Valmiki's RamayanaCh. 2 · The King Who Had No Son
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I began their lessons the next morning.
Does it have a war in it?
Eventually. Sit up.
Their mother never came to the lessons.
She never went far, either.
On the Sarayu's bank lies Kosala,
and its city, Ayodhya, built by Manu himself.
Lutes and drums, the Veda chanted,
and the ringing of the archer's bow.
Its king was Dasharatha, rich, just, and loved.
And he had no son.
Why does a king cry for a son?
We don't have a father.
We don't cry.
Next verse.
In heaven, the gods went to Brahma with one fear: Ravana.
No god could kill him. Where he stood, the sun held back its heat.
He asked to be safe from gods and demons.
In his pride, he never asked about men.
Then Vishnu came, crowned like a flame.
I will be born a man, as the king's sons,
and kill him in battle.
A god who becomes a boy? To fight?
Sit down, or he stays in heaven.
Mother! Stay! There's a god in it!
I know this one.
She went for water. She took the long way back.
From the king's sacred fire rose a being bright as flame,
carrying a vase of the gods' own nectar.
He gave it to his three queens, and the seasons turned.
On the ninth day of Chaitra, Kausalya bore a son.
The drums of heaven sounded. Flowers came down like rain.
And the sage named him...
RAMA!
Rama!
The boys never noticed.