HISTORICAL EVIDENCE Dasaratha, King of Kosala had three wives - Kausalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi . The kingdom was sad because he had no children. Putrakameshti Yaga was performed by Dasaratha for begetting a male progeny. Soon, the birth of his four sons, Rama (Kausalya), Lakshmana (Sumitra) and Bharata and Satrughana (Kaikeyi) was celebrated in Ayodhya , the Capital of Kosala.
The Vasistha Ramayana , which is one version of the Ramayana written by Valmiki, in its Adi parva refers to the ancestry of Dasaratha, his birth and how he became a king in the Solar dynasty.
This reveals an unknown story about Dasaratha's youth, marriage and about his female child. Adbhuta Ramayana and Adhyatma Ramayana also refer to this subject.
When King Aja of Kosala died, his son Dasaratha was only eight months old. When he attained the age of 18, he became the ruler of Kosala. He was a powerful king. The King of northern Kosala agreed to rule under his patronage. He had a beautiful daughter, Kausalya, whom Dasaratha wanted to marry. The King agreed; but did not know that he and Dasaratha were closely related, coming from the same clan, sagotra.
The King of Lanka, Ravana, wanted to marry Kausalya. He came to know from Brahma that his death would be at the hands of a divine son born to Dasaratha and Kausalya. Ravana became furious and decided to kill Kausalya even before her marriage. But Mandodari, his wife, pleaded with him not to commit stree hati (the sin of killing a woman).
She suggested that the marriage could be prevented by separating Kausalya from Dasaratha. Ravana agreed. He sent a few demons to kidnap Kausalya, put her in a box and float it in the river Sarayu so that she would not have a chance to survive and thereby preventing the marriage of Dasaratha with Kausalya.
One day Dasaratha was crossing the Sarayu River. He saw a box being thrown into the river by some persons from a hillock. Dasaratha jumped out of his boat and retrieved the box after fighting with the men. He was surprised to see Kausalya inside the box and thus saved her. Sage Narada who appeared there said it was the right time for the marriage of Dasaratha and Kausalya. Shortly the marriage was solemnised.
Soon Kausalya gave birth to a female child, which unfortunately had a handicap in her leg. The child was named Shantai. The palace doctors could not remove the handicap. Sage Vashistha said the handicap was due to the marriage between close cousins. He suggested she would become normal if given in adoption to a divine couple.
Dasaratha and Kausalya gave the child in adoption to Romapada, the king of Angadesa. Shantai's disability vanished with due care and treatment. Romapada performed the marriage of Shantai with Rishyasringa Maharishi.
It was after Shantai was given in adoption that Dasaratha got married to Sumitra and Kaikeyi with the hope of getting healthy children. As he had no issue even after that Dasaratha arranged for the Putrakameshti Yaga on the advice of sages. It was Rishyasringa who performed the Yaga and enabled Dasaratha to beget four sons.
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