Kousalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi
Kousalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi are the three wives of King Dasaratha of Ayodhya, in the 24,000-verse Sanskrit epic called the Ramayana, and the mothers of the heroes Rama, Lakshmana, Bharatha, and Shatrughna.
In the Ramayana, Dasaratha, the husband concurrently of these three ladies, is childless. He performs the Putrakameshti Yagna, a sacrifice seeking progeny from the almighty. Hearing his plea, a divine being, purusha, emerges from the holy sacrificial fire, bearing a bowl of payasam, a milk sweet, and asks Dasaratha to feed the sweet to his wife; she would then have a son.
The tale about the distribution of this Payasam is interesting: upon receiving the chalice, Dasaratha goes forthwith to his second, but favorite wife, Kaikeyi. She however urges him first to give a share of the Payasam to Kaushalya, the senior queen. Dasaratha goes to Kaushalya and leaves half the payasam with her, returning immediately to Kaikeyi. Even as Kaikeyi is about to partake of the payasam, Dasaratha is called away.
Kaikeyi knows that Dasaratha has not given any Payasam to Sumitra. Kaushalya also suspects likewise. Both Kaushalya and Kaikeyi go in turn to Sumitra, and give her portions from the payasam that the king left with them. Thus, although the King her husband gave Sumitra no Payasam at all, she gets to have two portions of it, courtesy her co-wives; she therefore becomes the mother of not one but two sons.
Queen Kaushalya gives birth to the eldest son, Rama; Bharatha is born to Queen Kaikeyi; and the two sons born to Queen Sumitra are the twins Lakshmana and Shatrughna.
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| Hinduism | Hindu mythology | Itihasa | Image:Aum.png |
|---|---|
| Male Deities: Brahma | Vishnu | Shiva | Rama | Krishna | Ganesha | Indra | Lakshman | Hanuman | |
| Female Deities: Gayatri | Lakshmi | Sarasvati | Durga | Devi | Sita | Radha | Kali | Parvati | Shakti | |
| Texts: Vedas | Puranas | Ramayana | Mahabharata |