vanished before their attack could be repulsed.

Dasarath took kaikeyi along with him in his Chariot into the war. Dasarath showered his sharp arrows at his opponents from the chariot. But the speed at which the enemies attacked and withdrew confused Dasarath and his forces.

As the war progressed, Dasarath's charioteer was killed and Kaikeyi took up the reins of the chariot bravely. Weapons flew in from all directions. Dasarath's bow got struck and it fell down. Another weapon struck his body armor and he fell unconscious.

Kaikeyi bravely took him through the battlefield skillfully avoiding danger to the unconscious Dasarath as well as herself. She came out of the battlefield and helped Dasarath to regain consciousness.

She drove Dasarath back to battlefield. This time, Dasarath and Kaikeyi were better experienced in the way their enemy fights, as they mapped their strategy well. Soon Dasarath became victorious in the war.

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Dasarath's affection on Kaikey grew leaps and bounds after this incident. He asked Kaikeyi to ask for two wishes from him. He granted one wish for the bravery in saving his life, another for her readiness to lay down her life for him.

Kaikeyi was more than happy at this. But she did not desire anything specific as a wish. She told Dasarath "O great king. I have all my wishes satisfied, when you are with me always. But since you have granted me two wishes, and the Shastra's ask specifically not to refuse the gift of a King, I accept them. But I will use them, when I need it".

"So be it.." - said Dasarath.

Dasarath got a new charioteer, Sumantra, who became his confidante and eventually got raised to the position of a minister. Much like the car drivers of powerful politicians who end up becoming MLA's and ministers.

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A wish is like a contract of these days. Even today, the law is clear that if there is no consideration, there is no contract. In this case, the consideration was kaikeyi's courageous act and response was the wishes that Dasarath promised.

In those days (even in these days), Indians were not good at documentation in terms of writing. All their knowledge went from one human brain to another. The stress on storage of information or knowledge was more on the brain rather than on manuals.

In this scenario, human words, particularly those that of kings were treated like contracts that cannot be repudiated later. It was not unusual for people, even in ordinary sections of society, to treat their spoken words as sacred and give up their life, if they are not able to honor it.

Hence for a King, who represents all his people, to enter into an open ended contract, which could affect the future of people who believe in him was totally wrong. But Dasarath due to his habit of haste and jumping into conclusion, got into an open ended contract with Kaikeyi.

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Several years rolled. None of Dasarath's queens had any children. Dasarath got extremely anxious and consulted his ministers and sages.

Dhristi, Jayantha, Vijaya, Suraashtra, Raashtravardhana, Akopa, Dharmapaala were the seven ministers of Dasarath. Sumantra was the eighth minister who was also the charioteer of Dasarath.

Suyajna, Jabaali, Kaashyapa, Gautama, Maarkandeya, Deerghaayu, and Kaatyayana were the scholarly Brahmans adoring the court of Dasarath. Vasishta and Vamadeva were his scientific advisors amongst whom Vasishta was the Principal Scientific Advisor.

Dasarath asked the scholarly Brahmans of his court about the solution and asked them if asvamedha yajna could help. The Brahmans agreed with his idea and said that it can be carried out in the banks of River Sarayu. They said they will start preparing the ritual ground for it, if Vasishta's nod is got.

After they left, Dasarath turned to Sumantra, his charioteer and trusted lieutenant. Dasarath felt that the problem was not that of the power of the king, but the issue of progeny, which might need a different solution. His was a more personal problem than what he could share with these educated Brahmans.

What Dasarath could not discuss with the Brahmans, he could discuss with his personal charioteer and minister Sumantra.

After a long thought, Sumantra suggested to use the services of RishyaSringa, a sage considered the most potent and virile of the sages.

RishyaSringa was a grandson of Sage Kashyapa and son of Sage Vibandhaka. He was also the son-in-law of the King of Anga, Romapada, through his marriage with Shanta the daughter of Romapada.

-TBT